Proving durable relationship for EEA family permit unmarried partner without cohabitation evidence

[shergar]

Hello,

I am a citizen of a South American country who has lived in the UK for 3 years and have an Irish partner, who has been living in the UK for 10 years. We began a relationship in summer 2017.

We do not currently live together, due to the fact that we are saving to afford our own rental place at present, and instability in my visa situation at various points in the last 2 years means it has been difficult to make joint financial commitments like a shared lease. I have been living in my partner's house in recent months, but I am not on the tenancy agreement, as it is a single-occupancy room in a shared house.

I initially arrived on a Tier 4 student visa and have been working on a Tier 2 Visa since January 2018. My company has recently started a redundancy consultation and I expect this to conclude in the coming weeks, giving me 60 days to find new Tier 2 employment or leave the UK. My experience of the Tier 2 visa system suggests that this will not be sufficient time to find new sponsored employment in my field at the present time due to the uncertainty around Brexit.

I would like to know what options I have to remain in the UK. We are not keen to get married at this point, but are considering applying for an EEA family permit, as my partner is an Irish citizen and earns above the £18,600 minimum salary, in a professional position for a Local Authority. Despite not formally living together, we are in a committed relationship, and have evidence of holidays together, a joint bank account, meeting family members, plans for the future, and being in contact daily for the last 2 years etc.

I would like advice on the feasibility of this EEA Family Permit 'durable partner' option from those who have been through the experience, and advice how to best construct our application, in addition to advice on any other potential options to ensure that I can remain living and working in the UK without being married.

Some advice we have received suggests that we can prove our relationship is 'durable' without strong evidence of cohabitation such as a shared lease/council tax, whereas others have suggested that there is no point in applying unless we can clearly demonstrate cohabitation for 2 years by these means.

Any views welcome. Thanks!

[sfljiaf]

I assume you mean the EEA residence card, not family permit. RC is for when you are already in the UK, FP is for entering the UK.

So just to check, when you say " you do not currently live together", but then you say you "have been living in (your) partner's house in recent months" - which is it? Do you mean you don't officially / formally live together?

Not having your name on the rental contract or the council tax bill is not an issue. Only six months of cohabitation is, though. I think there is two questions you need to figure out:

1. What evidence do you have for living together for the period that you have? This does not need to be the rental contract or council tax bill. If you've got a joint bank account, you'll get statements addressed to both of you at the same address, right? That is one piece of evidence. Any other 'official' correspondence to both of you? Or to each of you separately, but at the same address? Aside from correspondence, how do you pay your share of the rent? If you send it to your partner by bank transfer, then records of those payments would be evidence too.

2. What other evidence of commitment do you have? I assume you don't have children together, correct? How long have you had the joint bank account? Any other joint finances? When you were travelling together, did you pay for flights and accommodation together? Anything else that you own together (like a car)?

There can be a point in applying with less than two years of cohabitation, but you would need to build a very strong case of commitment through other means. It's also a question of how much less than two years - 18 months of cohabitation plus strong other evidence I'd be fairly optimistic, 6 months and no other commitments might be tricky.

As for future plans, meeting family, etc. my impression is that these count little (but maybe not nothing). If you do want to mention any of them in the application, make sure you back it up with *hard* evidence. E.g. joint travel - include original boarding passes; meeting family - maybe if you have photo evidence; future plans - perhaps something like firm job offers for both of you in the same city, or a joint mortgage application. Being in contact daily is probably not very useful. You need to show that you are *more* than just boyfriend/girlfriend.

This is all not meant to discourage you. Just be aware that whatever kind of commitment you can think of, you need to back it up. The above is also by no means exhaustive. Have a think about what other kinds of "footprints" you and your partner might have left.

[shergar]

Hi sfljiaf,

Thanks so much for getting back to me and sorry for the lack of clarity in my initial post.

What I meant was that we don't live together in a way that can be easily proven, as I am essentially subletting from him for free at present as a temporary measure, with a view to renting our own place soon (but this plan is now on hold due to my redundancy and the likely curtailment of my Tier 2 visa in the coming months). Our joint bank account is the only document in both of our names.

We have plenty of evidence of things like paying for flights and holiday accommodation together, but we're going to need to think a little more about proving the cohabitation side of things - which would likely mean things like testimonials from my housemates etc., although I know this would be considered weak evidence by the Home Office.

[kamoe]

I am a citizen of a South American country

Me too.

We began a relationship in summer 2017.

We do not currently live together, due to the fact that we are saving to afford our own rental place at present, and instability in my visa situation at various points in the last 2 years means it has been difficult to make joint financial commitments like a shared lease. I have been living in my partner's house in recent months, but I am not on the tenancy agreement, as it is a single-occupancy room in a shared house.

If you are unmarried and have been sharing accommodation for only a few months, I'm afraid the straight answer is you don't qualify as a 'durable partner' for the purposes of UK/EU law. Durable partner means your relationship is already 'akin to marriage'. It describes a current household, not a future one, so unmarried couples with only future plans of cohabitation don't qualify, no matter how solid the relationship.

I initially arrived on a Tier 4 student visa and have been working on a Tier 2 Visa since January 2018. My company has recently started a redundancy consultation and I expect this to conclude in the coming weeks, giving me 60 days to find new Tier 2 employment or leave the UK. My experience of the Tier 2 visa system suggests that this will not be sufficient time to find new sponsored employment in my field at the present time due to the uncertainty around Brexit.

I would like to know what options I have to remain in the UK.

Having been through the same tribulations, I would say it is very difficult to get a Sponsored job opportunity, although not impossible. It all hangs on the industry and the kind of company you want to work in. The cool, sought-after rising star tech startups are crystal clear open to sponsor visas (the Spotifys, the Monzos, the Kings). I suppose this also means there is a high bar and maybe long process to go through.

Another genuine but somehow more expensive option is, if you want to further your education, consider enrolling in another course, for which you can obtain another student visa. There is a restriction though if you apply from within the UK: you need to be enrolling in a course that is of a higher level than your previous one: So Masters if you recently completed a BA or BSc; PhD if you recently completed a Masters.

Last, but not least, seriously consider if marriage is an option. Obviously only you can make the call.

We are not keen to get married at this point,

Only the first two options above, then.

my partner is an Irish citizen and earns above the £18,600 minimum salary,

Just to clarify, the minimum salary does not apply for the EEA route. This applies for applications of family members of British citizens, not EEA citizens.

Despite not formally living together, we are in a committed relationship, and have evidence of holidays together, a joint bank account, meeting family members, plans for the future, and being in contact daily for the last 2 years etc.

This is all important if you get married and want to prove yours in not a sham marriage, but this does not replace the requirement of 2 years of cohabitation for an unmarried couple.

I would like advice on the feasibility of this EEA Family Permit 'durable partner' option from those who have been through the experience,

Not an option, I'm afraid.

and advice how to best construct our application,

If at all it is useful in the future, and just so you understand in more depth why this is something that cannot be improvised, see this old post of mine about it.

in addition to advice on any other potential options to ensure that I can remain living and working in the UK without being married.

As mentioned above.

Some advice we have received suggests that we can prove our relationship is 'durable' without strong evidence of cohabitation such as a shared lease/council tax,

Whoever gave you this advice is confusing proving a marriage s not sham marriage with prooving a relationship is 'aking to marriage' or durable partner. What you need to prove is durable partnership, akin to marriage, which you do not have, according to the legal definition (note I don't mean to say your relationship is not genune, just that it does not meet all the requirements set by law to be considered 'akin to marriage').

whereas others have suggested that there is no point in applying unless we can clearly demonstrate cohabitation for 2 years by these means.

This is the correct assessment of your case.