Spousal visa application - confused by 2 years cohabitation requirement

[GG_PM2]

Hi - hope everyone is well. I have a potentially daft question...

I'm currently in the UK on a Tier 2 General visa, and am now applying for a Spousal visa. My partner and I have only been dating and been living together since September 2020 (1 year only). However we have been close friends for 4 years, so it's not the "whirlwind romance" that it would seem. We were married in a town hall in London.

Anyhow, I'm a bit confused by what I should provide to meet this criteria in the Documents checklist section of the application:

Items of correspondence addressed to X and Y at the same address as evidence you have been living together since your last grant of leave in this category, or from the date you first started living together, covering the last 2 years

As noted, we have only been living together for 1 year and in the relevant sections of the application itself;

* they ask if we have lived continuously together for 2 years. To this I answered No, highlighted we've only been living together for 1 year, and provided detail as to why
* there is a checkbox to say we will provide evidence of living together for 2 years, and if this is not checked then we cannot proceed with the application

Do we really need to be living together for 2+ years even though we're married? If not, what should we supply? Obviously we have everything to prove we've been living together for 1 year, but not sure what to provide to cover the other year..

Any help would be appreciated and thanks in advance.

[manci]

The 2 year cohabitation requirement is only for unmarried partners. As you are married you only have to show that the marriage is subsisting, i.e. that you are actually living together (correspondence to both of you at the same address e.g. bills, bank statements, tenancy agreement, etc)

[GG_PM2]

Thanks very much! I've re-checked the application we're definitely filling in the right one, so the inclusion of this 2-year cohabitation thing despite saying we are married makes it confusing. Anyways, thanks for the response