Proving unmarried partner status

[FirangInIndia]

Hi there,

This post is a follow up to the one I originally left at http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... highlight=.

My partner (an Indian divorcee) and I - who have been living together since June 2008 (and together as a couple for almost two years) - are trying to line things up to enter the UK under the terms and conditions for the Unmarried Partner Visa. Proving our cohabitation in a country that does not approve of unmarried partners cohabiting has been pretty difficult. However, through constant persistence we now have various pieces of paper of varying strength:

1. Notarised joint rental agreement from 15 November 2008.
2. Furniture rental receipts in our joint names dating back to the same time.
3. A landline in my girlfriend's name, although the company somehow got her name very wrong when we started it in June and the name will only read correctly from the next statement.
4. An Internet connection in my name (this is in the process of being put in - the first bill will come only on 5th November). They will give paper bills, whereas the last company would give only online ones.
5. We are both registered at the same doctor / hospital. We both have dot matrix computer printouts from the reception desk from the time we registered, and I have a whole load of receipts that mention my address, as I had to have some tests done. However, they do not actually send anything to our address or give anything like an NHS medical card.
6. I am in the process of getting my Indian Police foreigners registration shifted from Pune (where I used to live) to Bangalore. This will not get completed until later this month sometime, and they may not actually state my new address. However, part of the process included getting 'verified' by the local police and I was given a verification certificate to take to the Foreigners Registration Office and I've craftily taken a photocopy of this.
7. I will be able to open a bank account only once I have Bangalore Police registration. However, Reserve Bank of India rules do not allow for an Indian and a non-Indian to share a joint bank account.
8. In the meantime, my partner is in the process of opening a new bank account registered at our residential address.
9. My partner is trying to shift her office mobile phone bill from the office address to the home address. This might not prove possible, as work pays for it.
10. We will be able to ask our banks to state each other's names as beneficiaries in case of our deaths. However, the only proof we get of this is a tiny tear-off slip at the bottom of the form, signed by the teller at the bank. Is this enough?
11. We will ask two friends whom we stayed with while house-hunting in Pune and then Bangalore (no landlord would give us a place to rent while unmarried!) to give us signed letters stating that we lived with them from June to November 2008.
12). We have been collecting items of post from companies (Stupid, journals subscribed to, etc.) and also postcards we've sent each other while apart.

How does this look, do you think? My main concerns are a). that a lot of the above looks rather flimsy; and b). that we don't satisfy the 'beginning, middle and end of each of two years' criteria for supplying these proofs.

One idea we had is that we've started asking companies who send us letters to state c/o my name on her mail and c/o her name on mine. We hope that this will count for something - do you think it will? It is such a pain that in India, nobody (with the exception of the company we rent furniture from) will give anything in a joint name unless (if one is lucky) one is married!

Any thoughts on the 'beginning, middle and end' criteria and the potential weight of the documents we are getting together, would be sincerely appreciated.

When I posted previously, working visas were suggested as an alternative. Am I correct in understanding that if one has enough points for Tier 1, one can come to the UK even if one does not have a job in hand? Another measure I am currently taking is that I am boosting my girlfriend's monthly income by around £200 per month (I have given her an appointment letter saying that she is consulting for my sole trading operation), which gives her more than enough points once the India uplift is applied. I HOPE this is legit, as I am actually using her services as she is doing consulting work for me / my business. Is that acceptable?

I don't think Tier 2 will be an option, as one has to secure a job before leaving for the UK.

All input will be warmly received!

Thanks so much,

FII

[FirangInIndia]

So many views, yet nobody seems to know. Still, I have faith in you guys .