Settlement - Travelling outside your country of residence

[warhyrdag]

Hi,

I am applying for a fiance visa from Czech Republic to UK. I am US citizen, my fiance is British. I have been resident in Czech Republic for 4 years so...

to the question 'Have you travelled, outside your country of residence, in the last 10 years?', does this pertain only for the 4 years I have been resident in the Czech Republic or also for the previous 6 years for all the trips I made outside the US when I was resident there?

Also, a ridiculous question to ask, I am sure, but do I put 'single' or 'unmarried partner' on the marital status? We have lived together for 4 years and technically fall into both categories.

Thanks.

[MPH80]

I think ... actually ... there's a better question here.

If you have lived together for 4 years ... that would mean you would qualify for an unmarried partner settlement visa ... why go for the fiancee visa?

[warhyrdag]

Yeah, it was considered but we were warned away from it as they are (apparently) difficult to get. You see these sceptical views towards the unmarried visa every you look but I don't know how much these things reflect what is actual.

We didn't want to risk it and were looking to get married in the near enough future anyway. We'd be more than happy to reconsider with the right encouragement!

[Kitty]

Is saving the £550 cost of extending leave to remain after your wedding enough of an encouragement?

Do you actually have documentary evidence of having lived together? (joint tenancy, bank accounts, things like that?)

[warhyrdag]

That is the most encouragement, of course!

We have joint tenancy from 2007 some bills in his name, some in mine. Separate bank accounts. Photos and cards etc. are a bit on the thin side and we have no record of correspondence between us (letters, emails, phone records).

We got worried about the unmarried partner way because my fiance is very recently unemployed, due to the company he worked for going through the insolvency process, and we were told that his employment status was quite important. This is actually the reason why we were looking to move.