UK lad & US lass need your help!

[trisash]

The stress of it all is something you will all probable relate to, I hope there is someone who can relieve me of mine somewhat!

My situation is as follows:
I am a UK citizen and my girlfriend is a US citizen. She has been legally separated from her husband for 5 years. She has 2 children, the father is Guatemalan and for this reason she still lives in Guatemala.

I have been in a relationship with my girlfriend for 3 years, meeting in England during her visit here and then visiting each other until March 06. In March 06 I moved to Guatemala to be with her. Luckily I found a job, I am a qualified accountant, but next month (June 07) my job finishes. Realistically I won’t find another job in Guatemala it is not an easy place for someone who doesn’t speak Spanish to work. This has put a spanner in the works as we were hoping to apply for an unmarried couples visa after 2 years. We don’t feel ready to get married but do want to stay together.

I have read that I can leave for up to 6 months (unmarried partner visa) but would like some advice as to whether my situation would be justifiable enough for me to leave for a few months.

Also, to add a further twist, my girlfriend’s father was a UK citizen, he died a couple of years ago and my girlfriend has never had any contact with him. I am aware that my girlfriend would not qualify for a UK ancestry visa as she is not from a commonwealth country but I am unclear as to whether her father’s nationality is a route which could be looked into further?

I would appreciate any advice that anybody is kind enough to lend

[Marco 72]

How did her father obtain his UK citizenship? Was it by descent, or otherwise?

[trisash]

I think that his mother was French and his father was British, although i do not think he himself was born in the UK.
I should have also mentioned that my girlfriend is 35, i dont know if that would have any importance