Partner on Tier 5 YMs visa. Options for us to stay together?

[pootle]

Hi there, and thank you in advance for reading this.

I've been with my boyfriend from Australia for almost a year, living together since January. His Youth Mobility visa runs out at the beginning of October and we desperately want to stay together, but he doesn't have enough points to apply for citizenship because, as far as we know, he hasn't earned enough to make up the points. I'm not sure you can even gain points with that any more.

He has a job now, but as he's only been there for a couple of months they won't be able to sponsor him and, if they could, it's only an electronics shop so they'd probably not be able to prove he's invaluable to keep him working there.
He has a degree in sound engineering and wants to pursue a career in that, which is proving difficult right now.

We plan to visit Berlin and then go back to Australia for a month or so when his visa runs out, but if he comes back as a visitor and is only able to be here as one for 6 months in a year, we wouldn't be able to apply for an unmarried couple visa any time soon.
I'll be 30 in a couple of months so I don't think I can apply for a visa to live over there and I'm unable to work here due to mental health difficulties so I wouldn't be able to work there anyway.

Is there no other option than marriage? We would do it in a heartbeat because we know we'll be together for a long time, but I'm on benefits due to my disability and would lose a lot of them if we did marry, and so he'd have to get a decent job to provide for both of us. I read elsewhere on this forum that someone was able to sponsor their partner as a carer but does that mean he wouldn't be able to work another job? Would that even be possible? My mental health will be affected if he can't stay, and my Mental Health Team are asking me how they can help because he's been such a huge help to me since we met.

I hope I've posted this in the right section and welcome any advice. I'm quite tired because I'm not sleeping from the stress so I apologise if this reads a bit garbled.

[Greenie]

It seems like you have a lot of misinformation. There is no such thing as having enough points for citizenship.

You say if you got married you would lose your benefits but if you are living together as a couple then you should be declaring this in relation to your benefits claims anyway cohabiting couples are treated the same way as married couple with respect to benefit claims.

Unless your boyfriend qualifies for a visa in another category unconnected to you then i don't see much alternative but for marriage. If losing your benefits is the only thing stopping you marrying then this is misguided for the reasons explained. I would suggest you seek advice from a benefits advisor on this and that your boyfriend seeks advice from an immigration solicitor on his options.

[pootle]

Thank you for your response.
I was told by the benefits people that it was only once we were married that it would drastically affect my benefits. At the moment it's not a huge amount as he's not earning a lot of money, so maybe that's why it's not so bad at the moment, but I was told once we were married we'd be treated differently.
I'm not overly concerned about the money side of things as that will have to be dealt with in any case, I was wondering if there were any other options before proceeding.

I do seem to be getting a lot of misinformation on both things.
We were convinced when he had a good job that he would be able to apply for citizenship or at the very least, some extra time.

Every time I've spoken to UKBA they tell me something different and our immigration solicitor seems to have disappeared, not answering our calls, and so I'm not even sure who to contact now. We weren't paying him so I guess he didn't have as much obligation to our case and when he was looking.

So, if we get married, what sort of things are we supposed to come up with to prove it's genuine? And is there anywhere online I could find info on sponsoring him as a carer or is that a lose cause?

[Greenie]

What benefits are you claiming? I can't imagine what benefits you would lose if you married that you wouldn't lose if you were cohabiting.

There is no 'carers visa' category of the sort you appear to be suggesting. Unless you require constant care and attention that you cannot get elsewhere and are also financially dependent on your partner which doesn't appear to be the case then forget cabout this idea.

If the solicitor you were instructing was under the legal age scheme then he is being paid to advise you. Even if he is helping you pro bono he should be responding to your calls.

[pootle]

I am on ESA and DLA at the moment. I don't get the single persons discount on council tax anymore and have to pay rent now. I'm guessing marriage is the only option now. I'll try to get hold of the solicitor again. It's been months and he always seems to forget who we are. We found him through the Croydon Law Centre so he is free, but voluntary.

[Greenie]

Most law centres have legal aid contracts - did you sign a legal help form and did he assess your income to see if you were eligible to free legal advice?

Are you on income based or contribution based ESA?

[pootle]

He didn't assess our income or even ask about me. When we saw a solicitor my boyfriend was only asking about extending his visa and the guy said we would have to check after Easter when the UKBA website was updated. We've had little contact since. I think we need to try somewhere else and I'm not sure I'm entitled to legal aid since we've been officially a couple. I get income related ESA I think, but I'd have to check. It's all quite overwhelming for.me.