same sex unmarried partner

[Dado]

Hi

I hope somebody could give me some advice or share their experiences.

I am EEA national trying to register an unmarried partnership with my brazilian boyfriend. My boyfried was previously married to a EEA woman national. their relationship broke down 7 months after their marriage but did not divorce.

My boyfriend and I have been together for three years and therefore we submitted our application to the home office to switch his visa status from her wife to mine.

the home office rejected the application because claimed that my boyfriend did not have any valid leave. The home office states that the leave he had was issued subject to the EEA national (his ex wife) residing here and exercising treaty rights.

We thought that this was not right and we asked the home office to reconsider the application (as we are meeting all requirement set out in the unmarried partner paragraph, which does not require divorce but just proof that any previous relationship has broken down).

the home office came back to us again maintaining that my boyfriend still does not have a valid leave however, they state that our application is still under consideration under a different section (still within the European Dept of the Home Office) and was passed to the unmarried partners dept.

We are now waiting for their reply. What are our rights in these circumstances? Anyone out there has any idea? We love each other very much and want to solve the situation without him having to go back to Brazil and having to go through the entry clearance process.

Thanks

[Rogerio]

Dado,

I guess the fact that the application is still under consideration is good news.

If I were on your shoes, I would book an appointment with my local MP, and request his/her help with the Home Office. Go, explain the situation, and ask him/her to write a letter of support of your case to the HO.

If worse comes to worst, then your partner can always go back to Brazil ( I know you're trying to avoid this) and apply from the British Embassy in Rio. They are quite fast to deal with such applications, and they are normally better to deal with than the HO in London.

Going back to Brazil and applying from there may not be ideal to you both, but surely is better than staying here illegally, and not being able to work, and having to deal with all consequences of illegal living.

Best regards and hope it all goes well for you.

Rogerio

[John]

Dado, as they say, don't shoot the messenger, but I have to say I think IND are right on this occasion. Furthermore he cannot even take advantage of the new EU regulations that came into force on 30.04.06, given that he and his wife were not married for at least three years, of which at least one year was spent in the UK. As you say "their relationship broke down 7 months after their marriage". If those tests had been passed he would have stayed "legal" notwithstanding the breakdown of the marriage, and even been able to obtain Permanent Residence after five years in the UK.

But now, as regards the current relationship, those new-on-30.04.06 regulations assist greatly, in the sense that they clarify that as regards those in an unmarried relationship, together in a "durable relationship" can indeed proceed to make an application on the basis of EU/EEA law.

But I fear that it is only a question of time before your partner gets rejected again. When that happens the only reasonable thing to do is for him to go back to Brazil and apply for an EEA Family Permit there.

[Dado]

Thanks for your replies Rogerio and John.

John, what you give me is not good news. Now I have just have to wait and see what the HO says. We did not write that their marriage broke down after 7 months but I guess if they want they might work it out from the timeline in the application.