Advise regarding visa option?

[camsoft2000]

So I met my Girlfriend here in the UK when she was studying English. We lived under the same roof for 5 months then she left the UK to return to Thailand. She then came back to do a 2.5yr Masters at university. For about the last 1.5yr we've lived together since I bought my flat. So we've been living together on and off for over 2 years. The entire time she has been on a Student Visa which has now expired and she has left the UK and returned to Thailand in May.

We really want to be together in the UK but it's too complicated at this time to get married due to family constraints, though at some point in the next year or two we will get married.

What can we do in the mean time to live together in the UK?

I've looked at the Visa types and rules and I wondered if she can apply for either:

1) 6 Month Visitor Visa
2) Unmarried Partner Visa

Regarding 6 month visitor visa the document (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... e_v4_0.pdf) says:

"There is no specified maximum period which an individual can spend in the UK in
any period such as ‘6 months in 12 months’. However, if it is clear from an
individual’s travel history that they are making the UK their home you should refuse
their application."

She has been in the UK for over 3 years on Student visas and her intention was to study and not make it her home but obviously I'm worried they will think she used the student visa to live her and reject the visitor visa. Though that's entirely untrue she was here to study and completed her Masters.

If she got her visitor visa rejected would that mean that if we ever get married that a spouse visa would also get rejected due to previous rejection?

Regarding the unmarried partner visa this is the visa I understand the least, how do this work?
Could we apply for this, how do we prove that we are a couple? She has lived in the UK and with me under the same roof as a student.

Any advice anyone could give us would be greatly appreciated.

[CR001]

Unmarried partner visa would have had more chance if she had applied while she was in the UK and before her student visa expired. You/she have to prove with doucmentary evidence that you have 'been living in a relationship akin to marriage' for at least 2 years immediately preceding application date.

There is no 'girlfriend/boyfriend' visa as such.

[Wanderer]

How long was the gap between the 5 months and the 2.5 years of living together?

[Casa]

How long was the gap between the 5 months and the 2.5 years of living together?

Also, could your co-habitation be viewed by the Case Worker as two friends living together or do you have the supporting evidence required to show a relationship 'akin to marriage' in joint finances, joint tenancy or mortgage, utility bills in joint names etc.

[camsoft2000]

There was about 5 month gap between first stint and second stint in UK. We weren't a couple the entire time just lived together. We've been in a relationship for the last 2 years but I'm not sure how I would prove that.

While we are boyfriend and girlfriend we very much have lived together as a couple so from my point of view unmarried partner would seem appropriate. We don't have joint tenancy, mortgage or bank accounts but she was registered at my address for council tax exemption purposes. She moved into my flat the day I got the keys and we've lived together since and until her student visa expired.

[CR001]

For an unmarried partner visa, the 2 years living together is non negotiable. HO enforces this requirement strictly. You would also need substantial documentary evidence of joint/shared responsibilities, which from your post, doesn't appear that you have.

[Casa]

SET5.13 What types of evidence might demonstrate living together and a relationship akin to marriage / civil partnership?
"The applicant must provide six pieces of correspondence addressed to him / her and their partner at the same address as evidence that they have been living together during the past 2 years. The items of correspondence should be addressed to them jointly or in both their names. If they do not have enough items in their joint names, they may also provide items addressed to each of other individually if they show the same address for both of them. The documents provided must be originals and should be spread over the whole 2 years; they should also be from at least 3 different sources. Examples of what documentation the applicant could provide are listed below:

Joint commitments, (such as joint bank accounts, investments, rent agreements, mortgage, life insurance policy naming the other partner as beneficiary etc);
Birth certificates or records of any children of the relationship, showing both partners as parents;
Any official correspondence linking both partners to the same address, for example Council Tax, utility bills, Doctors records;
Any other evidence that adequately demonstrates the couple’s long-term commitment to each other."

Regarding a period of absence see SET5-12
Periods apart for up to six months would be acceptable for good reasons, such as work commitments, or looking after a relative as long as:
it was not possible for the other partner to accompany; and
the applicant can show evidence that the relationship continued throughout that period, for example, by visits, letters, logged phone calls.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ners-set05

The refusal of a visitor visa application shouldn't affect a later application as spouse or unmarried partner, which will be assessed on its own merits.

[camsoft2000]

That's helpful.

We didn't share bank accounts, or mortgages etc because she was here as a student on a student visa I'm not sure she could legally be on my mortgage or other accounts. But we are a couple and plan to get married.

I do have council tax letters addressed to both or us at this address though.

If this is not an option, what are my other options?

What chance would she have of getting a Visitor Visa baring in mind that she has been here recently for over 2 years in total on a Student Visa. When they mention rejecting people who appear to be making the UK their home, would they include the time she was here on a Student Visa towards this and reject her application for a visitor visa?

[Casa]

The time on a student visa won't clock up against the permitted time in the UK when applying for a visitor visa, but the crucial requirement will be for your partner to submit compelling evidence of strong ties to her home country. With a partner living in the UK that may be challenging.