Tier 2 Unmarried Partner Visa - Appropriate Documentation

[xtirax]

Hi All,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I've trawled through the threads tried to search the forum using keywords in Google and have been unable to find a thread of someone in a similar situation.

My partner and I are both Australian and have been in London since 18 April 2015 on the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa. This is due to end (18/4/17) and I am in discussions to be sponsored by my current employer which is looking optimistic, however my partner and I do not have what I would consider to be 'official' documentation to evidence cohabitation for a full 24 month period.

We have been together for almost 5 years (and have the yearly holidays, plane tickets, photos etc to back it), and have Council Tax bills, Bank Statements, NHS and HMRC bills in the UK starting from 22 June 2015, so proving 21 months of cohabitation will not be a problem at the time of application. However, we were travelling for 2+ months and looking for a place to stay in from 18 April 2015 until 22 June 2015, so are 3 months short of the strongly-recommended 24 month period of documentation. Prior to this we were staying at my parents house in Australia for 4-5 of months before making the big move over to trial living together, so we have limited utility bills or bank statements showing both of us at the same address given we knew we were leaving the country anyway.

What I do have is a letter from our lawyer in November 2014 confirming the purchase of our property together, this letter is addressed to both of us and sent to my parent's address. Further, we have a loan document (issued in Oct/Nov 2014), a joint account in both our names which we opened in October 2014, and also have monthly rental statements from our Property Manager in Australia showing payment from our tenants which is again addressed to both of us.

Will the above be sufficient to show an 'enduring' relationship that is akin to marriage (and so on so forth) or is my partner better off waiting until June 2016 to get the relevant documentation and then make the application? Thank you in advance for any input.

[Obie]

You are unable to switch to Tier 2 from within the UK . You will need to return to Australia to do that.