Do we have any other options for extending the visa?

[GrahamD85]

Hi guys,

I'm going to start this story from the top, hope you don't mind. Seems like a lot of friendly people on this forum so I want to introduce myself and my situation properly rather than just post a quick question!

I am a British national, and my girlfriend is American. I met her when I went to an American university in 2004 on an exchange. Having spent 10 months in the US, I came back to complete my final year in England. My girlfriend visited for a few months in summer and did a short university course in London, then studied at a UK university for 6 months in January the next year. For a couple of years we visited each other back and forth, but spent the majority of our time apart. In September 2007 my girlfriend decided to study for her Masters here in the UK, and got a place on a Masters course in my town. She completed it with a distinction and applied for the Tier 1 Post-Study Worker category, which was approved in February 2009.

We've been together for 5 years now, although a lot of it was spent apart. Her Tier 1 Post-Study Worker visa expires February 2011, and I'm looking at the options for her to stay. Currently she works as a PR & Marketing exec at a recruitment company, but only earns £19,000 per year. Her salary review isn't happening until the end of February 2010, which means that even if she did get a rise to £20,000 (which may not happen in this economic climate) she still wouldn't get the points needed for the Tier 1 HSMP visa as the new wage wouldn't kick in until March 2010. It's frustrating because she has all the points needed for the HSMP except the earnings category.

We've discussed returning to the US at some point next year to get married and then coming back to the UK, but I wanted to know if there were any other options that would give us more time before we do this.

I'd really appreciate any help you can give, and it feels great to be able to talk to people who know about this and have been in similar situations. Sometimes I feel like the two of us are alone in our visa-exploring!

Cheers

[Wanderer]

Have you cohabited together as man and wife for two years or more?

[GrahamD85]

Hi Wanderer,

Since she moved here to study for her Masters in September 2007, we have been living together as if we were married. We've shared the same flat and she has not lived anywhere else. But as she was a student I didn't think that counted towards living together for two years...

[Casa]

It does.

[GrahamD85]

Wow. Thank you so much. I was sure I'd seen somewhere a note on the Student Visa or PSW Visa that it does not count towards living together. I'm not an expert though and you seem to have a lot more experience.

I love this lady to bits and would have married her, but doing the Unmarried Partners visa would give us enough time to plan things properly and be like a 'normal couple' haha!

Could you tell me what I need to apply for this? We're obviously both in the UK.

Thanks again

[Casa]

Have a look at form FLR(M) on the UKBA website.

[GrahamD85]

Thanks for your help Casa - you've made my day

Cheers to Wanderer as well for pointing it out