Durable relationship for gay couple

[psychguy]

Hi everyone

So my situation is a bit complicated.I am an EU national in a long term relationship with another man .My partner is a non EU national and is now based in my home country.The problem is that because my country is a socially backward shithole (excuse my French ) that is heavily influenced by religious crap there is no provision for gay couples to have their relationship recognised by any means.

Looking at the UKBA site I can sponsor him for a family permit under the durable relationship provision that I reckon we satisfy.We ve been together in my home country close to 3 years now.I am a bit worried about the fact that UKBA mentions that we need to be living together for at least 2 years.In the meantime I have all the evidence suggesting we have been in a genuine relationship 3 years now (emails,photos,chat logs,phone records,joint bank account etc).Will that do the trick or are they absolutely rigid when it comes to this ''living together 2 years''? I mean how can they expect a closeted gay person (my partner) to live with his partner when his family doesnt even know about him and on top of that him being muslim and all? How can they expect us to provide these kind of evidence when in my home country we are virtually invisible when it comes to official recognition of our relationship?I mean it was hell just managing to put his name on my bank account...

I will be applying for this family permit by coming June as I need to return to the UK for my chartered status and eventually settle.I have a recorded absence from the UK of about 3.5 years (it will be more than 4 by June) but the UKBA site mentions clearly that if I am not already in the country i should intend to exercise treaty rights and apply for EEA 1 in 6 months time after entering the UK.

Any suggestions?Surely they cannot exclude an EU national to bring his partner to the UK.We are talking about a genuine relationship here that due to being among same sex partners we might have a difficulty proving our circumstances.Should I contact an LGBT organisation in the UK for further assistance?I am a bit at a loss.Its not worth moving to the UK if I am not with my partner.

Please help...

[chaoclive]

You could post here: http://uklgig.org.uk. It's a dedicated LGBT+ site. Also, contact the Your Europe Advice centre.

Fill in the online form here: http://europa.eu/youreurope/advice/enquiry_en.htm. They should be able to point you in the right direction!

Good luck guys
CC

[psychguy]

You could post here: http://uklgig.org.uk. It's a dedicated LGBT+ site. Also, contact the Your Europe Advice centre.

Fill in the online form here: http://europa.eu/youreurope/advice/enquiry_en.htm. They should be able to point you in the right direction!

Good luck guys
CC

Thank you!Very helpful info indeed.I will use both recourses.

On a side note,does anyone know if this ''2 years cohabitation'' rule is actually an EU law or something?I cant seem to find anything

[chaoclive]

You could post here: http://uklgig.org.uk. It's a dedicated LGBT+ site. Also, contact the Your Europe Advice centre.

Fill in the online form here: http://europa.eu/youreurope/advice/enquiry_en.htm. They should be able to point you in the right direction!

Good luck guys
CC

Thank you!Very helpful info indeed.I will use both recourses.

On a side note,does anyone know if this ''2 years cohabitation'' rule is actually an EU law or something?I cant seem to find anything

I'm not really sure about this but you can see here: http://www.uklgig.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1345.

Do post on the UKLGIG site too. There must be some other people in your situation. If it is possible for you to get a civil partnership in another country, that might be a good idea. I know that you will probably not want to do this only to get immigration clearance but it would definitely help a lot. Of course, you could wait until you have two years cohabitation as well.

[psychguy]

You could post here: http://uklgig.org.uk. It's a dedicated LGBT+ site. Also, contact the Your Europe Advice centre.

Fill in the online form here: http://europa.eu/youreurope/advice/enquiry_en.htm. They should be able to point you in the right direction!

Good luck guys
CC

Thank you!Very helpful info indeed.I will use both recourses.

On a side note,does anyone know if this ''2 years cohabitation'' rule is actually an EU law or something?I cant seem to find anything

I'm not really sure about this but you can see here: http://www.uklgig.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1345.

Do post on the UKLGIG site too. There must be some other people in your situation. If it is possible for you to get a civil partnership in another country, that might be a good idea. I know that you will probably not want to do this only to get immigration clearance but it would definitely help a lot. Of course, you could wait until you have two years cohabitation as well.

Thank you for this!I have just emailed a lawyer from a charity offering legal advice to gay couples that is listed on their website.I hope I ll hear from him soon.

In terms of getting a CP or getting married in another country.Yes,we have thought about it but I am afraid this will be very difficult for my partner.Currently he is ''semi-legal'' in my home country and cant travel anywhere in Europe unless he gets a visa,permit or something as he is seeking asylum.Basically my country is known for keeping immigrants in limbo for years on end due to heavy immigration from Africa and Asia , providing just bs documentation that barely allows him to stay in the country.

Regarding cohabitation.This is also out of the question.He lives with his family,he is closeted and being muslim plays a big role for that.Surely the UKBA should be able to understand that there are significant cultural norms that prevent us from actually living together.Managing to spend 2 nights per week with him is an accomplishment...I dont know how we have managed to sustain even this 2 nights frequency.Its nerve recking at times...

[chaoclive]

Thank you for this!I have just emailed a lawyer from a charity offering legal advice to gay couples that is listed on their website.I hope I ll hear from him soon.
In terms of getting a CP or getting married in another country.Yes,we have thought about it but I am afraid this will be very difficult for my partner.Currently he is ''semi-legal'' in my home country and cant travel anywhere in Europe unless he gets a visa,permit or something as he is seeking asylum.Basically my country is known for keeping immigrants in limbo for years on end due to heavy immigration from Africa and Asia , providing just bs documentation that barely allows him to stay in the country.
Regarding cohabitation.This is also out of the question.He lives with his family,he is closeted and being muslim plays a big role for that.Surely the UKBA should be able to understand that there are significant cultural norms that prevent us from actually living together.Managing to spend 2 nights per week with him is an accomplishment...I dont know how we have managed to sustain even this 2 nights frequency.Its nerve recking at times...

So sorry to hear that you Hope you get something sorted out soon.

You could seek some legal advise from a lawyer who is experience in EU law. There is a list on UKLGIG.

[Obie]

He may qualify under durable partners provision if he can demonstrate that the relationship is beyond boyfriends.

That it us a structured one, not withstanding the lack of cohabitation.

That the reason for lack of cohabitation is due to social and cultural barriers in the country of the partners origin.

I believe you will find a lot more assistance from the website recommended to you.

[psychguy]

That it us a structured one, not withstanding the lack of cohabitation.

Can you clarify ''structured''? My understanding is that as long as they can identify in the interview that we have common long-term goals and the genuine persisting nature of the relationship we should not have any problems.At least this is what common logic dictates.Anything beyond that defeats the purpose of having this durable relationship provision.In my mind asking for proof of cohabitation and not taking into account the cultural context in which our relationship is defined is almost discriminatory.

Also I came across a community law centre in London offering advice for LGBT immigration.Do these centres actually help with applications?

I am still waiting for a response from the lawyer listed on the recommended site.

[CatV]

I can only wish the best of luck to you! Marrying in an EU country may be a good idea -- see what the lawyer has to say.

My situation was much less extreme than yours (however much of a straggler the US may be, it's not risky for gay people to live together). But when I applied, my partner and I had only been legally married a few months, because same-sex marriage was only recently legalized in our state. My wife mentioned the recent legalization in the cover letter, and we included a lease showing we'd been living together prior to marriage. We did not need to prove it has been for two years, however. The lease going back just over a year was good enough.

I think mentioning that was probably a good idea. You might want to mention in yours the social hardship in your country that makes living together difficult. If you can provide extensive documentation of your ongoing contact, and get some good advice from a lawyer, hopefully you will have a simple application process.

Best of luck to you!

[psychguy]

I can only wish the best of luck to you! Marrying in an EU country may be a good idea -- see what the lawyer has to say.

My situation was much less extreme than yours (however much of a straggler the US may be, it's not risky for gay people to live together). But when I applied, my partner and I had only been legally married a few months, because same-sex marriage was only recently legalized in our state. My wife mentioned the recent legalization in the cover letter, and we included a lease showing we'd been living together prior to marriage. We did not need to prove it has been for two years, however. The lease going back just over a year was good enough.

I think mentioning that was probably a good idea. You might want to mention in yours the social hardship in your country that makes living together difficult. If you can provide extensive documentation of your ongoing contact, and get some good advice from a lawyer, hopefully you will have a simple application process.

Best of luck to you!

Thank you very much for your reply.Just to clarify that my home country (regardless of how stupidly it treats its LGBT population in terms of legal recognition for same-sex relationships) does not present any serious difficulty on LGBT cohabitation.It's an EU country after all.The problem stems from the cultural and social restrictions inflicting my partner (and at a lesser extend due to non recognition of same-sex relationships in my home country).He can not risk moving out of his parents home (they have immigrated in my home country some 6 years ago and live together) on the basis that he will be cohabiting with an unknown (to them) man... .Its a closely knit Asian/Muslim community he observes.We hope that moving to the UK will solve this and will provide time for him to be distanced and psychologically ready to come out.

As far as marrying to another EU country in which same-sex marriage is legal I doubt he will even get a tourist visa as his status in my home country is really complicated.Plus most (if not all) EU countries have residency requirements for marriage that make it difficult even for me as an EU national to satisfy.

Canada might be an option (due to lack of residency requirements for marriage) but I highly doubt he will even get to say hi before they reject flat out any tourist visa application he makes due to his complicated status in my EU home country.Basically my partner is pretty much a ''hostage'' in my country due to the crappy immigration system we have here.

Btw I have repeatedly tried to register to the recommended LGBT forum but it keeps giving me an error.I tried like 6 different email addresses...Still waiting for the charity lawyer to respond...

[chaoclive]

I can only wish the best of luck to you! Marrying in an EU country may be a good idea -- see what the lawyer has to say.

My situation was much less extreme than yours (however much of a straggler the US may be, it's not risky for gay people to live together). But when I applied, my partner and I had only been legally married a few months, because same-sex marriage was only recently legalized in our state. My wife mentioned the recent legalization in the cover letter, and we included a lease showing we'd been living together prior to marriage. We did not need to prove it has been for two years, however. The lease going back just over a year was good enough.

I think mentioning that was probably a good idea. You might want to mention in yours the social hardship in your country that makes living together difficult. If you can provide extensive documentation of your ongoing contact, and get some good advice from a lawyer, hopefully you will have a simple application process.

Best of luck to you!

Thank you very much for your reply.Just to clarify that my home country (regardless of how stupidly it treats its LGBT population in terms of legal recognition for same-sex relationships) does not present any serious difficulty on LGBT cohabitation.It's an EU country after all.The problem stems from the cultural and social restrictions inflicting my partner (and at a lesser extend due to non recognition of same-sex relationships in my home country).He can not risk moving out of his parents home (they have immigrated in my home country some 6 years ago and live together) on the basis that he will be cohabiting with an unknown (to them) man... .Its a closely knit Asian/Muslim community he observes.We hope that moving to the UK will solve this and will provide time for him to be distanced and psychologically ready to come out.

As far as marrying to another EU country in which same-sex marriage is legal I doubt he will even get a tourist visa as his status in my home country is really complicated.Plus most (if not all) EU countries have residency requirements for marriage that make it difficult even for me as an EU national to satisfy.

Canada might be an option (due to lack of residency requirements for marriage) but I highly doubt he will even get to say hi before they reject flat out any tourist visa application he makes due to his complicated status in my EU home country.Basically my partner is pretty much a ''hostage'' in my country due to the crappy immigration system we have here.

Btw I have repeatedly tried to register to the recommended LGBT forum but it keeps giving me an error.I tried like 6 different email addresses...Still waiting for the charity lawyer to respond...

If you like, you can write a succinct question and i'll post it on the UKLGIG forum for you and then report back if I get a response.

[psychguy]

If you like, you can write a succinct question and i'll post it on the UKLGIG forum for you and then report back if I get a response.

Thank you very much!!

I will pm you soon

[Obie]

How about you make an application for an EEA family permit for your partner, you detail your personal circumstance, which the UK are required to give extensive examination to, and see what they say or how it goes.

He may well be successful , if not, further advice can be obtained as to the steps to take.

[psychguy]

How about you make an application for an EEA family permit for your partner, you detail your personal circumstance, which the UK are required to give extensive examination to, and see what they say or how it goes.

He may well be successful , if not, further advice can be obtained as to the steps to take.

So you mean that it is possible for the sponsor to actually do the EEA family permit application? I remember looking at the form quickly a couple of months ago and was left with the impression that he should be the one to do it.Anyhow either way I will be the one to fill it in as his written English is not that great but if doing it under my name would strengthen his chances then this is what we will do.

[chaoclive]

How about you make an application for an EEA family permit for your partner, you detail your personal circumstance, which the UK are required to give extensive examination to, and see what they say or how it goes.

He may well be successful , if not, further advice can be obtained as to the steps to take.

So you mean that it is possible for the sponsor to actually do the EEA family permit application? I remember looking at the form quickly a couple of months ago and was left with the impression that he should be the one to do it.Anyhow either way I will be the one to fill it in as his written English is not that great but if doing it under my name would strengthen his chances then this is what we will do.

Of course he should be the one doing it but who knows/cares? You just get him to sign it at the end. I think Obie wasn't being specific about who would write/complete the application form itself. I think what he meant was that you guys should go ahead and apply for an EEAFP, no matter who completes it.

YOU CAN'T DO IT UNDER YOUR NAME - he is the applicant, you are the sponsor. Don't make this mistake. You, being an EEA national, will NOT be issued with an EEAFP.

[psychguy]

YOU CAN'T DO IT UNDER YOUR NAME - he is the applicant, you are the sponsor. Don't make this mistake. You, being an EEA national, will NOT be issued with an EEAFP.

Yep,I wouldnt have done it under my name if I was not allowed to.I just thought that obie meant that I could do this.For some reason I am not allowed to use pm on this forum.Could you possibly copy paste to a new thread my initial post to the LGBT forum you recommended?

Thank you very much for your support!!!

[chaoclive]

YOU CAN'T DO IT UNDER YOUR NAME - he is the applicant, you are the sponsor. Don't make this mistake. You, being an EEA national, will NOT be issued with an EEAFP.

Yep,I wouldnt have done it under my name if I was not allowed to.I just thought that obie meant that I could do this.For some reason I am not allowed to use pm on this forum.Could you possibly copy paste to a new thread my initial post to the LGBT forum you recommended?

Thank you very much for your support!!!

OK. I'll do it now.

[psychguy]

YOU CAN'T DO IT UNDER YOUR NAME - he is the applicant, you are the sponsor. Don't make this mistake. You, being an EEA national, will NOT be issued with an EEAFP.

Yep,I wouldnt have done it under my name if I was not allowed to.I just thought that obie meant that I could do this.For some reason I am not allowed to use pm on this forum.Could you possibly copy paste to a new thread my initial post to the LGBT forum you recommended?

Thank you very much for your support!!!

OK. I'll do it now.

You are the best my friend.I found the thread you posted and will be checking it out.

[chaoclive]

[/quote]You are the best my friend.I found the thread you posted and will be checking it out.[/quote]

Haha. Hope someone will get back to you on there. That forum isn't quite as busy as here though.

[Obie]

It goes without saying , that your partner will be lodging the applocation and would be down as the applicant. You will merely be the sponsor.

As i said the first step is to apply, stating the circumstance of the case and the social constraint and restrictions your partner faced, which has prevented you from living together.

See what they say, and if it is adverse, you can appeal.

[psychguy]

you can appeal.

I was doing some research on the appeals procedure just in case.Do you or anyone else know if we get full right of appeal?I think in some cases they dont even give you the right to appeal.

[Obie]

You will have a full right of appeal in accordance with Regulation 27 of the EEA Regulations as amended.

[psychguy]

Thank you Obie

[psychguy]

Haha. Hope someone will get back to you on there. That forum isn't quite as busy as here though.

I see there is an answer.Could you possibly link them with this thread so they ll catch up on what we have already covered?

[chaoclive]

Haha. Hope someone will get back to you on there. That forum isn't quite as busy as here though.

I see there is an answer.Could you possibly link them with this thread so they ll catch up on what we have already covered?

I have copied the link to this page over there. Not sure if they will check it out though.