Hi everyone,
I am an Irish citizen who is only beginning this journey and I'm looking for some advice as to what documents you think should be submitted.
A bit of background:
I met my partner in the US in 2010 while I was living there. We did live together temporarily in 2012 and full time in 2013 and 2014. Unfortunately my US visa expired at the end of 2014. We considered getting married so I could stay but we realized we were doing it for the wrong reasons. I moved to Hong Kong with my company with the intention of working up the ranks and securing an L1 (management transfer visa in the US), but unfortunately the job wasn't all it cracked up to be and I left. Later I moved to Canada, again with the idea of at least being closer and possibly getting a new US visa. Just over a year ago I was offered a great job back home in Ireland which I took and have been home since Sept. 2016. During this time we have stayed together and flown back and forth to each other as well as travelled to world together. Realizing that I'm finally settling in here at home we have made the decision that maybe the right thing is for her to join me here, rather than me trying to go back to the US, especially with how things have changed there recently.
What we have:
• 7 years together with plenty of photos, stories and evidence of a genuine relationship (thank god for Facebook!!)
• Phone records of daily constant contact through SMS, phone calls, etc.
• Our signed lease agreement from the US with both our names listed as the only tenants in our unit and our pet cat mentioned as well
• Some shared address evidence like bills, cheque books with the address we shared, etc. although after a few years traveling we don't have stacks and stacks of this
• My expired visa as a compelling reason for our cohabitation not being immediately prior to application
• Joint and individual flight bookings showing both flights back and forth to each other as well as travel we have done together
• Evidence of attending family weddings and important events together as a couple
• My earnings are well above the minimum amount for a sponsor and I am willing to support her until she gets set up here
• We will be living in my family home with my parents as I have been saving with the intent of buying a house. Can provide evidence of this and would be happy to prove at any point during the duration of the permission to remain and work that we remain living together at this address
• Joint tattoos to commemorate the anniversary of her father's death (I may be going a bit left field here but I don't know how you prove your relationship is real!!)
• I can get a statement from my work that my employment is permanent and stable and since I've been home over a year now I have P21, P60, etc.
• She has several thousand dollars in savings
• I hope this isn't a factor as it's terribly discriminatory but she is an educated US citizen with a long work history and English is her native language.
Unfortunately I am a little worried that our information on our cohabitation is a bit thin but honestly after 3 years moving around constantly I don't know how I could fix this. I would be happy to open a joint account here with her, but I think she would need the stamp first right? It can be really difficult to open a bank account in Ireland.
So before we begin this process, is there any other documents you advise we should gather? Is there any other general advice you can give us before we get started?
We are both women, does anyone have any experience of sponsoring a same sex de facto partner?
We have again considered marriage, but if we do get married we want it to be romantic and for the right reasons. Given the cost of weddings, we would like to try this route first (also I don't think it's that much easier if you're married - they're still a non EEA citizen).
I really appreciate it, thanks!
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