HELP req. for unmarried partner

[joshr_]

Hi guys, I hope you experts could help identify a route for my Canadian partner to immigrate to the UK.

A bit about us:
Been together 18 months, I'm 27, shes 31yrs, we are unmarried, both working with our own homes. She will leave her house rented over there and may continue to work remotely with a North American company if she moves here. I will earn above the minimum thresholds set out as a sponsor.

No joint accounts/bills etc as we live in different countries so that's not something we could show.

She has visited here once and visited here for a couple months on a regular tourist visa.
I have visited her in Canada a few times, met friends, family and have a HUGE plethora of evidence/pics to back this up for the duration of our relationship. We spent the first year travelling together so we met in different countries, between me returning back to the UK for work.

A genuine solid, loving relationship that is ready for that next step, what are the easiest options available to us with the information provided? No wedding on the horizon. We just want to live here permanently together.

I've seen the "Unmarried partner visa" (must be together for 2yrs, we can wait that 6 months)

Any generic work visas which would be better suited? I want the best chance for her approval so we can be together and don't want to scrape through with the Unmarried visa application if there is an more easily obtainable work visa. What a complex system!

Best regards, Josh.

[CR001]

I've seen the "Unmarried partner visa" (must be together for 2yrs, we can wait that 6 months)

It is not about being in a relationship for two years. It is mandatory to submit evidence of living together in a relationship akin to marriage for two years with substantial evidence submitted to document this and joint financial committments. Without meeting this mandatory requirement and submitting rock solid evidence, the application will be refused. There is no discretion on this and for all intents and purposes, your relationship as it is now will only be viewed as a boyfriend/girlfriend one where you both live in different countries.

Any generic work visas which would be better suited? I want the best chance for her approval so we can be together and don't want to scrape through with the Unmarried visa application if there is an more easily obtainable work visa. What a complex system!

Marriage and then a spouse visa or she must find a sponsor and get a tier 3 general visa (she can't work in the UK for a company based solely on North American though, she must work for a UK employer). Or if she has a UK born British grandparent, she can apply for an Ancestral visa. She has unfortunately missed the eligibility by one year to apply for a tier 5 youth mobility visa.

[joshr_]

I don't understand how you can have been living together for 2 years if neither of you have immigration clearance in the other partners country?

To which then you seek it, hence why I am here.

[seagul]

13. 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.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... e-together

[geoeng]

I don't understand how you can have been living together for 2 years if neither of you have immigration clearance in the other partners country?

It's most likely you can't. There have recently been some examples on here of people attempting to apply having lived together while on tourists visas in each other countries, though no confirmation yet of whether they have been successful. I would suggest this is probably a very risky thing to do and is unlikely to succeed. As has been pointed out, the intent of this particular visa category is to facilitate immigration for those already in a relationship akin to marriage for which there is an expectation of living together.

CR001 has already mentioned the other visa categories available (work, marriage, etc.). If it's a serious relationship, the other thing to consider would be for you to go to Canada for a couple years to meet the requirement of 2 years living together to get an unmarried partner visa and come back to the UK. I will echo CR001's comment that it is unfortunate you didn't look into this a bit earlier as the eligibility for the youth mobility scheme visa ends at the applicant's 31st birthday and it would have provided exactly what you want.

[ALKB]

I don't understand how you can have been living together for 2 years if neither of you have immigration clearance in the other partners country?

To which then you seek it, hence why I am here.

The unmarried partner visa is for people who have been living with their British or settled partner in the UK on a visa other than a spouse visa; for example a student visa, work visa or youth mobility visa.

It's also possible that he UK partner has been living in their partner's home country for two years or longer under a residence permit they qualify for.

Not everybody qualifies for every type of visa.

[joshr_]

Thanks for the guidance all.

If we were to marry, for example in the very near future.

Would we satisfy all criteria for a marriage spouse visa?
Or do we still have to have lived together for a defined period of time.

It seems a little backwards for us, the reason we are applying is so we CAN live together.

[CR001]

Would we satisfy all criteria for a marriage spouse visa?

Yes, you would qualify for a spouse visa if you meet all the requirements.

Or do we still have to have lived together for a defined period of time.

No.

[joshr_]

Thank you,

Can my partner come here and marry on a visitor visa?

[CR001]

Can my partner come here and marry on a visitor visa?

No she can't. Your partner would have to apply for the 6 month fiancé visa, which costs £1533 and then once married, she can switch within the UK to a spouse visa. While on the fiancé visa, she is not entitled to free NHS and she is not permitted to do any form of work, not even remote work for an employer abroad.

In order to marry in the UK, you have to give 28 days notice at an HO approved Registry office, who then inform Home Office, who can then extend the 28 days to 70 days to investigate and/or interview each of you separately, before they grant permission to marry.

[joshr_]

Thanks CR001. It seems that marrying abroad and then applying for a Marriage visa may be the cheaper option for us with less hassle.

Would you agree?

[CR001]

Thanks CR001. It seems that marrying abroad and then applying for a Marriage visa may be the cheaper option for us with less hassle.

Would you agree?

It is indeed. I will give a breakdown below for you, then you can see the difference.

Option 1
* 6 month fiancé visa costing £1533 and meeting all the same requirements as you would need to a spouse visa in addition to having to provide evidence of intent to marry, ie quotes, emails with registry office etc.

* Once married, apply for a spouse visa costing £1033 plus IHS of £1000 (currently £400 per year and £200 part year and is due to increase in October this year to £625 per year). A spouse visa is granted for 2.5 years and all requirements must be met.

Option 2
* Marry abroad, anywhere.

* From your partners home country, they apply for the spouse visa costing £1533 plus IHS of £1200 (initial visa is for 33 months). Note again my comment above about the IHS and it increase due later this year. You would need to meet the same requirements again, i.e. financial and prove you have adequate accommodation.

* Once the spouse visa is granted, your partner will have 30 days to enter the UK as that will be the initial visa vignette validity granted. Once in the UK, collect the Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) within 10 days of arrival from the Post Office you nominated in the application. The BRP will be the full validity of the visa.

Your partner will then require a second spouse visa extension shortly before her visa expires or shortly before she reaches 30 months residence, counted from the date she entered the UK. This extension will be for 2.5 years.

Shortly before the 5th anniversary of the date she entered the UK, she can apply for indefinite leave to remain. Once granted and she meets all the requirements, she can then apply immediately for British citizenship as the spouse of a British citizen.

[Br28016]

She can get a marriage visit visa which allows you to get married in uk. Lasts 6 months and she HAS to leave the country at the end of visa duration. She CANNOT apply for settlement visa in UK. Can only get married at certain registry offices. We did that as suited our circumstances and only had the 28 days to wait.

Can then apply for spouse visa from home country.