My partner and I went to Croydon on Friday to apply for an unmarried partner visa. I'm an australian citizen who was on a working holiday visa and my boyfriend is a dual australian/uk citizen. I put a lot of hours into the application, making sure it was filled out neatly, photos were attached, documents were in order & covered the full 2 year period, 3 months of bank statements, and heaps of other additional information to satisfy my paranoia.
The wait outside the office is long, so don't bother arriving before 30 mins before your appointment, though don't be one of those annoying people who turn up late & expect the security guard to let you swan on in! Once inside you pass through security, go through reception where someone checks over your application. They check it fairly thoroughly mainly I think to make sure you have enough documents covering the period. Once upstairs, you pay your £500 and head to the waiting room to wait to be seen. We only waited for 20mins before being seen for consideration.
All they are interested in seeing is exactly what's stated on the form. So make sure you have your 10 documents from each year (we had a mix of joint & individually addressed items), ensuring you have at least one from the first 3 months and one from the last 3 months. 3 months of bank statements (joint or individual) and the completed form. The officer checked the form, checked the documents with her supervisor, photocopied a couple of them & sent us on our way. We were granted my 2 years leave in 20 mins & picked up my passport in an hour.
The staff were fantastic - clearly quite busy & trying to do their best by everyone. The front door security man deserves a medal for his patience & the lady in the shop on level 2 gives good tips on whether the soup of the day is any good. The staff on the doors, at reception & doing the consideration of the application were efficient & pleasant so please be nice to them as they have a pretty tough job. Throw them a smile & ask them how their day's going as though you mean it!
Point of the post is prepare, prepare, prepare. Make sure you have everything they require, if you don't then get it before you go there, check it over a couple of times & get someone else to check your application for you. Follow the form to the letter & you'll have no problems....having said all that, I was incredibly nervous the whole time & am glad it's over. Good luck to all future applicants - I hope your experience is as good as mine.
Jen
