Unmarried Partners Visa - advice please!

[t2f]

I am an australian living in the UK under a tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme visa. I have been here since april 22nd with my other half and i really dont want to leave!

i have seen that there is this Unmarried Partners Visa i can apply for, but you have to have been living together for 2 yrs. there is a gap of around 2 months where we werent at the same address, and i had submitted forms off to the ukba informing them of 2 address changes. I spoke with an immigration lawyer whos a friend of a friend and he said that it would be a bit tricky but they may be lenient considering im not applying for indefinite leave to remain, and im on the YMS visa which is all work based, not relationship based.

he also said that it would be best, in my case, if i apply in person with my partner.

just need to know if theres been anyone else in a similar situation as me, and if they have gotten in or been knocked back, and also whether i should take the lawyers advice and go in person with my partner. my visa expires in april this year!



cheers

[Lucapooka]

I tend to disagree that applying in person will be easier. Unless it's immediately obvious to the caseworker that the application matches the rules perfectly, your application will be retained and a decision sent to you in the post weeks or months later. Effectively you will be paying a premium rate for a postal application. But perhaps only your lawyer, who has actually seen the quality of your paperwork, can say for sure if your application will pass muster at the PEO.

You say you have been in the UK since April 2011 so one must assume that you are making up the shortfall in the 24 month relationship akin to marriage with time spent together before this date (perhaps in other countries)?

[t2f]

ive been here since april 2010 but ive been with him since dec 2009, so it has been within the 2 yrs. i was just wondering if applying in person would be better seeing as if they needed to ask any questions we would be there to answer them?

[Lucapooka]

Applying at the PEO does not afford the applicant the opportunity of an interview when any doubts can be ironed out in a face to face situation. Only applications that are immediately and obviously straightforward (meeting all the rules and requirements) should be attempted at the PEO.

I concede that most people think they can wing it with the application and answer any questions at the PEO but that is really not how it works. So, contrary to what some people might imagine, weak applications should be made by post rather than in person. (not that I'm suggesting your application is weak, merely challenging the notiion that it would be an easier application at the PEO). Of course, if you don't mind forfeiting the additional cost of a premium service, you can give it a shot; you never know what might happen!

[t2f]

cool, cheers for the advice

we were in a relationship the whole time but were only living away from each other for 2 and a bit months, but would see each other every weekend. so in my application i am going to include statements from family and friends from both sides, plus photographs of holidays and things like that, we did have a joint bank account so i have a statement from my bank saying when it opened, it is closed now though because i wanted my own account so would it be best to leave that part out just in case they think we had broken up? im going to write a statement explaining why there were address changes too. is there anything else you can think of i should include in my application that might help?

[Casa]

A gap of up to 3 months during the 2 year period (i.e in the middle) are generally allowed. Apply by post.

[anniecc]

Casa what is the source of info for your statement that a gap of no more than 3 months is allowed? UKBA ask for 6 items of correspondence spread over a 2 year period - even if these were evenly spaced out there would be an average gap of 4 months between documents(?) For there to be no gaps longer than 3 months, you would need to submit more than 6 documents.
Surely if UKBA require the items of correspondence to be spaced in a particular way they need to ask for that as part of the application guidance?

I worked out that there was a gap of 6 months in the middle of the documents I submitted, and am hoping they won't reject the application on that basis.

[Lucapooka]

Casa what is the source of info for your statement that a gap of no more than 3 months is allowed.

SET5.12 Assessing whether the relationship has subsisted for two years
'Living together', should be applied fairly tightly, with a couple providing evidence that they have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership which has subsisted for two years or more.

Periods apart for up to six months would be acceptable for good reasons, such as work commitments, or looking after a relative as long as:

it was not possible for the other partner to accompany; and
the applicant can show evidence that the relationship continued throughout that period, for example, by visits, letters, logged phone calls.

[Casa]

Thanks Lucapooka...you saved me searching for the link.

[anniecc]

Thanks Lucapooka. Perhaps I'm missing something, but that link doesn't say anything about documentation. It says that periods living apart of up to six months are ok, not that you must provide correspondence at three month intervals. In itself correspondence doesn't prove anything, since most people would continue to have utility bills etc sent to their home address even if they were away for a period.

In our case we haven't been apart for more than a week over the two year period, but I'm not sure how we would ever demonstrate that through correspondence.

[Lucapooka]

It says that periods living apart of up to six months are ok, not that you must provide correspondence at three month intervals.

Surely you mean 4 months? However, there is no requirement to provide documents at 4 month intervals because, in some or most cases, this would be impossible to do at a practical level. You seem to taking what would be the ideal model of how to present evidence of six divided by 24 and assuming it's a inflexible mandate. It asks for 6 documents spread evenly over the two year period (meaning as best can done for the given circumstances); nowhere do it restrict this to exact 4 month stages to the omission of anything else.

[anniecc]

The reference to 3 months was from Casa's previous post, which said:

A gap of up to 3 months during the 2 year period (i.e in the middle) are generally allowed

If UKBA does not restrict the documents to any particular spread, that's a relief. It seems like the original poster would be best not to even mention that her partner lived at a different address for 2 months, provided they can meet the documentation requirements for 6 items of correspondence spread over a 2 year period(?)

[Lucapooka]

Casa's comment was with regard to the relationship rather than the documentation and the date of its issue. If you live with someone for a given period you may not be able to sync the emission of utility bills (or whatever) with those exact dates, but you try to do the best you can with what is available. Six is a minimum and I would always suggest at least 12 to be entirely sure. Much more than 12 would be to over-egg the pudding.