In response to CDNgirl, we moved in together back in Canada, from January 2010, and lived together until July 2010, when my partner's visa ended and he had to return to the UK. I received my UK visa from Sept 2010, and was in the UK, again living with my partner, from Oct 2010.
So we've been living together from Jan 2010 - July 2010, and then Oct 2010 until present.
I provided evidence (rental agreements with our names on it) from living together in the UK (from Oct 2010) and didn't include any of the Canadian rental agreements (so, no evidence from Jan 2010 - July 2010), as our rent was in ski towns (whistler, fernie) with much less 'formal documentation' then our proper UK rental agreements.
I know out landlords from the Jan 2010 - July 2010 period, so I should be able to get documentation of us living together, but am not sure what evidence of co-habitation is suitable. We didn't have bills (or joint bils for that matter) to pay, as we had relatively short term rentals that were 'all in' (landlord paid the electricity/gas/etc, and we had a set rate of rent). Would a letter from our landlords suffice as evidence I wonder?
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---------------------CDNgirl wrote:First off - congrats to everyone who has successfully recieved their BRP cards lately!
epicashley wrote:Did you move in together as soon as you came to the UK? They are very sticky on ensuring that you live together for a full two years. You don't have to have everything or anything in both of your names, just documents that you both live at the same address...bank statements, bills, etc.1) Not showing ample evidence of my partner and I living together for two years prior to the application date (I did show evidence from when I arrived in the UK until the application date, which was 1 year and 10 months of proof) - so that's my slip-up with no documentation of rental agreements prior to that time.
As long as your finances combined are over £18,600 you should have no problem. Are you both currently working?2) Finances. Not showing enough proof of how much we both earn, our type of job contracts, etc. I thought we had ample proof -- payslips, bank statements, contracts, of all the jobs I have held in the UK, and that my partner has recently held.
To quote from the refusal letter:
"E-LTRP.3.1. The applicant must provide specified evidence, from the sources listed in paragraph E-LTRP.3.2., of-
I'm really sorry to hear that your application has been rejected, but it doesn't mean that it's the end of the line - keep your head up and hopes high!
As far as I can tell from the information you provided, as long as both of your income is over £18,600 (which it is at £30K) and you can prove that you have been living together for a full 2 years, you should stand a good chance of winning the appeal.
Good luck!!
Also, to answer your other questions regarding our finances, my partner has been working full time forever (definitely for two years and since I arrived in the UK), and I have been working part time and full time since I arrived in the UK. It's mostly been full-time, though, in the last two years - there was period of about 3 months where I worked part time as I was doing some long-distance uni courses from Canada.
Long story short, I've been working more or less full time since I got here, and in the last two years, have progressed in terms of wages steadily. So now I work full time as a manager of a cafe/bar, making about £16,500 a year.
In terms of documentation, we showed payslips from each we've done in the UK since I've been here, but NOT consecutive payslips and corresponding bank statements from 6 months prior to the application (which was our downfall). We do have those documents, but didn't include them as we thought it was more important to show a breadth of income/UK work experience.
Just going into more detail now about it, with researching the appeal process, gathering more documents, and contacting people in Canada to get more documents.
Thanks for all the support and good words, very helpful!
