unmarried visa help

[matt510au]

Myself and my girlfreind are wanting to apply for the unmarried visa.
i m australian she is british.
we have been living together for just over 12 months in the UK.
we were together for 12 months in australia.
there is a period of around 8 months that we were not living together due to her having to return to the UK. I wasnt able to get to the UK any quicker due to work and family comittments.
Is this suitable for the visa or will this be a waist of time due to the period apart. We were still together during this period but just not living together. how are we able to prove this (e.g) emails phone conversations bank accounts etc.. any other ideas.
Is it better to pay for the 24 hour visa process and take the stress and worry out of the 6-8 week process. Any advice or direction would be wonderfull as we do not know any one else who has applied for anything similar so have no feedback..

thanks

M&D

[ppron747]

I fear that the eight month gap will be a problem. The following is an extract from "DSP" (=ECO staff instructions)

The parties having been living together in a relationship akin to marriage/civil partnership which has subsisted for two years or more
"Living together", should be applied fairly tightly, in that we would expect a couple to show evidence of cohabitation in the preceding 2 year period. Periods apart would be acceptable for good reasons, such as work commitments, or looking after a relative which takes one partner away for up to 6 months where it was not possible for the other partner to accompany and it can be seen that the relationship continued throughout that period by visits, letters etc. Where a couple have been living together for the preceding 2-year period but have been dividing their time between countries and may, for example, have used the "visitor" category, then this will be sufficient to meet the requirement.

You can read the whole thing here, on the UKVisas website.

[jjustyy]

I echo ppron747's advice: they are quite strict when applying the rules to unmarried partners.

[matt510au]

I know this is a bit old now but, i am still here in the UK and have been living with my girlfreind for over 2 years now. (was able to get work permit sponsor)

What is the amount of info needed to prove we have been together for this amount of time.

Rental agreements holidays etc.. are all ok anything else..?

cheers matt

[vinny]

See also form FLR(M) and FLR(M) guidance from Application forms.

See also Chapter 8 - Family members, Section 9 - Unmarried and same sex relationships; and
Chapter 8 - Family members annexes, Annex Z - Further guidance on the unmarried and same sex partners rules and required levels of documents.

[matt510au]

hi vinny,
thanks for the links, not working for me are they dead?

matt

[PaperPusher]

matt510au

The HO have recently updated their website so lots of links on here will no longer work.

The website is at http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk

You could try a search for what you want, or go to law and policy from the homepage.

Regards