Experiences of applying for unmarried partner visa

[PaulT]

Hi,

I was wondering if people here could share their experiences of applying for unmarried partner visas, in person, at one of the UKBA Public Offices?

The application form says that you should provided three items of evidence covering the two year period and that not all of them need to be addressed to you both jointly. Has anyone submitted part of their documents in separate names and what was the reaction of the caseworker to this?

I was also wondering if anyone has been asked for additional evidence - such as photographs, birthday cards, phone records etc?

Finally, could someone tell me what actually happens on the day - You go in pay your money, then what? For example, does the caseworker speak to you both separately or simply go through the application form with you? What kinds of questions are asked? How long did the whole process take? Are you issued with the visa itself on the day?

Thanks, PaulT

[tahnyuh]

[deleted]

[blessed78]

have you searched? Try PEO Croydon maybe. There are loads of stories.

[PaulT]

have you searched? Try PEO Croydon maybe. There are loads of stories.

Hi, thanks for your reply... I have search the forums extensively, but I can't find anything which matches my question... Most of them talk about Husband / Wife visas and even those don't really say what happens on the day.

I'm looking to apply for this as well. Very interested in what others have to say!

Paul - when do you plan on applying?

Tahnyuh, We are planning to apply at the end of October. What about you - When you do plan to apply?

[Casa]

You say you're applying for an Unmarried Partner Visa. What is your current situation? i.e visa status? Do you have documented proof that you have been living together in 'a relationship akin to marriage' for a minimum of 24 months. i.e joint financial reponsibilities, tenancy or mortage? You actually need a minimum of 6 different pieces of evidence (not 3) spread as evenly as possible over the full 2 years from 3 different categories.For example, council tax, official letters, utility bills. UPV's tend to come under even stricter scrutiny than married (spouse) applications.
If you're not 100% sure that you have a strong application then it would be better to apply by post rather than in person at a PEO. Checking officers at PEO's are not able to make a decision on the day for anything in the application that requires further investigation.

[PaulT]

You say you're applying for an Unmarried Partner Visa. What is your current situation? i.e visa status? Do you have documented proof that you have been living together in 'a relationship akin to marriage' for a minimum of 24 months. i.e joint financial reponsibilities, tenancy or mortage? You actually need a minimum of 6 different pieces of evidence (not 3) spread as evenly as possible over the full 2 years from 3 different categories.For example, council tax, official letters, utility bills. UPV's tend to come under even stricter scrutiny than married (spouse) applications.
If you're not 100% sure that you have a strong application then it would be better to apply by post rather than in person at a PEO. Checking officers at PEO's are not able to make a decision on the day for anything in the application that requires further investigation.

Cassa, thanks for your reply.

My partner is currently on a Tier 1 visa. I am a UK National.

We have plenty of documents that the UKBA ask for in the application form. The earliest document we have is a letter address to my partner at our home address issuing her with a National Insurance Number. Obviously that's addressed to her alone, but I have plenty of other documents showing the same address at that time. One month after that letter was issued, I added my partners name to the gas / electric bill. Unfortunately the bill is issued every 6 months and so we didn't get one until a few months later, however, I did ask the company to send me a copy of the bill for the day when I had my partners name added. They did this, but it's marked COPY (although is on officially headed paper). I've also today asked the electric company to send me a letter confirming the date when my partner's name was added to the bill (around 6 weeks after the National Insurance Letter).

From that point on, we have multiple joint bills, council tax, mortgage agreements etc.

We are hoping to apply two years from the date the National Insurance letter was issued, by which time we will have been living together longer than two years, but this is the earliest time we can prove it from.

What do you think?

[Casa]

The NI correspondence would be considered as 'offical' ...so I would say as you've covered the 2 years it looks 'good to go'.

[lkpone]

Hi

I went through this at the beginning of last year and it's fairly straight forward.

I attended Croydon PEO with a lever arch file full of documentation proving that my husband (then boyfriend) and I had been living together for at least 2 years. Important to note is that they were particularly interested in a lease agreement.

They asked for quite a few examples - around 20, at a guess, and they'll ask for either separate or joint bills, whatever you have for the month they're asking for. So, for eg, the asked us to provide something for both of us for April 2008, September 2007, December 2007, June 2008 - I'm making up the dates, but you can see where I'm going. They have a checklist and just choose random dates off the list, within your timeframe of having lived together. Note again that they really aren't bothered whether they're individual or joint bills, the only thing they will say after a while is 'no more bank statements' or 'no more phone bills' if you've already given loads of examples of the same type of bill.

One very important word of advice - I thought I was really organised and arrived with a lever arch file arranged into sections for my boyfriend's stuff, my stuff and then our joint stuff. Don't do that! To save time, have sections for each month of the period you've lived together, trust me, it'll be MUCH easier to pick out the info they ask for.

It took about 3 1/2 hours in all, but really was nothing to worry about. The only thing that may concern you is that they literally don't talk to you at all, but don't worry about that, it seems to be the norm

So what to expect on the day?

1.Get there for your appointment, go through security.
2.Go to a booth to have your appointment confirmed and get given a ticket number.
3.Go to a booth to have your paperwork searched through (they won't tell you if you have enough or not, they just look through it).
4.Go through to the pay booth and pay the fee.
5.Go to the Biometrics area.
6.Have your biometrics done.
7.Wait for the biometric results to come back.
8.Go to the waiting area and wait for a case officer.
9.Sit in front of the case officer for about 2 hours and just give him/her whatever paperwork they ask for.
10.(Hopefully!) Get a letter telling you that you will receive your foreign ID card in a few days. That's it! Done!

All very easy, but a bit nerve-wracking, I won't lie! But if you have all of your info, there really isn't anything to worry about

Lindsay

[GrahamD85]

Hi Lindsay,

Thanks for the info - it helps a lot.

We have about 12 documents from 6 sources spread out evenly over the two years, but looking at your post I'm a bit concerned now.

My concern is that they will ask to see a joint document from a certain month, and we won't have one from that month. Obviously, water bills, electricity bills etc don't all come monthly. Did this happen to you at all? What do they do if you don't have the type of document they want to see for that specific month?

This makes the FLR(M) form very misleading. I know you should always take more than you need but if the majority of people are going with 12 documents spread out over 2 years, they could easily be caught out.

Cheers,

Graham

[lkpone]

No, you honestly don't have to worry. If he asked us for a certain month and we didn't have it, we just simply told him that we don't have something for both of us for that month and he picked another one. If you have something for only one of you for a particular month, just show it to them and let them know that you don't unfortunately have anything for the other of you, just be honest.

I think that they realise that people are now opting to 'go green' and don't necessarily receive paper statements and bills every month. This is especially true for water bills etc that you only receive quarterly.

I'd say 12 examples are fine, there is only so much information that you receive and if that's the maximum that you can provide, that's okay - it's more than their minimum, so I'm sure you'll be fine.

The most important thing to remember is just don't panic if they ask you for a month where you don't have something - just let them know that you don't have anything for that month, but you do for the next month, or whatever the case is. And please don't stress about not having joint bills, if you have only one joint thing, that's okay, because not all unmarried couples have joint accounts yet. We had a lease agreement, a joint bank account and joint home insurance and I think he only asked for the lease agreement and we showed him the joint home insurance - that's all we could show apart from the monthly bank statements, which he didn't want, because home insurance and lease agreements etc are only done once a year, so it's understandable that you won't have them for every month. If you have one that covers the timeframe that you're applying for, that will be fine

[lkpone]

P.S. I think I may have misread your post, sorry.

When you say 12 examples, do you mean only 12 pieces of paper? Or 12 different types of accounts that you can show multiple copies of?

If the first one, then I'd suggest arranging monthly copies for whatever account that is (assuming they are issued monthly), just so that you're covered for the instance I mentioned above, that they ask you for a certain month, which you may not have, but you can offer up the following month's proof or whatever.

I'd honestly just go with every copy over the 2 years of those 12 accounts that you have, because you honestly just don't have a clue which dates they'll pick.

So for example - I ordered 2 years' worth of bank statements which showed my home address, as did my husband. I ordered all copies of quarterly bills over the 2 year period as well as took both copies of home insurance renewals for the 2 years. Just literally take EVERYTHING! You won't use even a 1/4 of it, but better to have copies of every month than just to go with 12 pieces of paper.

I'm probably not the best advisor on this - any legal eagles, can you help out with that? Did I just take too much info or am I right in saying that they should just take all and every copy for the 2 year period?

I think in the interim, arrange for copies to be sent to you - they're free in most instances, so rather be safe than sorry

But ultimately, I think you're okay with what you have... I think you'll be fine!

[tahnyuh]

[deleted]

[lkpone]

Thanks! I hope it's all the right advice! It's my first-hand experience, so shouldn't be too far off the mark

[tahnyuh]

[deleted]

[lkpone]

You can get a lease agreement form from WHSmith and fill it in with all the details - it'll be like a duplicate lease, but a shorter and more simple version.

It'll do for the purposes of the visa application. If the landlord's signature will be tricky to get, you could get the agent to sign on your landlord's behalf.

[tahnyuh]

[deleted]

[shashika]

Hello,
Thank you for the discussion it has been very helpful!

I also have a question. I am also thinking of applying under this visa, I have been living with my partner for about 4 years now. But my parents came to visit recently and stayed for three months during this time my partner moved in with his family because they just cannot get along. We were still together and there are text messages and phone records that can show that can evidence this. Will this affect my application. I want to apply in person, even if they tell me that they need to consider my application but am not sure if this is wise.

[lkpone]

Hi Shashika

While he was living away, was his post still going to the same address as yours?

And is he now back at home?

I can't see any reason to raise this with the case worker if things are now back to normal. It would just raise unnecessary questions, I'd think. If he was still technically living there and has now moved back and you are still together, there shouldn't be a problem.

But wait for expert advice on this one, just in case!

Lindsay

[ElenaW]

Hello,
Thank you for the discussion it has been very helpful!

I also have a question. I am also thinking of applying under this visa, I have been living with my partner for about 4 years now. But my parents came to visit recently and stayed for three months during this time my partner moved in with his family because they just cannot get along. We were still together and there are text messages and phone records that can show that can evidence this. Will this affect my application. I want to apply in person, even if they tell me that they need to consider my application but am not sure if this is wise.

All that the eco would want to see are bills addressed to you both at the same address (for the living together requirement). I'm assuming all of his mail was still coming to your house? If so, then no need to worry.

[shashika]

Thank you for your responses.

He is back now. I think there will be two months where he did not recieve post because of paperless billing (for his phone) and quartely electric bills. But the council tax and tenancy and water all all in both our names. He four weeks pay slips which have been going to his mothers address because he started working with a new agency around this time.

[verityrose]

Hi,

I've been reading this post and I'm actually going to go ahead with this together with my boyfriend right now.
I have a question. We currently don't rent, and the flat we live in is bought by his father. My bf has been living here for 15 years, we have been together for 4 years, and living together for 3. Before I moved in with him he has been paying all his house bills jointly with his father, and subsequently I moved in the arrangements remained the same, i.e I did not pay for any costs as it is paid by him and his father. Is this detrimental to my application and how else can I prove that we are in a serious parthership? (even though we don't share bills?)

Also how quick is it to see someone to get this sorted at the UKBA Public Offices, its already Tuesday would I be likely to see them by this friday? (is there a long queue?)

Thanks hope you have some advise soon really appreciate it!

[ElenaW]

Hi,

I've been reading this post and I'm actually going to go ahead with this together with my boyfriend right now.
I have a question. We currently don't rent, and the flat we live in is bought by his father. My bf has been living here for 15 years, we have been together for 4 years, and living together for 3. Before I moved in with him he has been paying all his house bills jointly with his father, and subsequently I moved in the arrangements remained the same, i.e I did not pay for any costs as it is paid by him and his father. Is this detrimental to my application and how else can I prove that we are in a serious parthership? (even though we don't share bills?)

Also how quick is it to see someone to get this sorted at the UKBA Public Offices, its already Tuesday would I be likely to see them by this friday? (is there a long queue?)

Thanks hope you have some advise soon really appreciate it!

Sorry but this visa is harder to get in comparison to the other partner based visas. So it's very important that you have bills in both your names.

My suggestion: get married and apply for flr(m).

By the way, what is your current status?

[verityrose]

Currently I'm on a PSW which expires on the 20th sep (real close!) and my partner has just received his permanent residence today hence we are thinking of doing this asap...would it work?

[verityrose]

Following my earlier post, if we were to set up a joint account immediately (or adding my name to his) would this help?

[geriatrix]

Also how quick is it to see someone to get this sorted at the UKBA Public Offices, its already Tuesday would I be likely to see them by this friday? (is there a long queue?)

By appointment only.


regards