Uk Unmarried Partners Settlement Visa

[d0om4gloom]

I wonder if anyone can tell me their experience applying for this tpye of visa. I'm specifically looking for people with experience applying for UK unmarried partner settlement visa rather than married partner.

Its not so much the rules as the experiences getting it approved that I'm after. ie:

Has anyone been approved after living together exactly 2 years rather than several months over 2 years ?

How many documents proving living together do you need ?

How many queries were made when they assesed the application ? What queries did they make ?

Are they likely to just turn you down flat or do you get asked for further evidence ?

Is it much harder than getting a married partners visa or doesn't it make any difference ?

etc etc

In my case we will be applying 2 years & 1 month after starting to live together. The first 6 months of that was when my gf came to the UK on a tourist visa and the next 1.5 years was when i came back to live in Thailand with her on expiration of her tourist visa - In fact there was a months gap while she returned to Thailand and set up home for us and I followed as soon as I'd sorted out my UK affairs. Does anyone see this as being a hurdle when it comes to the 2 year cohabitation rule ? ie. Would you say the 1 month apart consitutes us not living together or would you class that as continuous cohabitation as I do. It was most certainly a constant relationship/unmarried partnership before anyone queries that.

We've actually been together 3.5 years by the time of the application but i know its the all important living together in the same relationship as if we had been married that matters for this application.

All advice greatly appreciated.

I am wondering if the alternative method of applying for another tourist visa, getting another 6 months behind us and then returning to Thailand to apply for the settlement visa after that might lend aditional weight to our application as we'd have been together even longer by then. Clearly the embassy will have on record the previous tourist visa so i'm hoping that goes a long way to proving that we lived together from that time.

[Lickey]

Yes Doom, it would be interesting to know the facts, although nobody seems to know?? me and GFhave lived in Thai 3 years without a break,

So what would this mean in terms of living in the UK? she is of course my common law wife [as classed by the UK goverment] but what rights would that give her if we/i wanted to live in UK?

Would she have to do the ILR tests ect,

Interesting to know, Thanks, Lickey,,

[7by7]

From what you have said, you do satisfy the unmarried partners rule; provided you can back it all up with evidence.

The rule states that unmarried partners need to have been living together for at least 2 years; to refuse only because you have been together for 2 years one month would be perverse and certainly any such refusal would be overturned on appeal.

You may find the following useful:-

Maintenance and accommodation

SET05 - Unmarried and same sex partners

Lickey, someone who enters for settlement as an unmarried partner is treated the same as someone who enters as a spouse. That is the visa is valid for 27 months and after they have been in the UK for 24 months they can apply for ILR. One of the requirements for anyone applying for ILR is that they satisfy the knowledge of life and language in the UK requirement.

[d0om4gloom]

You may find the following useful:-

Maintenance and accommodation

SET05 - Unmarried and same sex partners

Thanks 7by7, theres some good info in those links and I hadn't found them before.

In case anyone has else reading this thread needs similar answers, the above links do confirm that couple who have lived in different countries parhaps using visitor visas to maintain a constant 2 years living together DO qualify - which is good for us :-) It also states that periods of up to 6 months apart might still qualify if it was for reasons of work or family commitments - you'd read to read the advice to see if that covers your own situations but again for my 1 month while we moved i'm sure its not a problem.

[coganp]

Excellent exchange of info. I am in the same boat,..on the point of submitting our application.

We also have been together 3 years, and living in my condo 2 years. However she is not registered in the condo book, but in Changmai for business reasons. How do I prove we are living together?

[7by7]

From the guidance linked to above

SET5.13 What types of evidence might demonstrate living together and a relationship akin to marriage/civil partnership?

The applicant should provide at least three pieces of evidence of joint commitment. All must have been held for a minimum of 2 years, prior to the application:

Joint commitments, (such as joint bank accounts, investments, rent agreements, mortgage, life insurance policy naming the other partner as beneficiary etc);

Birth certificates or records of any children of the relationship, showing both partners as parents;

Any official correspondence linking both partners to the same address e.g. Council Tax, utility bills, Doctors records; • Any other evidence that adequately demonstrates the couple's long-term commitment to each other.

[d0om4gloom]

Looking into this further I'm still concerned about the documentary evidence we can provide during the first 6months when my gf visited me in UK.

We had no joint commitments during that period as she came to stay in a house owned by myself and her visit was entirely sponsored by myself (financially). I have proof of a family holiday we took together while she was there and there is of course the original tourist visa she was granted which also spoke of our relationship. Why on earth would anyone have put all the household bills in joint names or immediately opened joint bank accounts etc under the circumstances at the time. She did open a personal bank account there which links us to the same address.

Does anyone have experience of this or care to offer an opinion whether they think this would be a fundamentally flawed application given the documentary evidence required - see the previous post.

Would we be better building another 6 months of history together by going for another tourist visa first - or would this actually be detrimental given that you have to convince them she would return to Thailand at the expiration of it. How could we maintain thats its a permanent relationship akin to civil partnership when we're saying she'd return to Thailand ?

[7by7]

You sponsored her visit visa, and the application said that she would be staying with you?

If so, this will be on record, so refer to the visit application.

Any bank statements addressed to her while she was staying with you will also show the connection; although the ECO may want to know why she needed a UK bank account if she was a visitor and so not working.

If you are uncertain about that first 6 months, and want to build a longer relationship then I can see no reason why she should be refused another visit visa, as long as you explain why she is visiting rather than applying for settlement.

However this will be an expensive way of going about it: visit UK, return to Thailand, get U/P visa, return to UK. A cheaper way of doing it would be to marry her in Thailand and apply as a Spouse, saves her a round trip and cost of same.

Obviously, though, whether to marry or not is a personal choice only the two of you can make.

[chiang mai]

From the guidance linked to above

SET5.13 What types of evidence might demonstrate living together and a relationship akin to marriage/civil partnership?

The applicant should provide at least three pieces of evidence of joint commitment. All must have been held for a minimum of 2 years, prior to the application:

Joint commitments, (such as joint bank accounts, investments, rent agreements, mortgage, life insurance policy naming the other partner as beneficiary etc);

Birth certificates or records of any children of the relationship, showing both partners as parents;

Any official correspondence linking both partners to the same address e.g. Council Tax, utility bills, Doctors records; • Any other evidence that adequately demonstrates the couple's long-term commitment to each other.

My partner and I have lived together for five years and in January we plan to apply for an unmarried partner settlement visa for her - two and a half years I sponsored my partners application for a tourist visa which was granted. But apart from the visa application and a letter from the owner of the condominium building dated 2007 confirming we had lived together for two years prior, we have no other documentary proof hence we cannot satisfy the need for three pieces of evidence. Any thoughts?

[7by7]

She is presumably named on the Tabien Bahn as living there, and do you have any letters addressed to you there?

[chiang mai]

She is presumably named on the Tabien Bahn as living there, and do you have any letters addressed to you there?

No, she was not named in the house book of the condominium I owned in Chiang Mai and she is not on the lease agreement of the house we rent in Phuket. Even to this day her registered address as far as the government is concerned is her birth town of Sukhothai.

But surely, based on what you had said to another poster earlier: if I sponsored her UK visa two and a half years ago that information would still be on file at the Embassy? That being the case we supplied written confirmation (condo managers letter) stating that at that point we had known each other for over two years - would those things alone be sufficient in your view?

Edited November 27, 2009 by chiang mai

[7by7]

The guidance says three pieces of evidence should be provided.

But it is only guidance, not hard and fast rules; so you may be ok.

They obviously accepted that the relationship exists when they issued the visit visa, but for an unmarried partners visa it is not enough to have a relationship, you need to show that you have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage.

If you were to marry then, from what you have said, I can see no problems in obtaining a spouse visa. But whether to marry or not is a personal choice only the two of you can make.

[brizzle]

Can anyone please tell me if an unmarried partner has the right to work in the UK if a UMP visa is granted?

Many thanks.

[brizzle]

Can anyone please tell me if an unmarried partner has the right to work in the UK if a UMP visa is granted?

Many thanks.

Have just seen anoher post that confirms that you can work so please ignore above question.

Would still be interested to hear from people who have been granted or refused this type of visa...there appears to be very little feedback on thaivisa regarding this.

[torrenova]

For one poster over 3 years and for general information, there is another provision for immediate ILR/ILE as long as the couple have been living together outside the UK for 4 or more years. However, as this requires the passing of the KOL test, which is only available in the UK, it technically means that the non UK partner must have previously travelled to the UK and passed the test whilst they were there.

An interesting distinction between the 2 year and 4 year qualification periods is that the 4 year period does not, as I have read it, make any reference to recourse to public funds whilst all the others, including the presumed tourist visa the partner would first have to travel to the UK on in order to pass the KOL test, make such requirements.

Therefore, in theory at least, the partner would be entitled to public funds from day one.

[brizzle]

For one poster over 3 years and for general information, there is another provision for immediate ILR/ILE as long as the couple have been living together outside the UK for 4 or more years. However, as this requires the passing of the KOL test, which is only available in the UK, it technically means that the non UK partner must have previously travelled to the UK and passed the test whilst they were there.

An interesting distinction between the 2 year and 4 year qualification periods is that the 4 year period does not, as I have read it, make any reference to recourse to public funds whilst all the others, including the presumed tourist visa the partner would first have to travel to the UK on in order to pass the KOL test, make such requirements.

Therefore, in theory at least, the partner would be entitled to public funds from day one.

Yes I had also read about immediate ILR being granted for relationships over 4 years that could satisfy all the provisions.

I think I will get my partner to take the Knowledge of Life test on our next visit to the UK in April. I am of course assuming that any visitor can take this test on arrival in the UK ? We will be there on her third tourist visa.

Still waiting for news from anyone who has followed this route..come on you must be out there !

[7by7]

UK residents who hold ILR, ILE or the equivalent are not subject to the prohibition on public funds; so someone who is granted ILE can claim any and all public funds they may be entitled to from their first day in the UK as a resident.

For more on ILE, see Uk Settlement; Spouse Visa Or Ile?.

Unfortunately, Brizzle, apart from us regulars, not many members return to this forum once they have their visa, so you may have to wait for some time to hear from someone who has followed this route. You could try putting "unmarried partners" into search and seeing what you find.

[d0om4gloom]

Its a shame we dont have any feedback from either successful or unsuccessful applicants of this particular visa type. In the meantime it seems to me the best chance of success is to produce as much as possible in line with the guidance and hope the person assessing the application does allow some leeway given that it is only guidance.

The trouble as always is that someone who doesn't know you personally has no idea about the relationship other than what they see in front of them. From what I've seen of other types of applications people have discussed here, that tends to mean guidance gets enforced to the letter.

We still have decided whether to go straight for the UMP visa or build further evidence over the next 6 months by applying for another tourist visa first and return to Thailand and make the UMP apllication later on.

The other option would be to go straight for the UMP visa and use the tourist visa as a fallback option if we're refused. However, the concern then is that they might very well refuse a later tourist visa application on the grounds that she might not return to thailand at the end of it since we'd have already signalled our real intent is to move to the UK.

Oh the joys of red tape !

[7by7]

Guidance is guidance, but rules are rules.

The rules say a minimum of two years, and you are over that; not by much, but you are.

They cannot refuse you because you have not been living together for long enough (providing you can prove it, of course).

[d0om4gloom]

Guidance is guidance, but rules are rules.

The rules say a minimum of two years, and you are over that; not by much, but you are.

They cannot refuse you because you have not been living together for long enough (providing you can prove it, of course).

Yes by the rules we certainly qualify. I think with the evidence we can produce we'll have a very sound application but its still a worry as the outcome is life affecting.

Do you think its worth writing some explaining notes to accompany the application or would that create unnecessary barriers ? Should we write additional notes specifically about any peices of evidence we're producing ?