Any reason this UP application should fail?

Hi all.  My gf and I are going to be moving to London early next year (as you can see from my ticker).  We are going to be applying for a visa in person rather last minute, a few days before flying out.  Obviously, I am pretty confident about the likely success of my gf's application, but I want to make sure I have grounds to be.

I am the UK citizen, by decent.  She is my unmarried partner.  We will be moving to settle in the UK together.  We have been living together (in the US) since Aug 2002 and we'll be applying in Feb 2007.  There are no complications to our living together--we haven't spent any time apart since Aug 02.  We have had a joint bank account for about 3 years.  We have mail addressed to each of us at the same address as each other going back to about Mar 2003.  Only the bank account stuff is addressed jointly; everything else is to one or the other of us, but we do have 3-5 pieces to each of us for each year (we can have more than that if we count multiple pieces of mail from the same source).  We could get letters of support of our relationship from friends and family.  We exchanged rings in Aug 2003 but I don't think I have any proof that we did so then (it was just a private thing, no ceremony or guests).

Neither of us is going to have a job waiting in the UK, so the financial stuff is the part that worries me the most.  I have a PhD and she has an MA.  We currently make about $90K together and I estimate that if we get similar jobs in the UK we'll make about 35-45K there.  We can have our CVs and UK job ads for the kinds of positions we'd apply for.  We will have either about $23K in our account saved up or $13K plus a flat that's already fully paid for the next 6 mos.  I can also have statements from my brother (in London) and my uncle (in Dover) saying that they will help us out in case of financial emergency.

Is there any reason we might fail, either on the proof of having lived together for 2 years or in satisfying them that we will be able to support my gf?  If we have any shortcomings, I might be able to address them before then.  We still have many months.

Thanks!

Sounds like a good application, by I think leaving it so last minute is risky.  What if they decide to interview?  I really wouldn't book the tickets until you have the visa in hand.

Do you have somewhere lined up to live in the UK?

Vicky

I guess the main reason I'm planning go for the visa so late is that I want to try to secure a flat before we move.  I'd really prefer not to have to live in a hotel or holiday place temporarily and then move to a flat.  I'd like to know where we will be living before we leave the US.  So if we can get a flat on a visit, we'll do that.  If we fail to find one, then we'll have to go with the temporary lodging.

We wouldn't know what address to put on a visa application until after we make this trip, so the application would have to be submitted afterwards.  What we would do is submit the application through fast track and make the appointment at the NY consulate for 2 weeks after that.  We'll be there in person with all our documentation, so we wouldn't have to worry about any of our stuff not getting there or not getting the visa back in time.  And we would be there to answer questions.  We'd be in NY for the next few days if they needed us to return for more questions.

Liz, no advice, I just wanted to wish you and your gf best of luck with everything!