same sex partnerships / visa

I am a US citizen living in Portland Oregon, and have been in a long-distance relationship with a woman from London. It's been almost a year since we have been invloved, and have been fortunate in the number of times we have been able to visit one another. I am interested in moving to London in the future, and to obtain a visa. Is anyone out there going through this process at the moment or been through it already ? I have been researching the net, and have found a considerable amount of information, but would love to hear about some personal experiences as well. Thanks.

Hello
In order to qualify under the unmarried partners rule , you have to have lived together (full time) in a relationship akin to marriage for a period of 2 years. If the Home Office is satisfied that you have been cohabiting for 2 years you will be granted a visa for 2 years. On completion of the 2 years and if a relationship still subsists you can apply for ILR(indefinite leave to remain). I'm afraid a long-distance relationship does not count.

I would nuance the last poster's message somewhat. Our experience was more complicated, in that we had been together for quite a number of years in the US, and then I got transferred to the UK, and we lived separately and visited back and forth for about 2 years, and then applied for the visa (through the UK embassy in Washington). It went through. I used a very good (and very expensive) immigration lawyer at a well-known London firm of solicitors. He may be able to help and massage your facts to come closer to fitting the requirement, but his hourly rate is in the hundreds of GB£. In addition: the UK is about to pass a civil partnerships law. That will, quite possibly, completely change the law on the time you have to spend together in order to immigrate (see
http://www.uklgig.org.uk/Newsletter.htm#November%202003

So a lot is in flux in the UK and your situation does not appear to be hopeless at all, if it's a serious one and your partner is interested in registration.

I think the fact that you had lived together for a number of years before you came to the uk and then continued your relationship on a long-distance basis put you in a strong position. However, I would find it very difficult to "massage" one year of a long -distance relationship to the required 2 years period.    

Why yes, I wasn't suggesting otherwise. But the relationship may continue for several years - what then? Depending on how much time the partners spend together over the course of several years time, I believe a good solicitor can argue that a co-habitation-like relationship has existed. And you will also note the possible changes regarding civil unions. I thought you were trying to suggest to the lady that she had no hope of qualifying, full stop, which sounds questionable to me. And, of course, there are other categories under the Immigration Rules pursuant to which one may legally reside in the UK.

If you do not qualify for the Highly Skilled Migrant programme, or cannot find an employer to sponsor a work permit, a student visa is the easiest way to achieve the required 2 years co-habitation. In addition, foreign students in the UK are allowed to work up to 20 hours per week term time, full time during college vacations. After 2 years you could apply for FLR, and ILR after another 2 years. There is even a 'prospective student' visa, so you could start living in the UK well before the course starts.
That's if you don't want to wait until the laws change. Government wheels have a habit of moving slowly.

Squirrel---i think we're on the same page. I read though loads of info i printed out last night. It's pretty clear that the 2 year minimum is a must. The only way I could come over would be on a student visa. I'm not skilled enough for the "highly skilled visa", and too old to get the "work experience visa". My girlfriend WILL be coming to the states in about 2 weeks, for a 3 month stay. I think my next step will be looking into some sort of Masters Program. Thanks for all the feedback!

I was suggesting that she would first have to fulfil the two-year cohabitation requirement to qualify under the unmarried partners' rule. Of course, she could apply to come to the uk under other categories  and start build up time together to achieve the two-year threshold under the rule. There is always hope  

I had a thought about this last night while I was watching a news item about GWB wanting to amend the constitution to outlaw same sex marriages.

Currently marriage between a same sex couple is legal in San Francisco right? And it is a marriage not a "registration" or anything like that, as I understand it.

So BINGO if you and your GF get married in San Francisco you could be on your way here sooner rather than later!

I had a thought about this last night while I was watching a news item about GWB wanting to amend the constitution to outlaw same sex marriages.

Currently marriage between a same sex couple is legal in San Francisco right? And it is a marriage not a "registration" or anything like that, as I understand it.

So BINGO if you and your GF get married in San Francisco you could be on your way here sooner rather than later!

This is was I was about to suggest.

First of all, i think it's totally cool that this thought occured to you sometime last night, Britwife... i was in bed awake with loads of thoughts in my head about all this too.  i think that's one of the hardest parts of all this - losing sleep! anyways, it's true that we CAN get married in SF, and i plan on proposing this. HOWEVER, as far as i can figure, she still would not have rights to stay. There was a bill presented to congress in 2003 called The Permanent Partners Immigration Act, which would give us those rights. But it has not been passed yet. www.marriageequalityca.org has some good info/links on this. I don't know, I could be misinterpreting things.....
I DO think getting married in SF would help in the long run though as future "proof" of commitment to the UK.

There's always the Green Card Lottery...UK natives can't apply, but she was born in Kenya, which gives her eligibility.

Britwife....OR are you saying that we could get married in San Francisco, and have eligibility for me to immigrate to the UK? Does the UK recognize a same-sex marriage from, say the Netherlands, without the 2 year living together time ?

I think it is definitely something you should look into. My understanding is that if the marriage is recognised in the country where it took place then the UK authorities will recognise it and you could get a visa (ie entry clearance as a spouse for 2 years - then after that you get the permanent thing - same as any other spouse) on that basis. I don't know if any have been accepted from the Netherlands like that but I have a feeling it's not a marriage there but some form of partnership registration so that would be different.

I am not sure how you would confirm this info though - you could ask the British Consulate but this question may be too tricky for them to deal with. Maybe your Brit partner could seek advice from her local MP or enquire at her CAB (free legal advice) or there are law centres in London that specialise in gay rights/human rights who may be able to help.

Good Luck!

i will DEF look into this ! Anyone else have any info about UK recognizing a US/EU/foreign same sex marriage ? I'll start researching some more ... thanks. (PS. congrats on the dual citizenship baby on the way)

Under the proposed UK CIVIL LIBERTIES ACT, it would be possible to gain leave of entry without 2 years prior cohabitation if we were married (in San Francisco). We would still have to cohabitate in the UK for 2 years. The proposal also requests that the 2 year cohabitation be dropped in order to gain leave of entry to register a relationship in th UK. And then again, you would still have the 2 year period after that. so, anyway, there really IS hope....