Switching to Unmarried Partner - Update

Hello, I have a question regarding switching from a student to an unmarried partner.

I've been a student in the UK since 2007, but due to financial and medical issues I have been unable to complete my course and study and now am not only unable to fund my final few years, but my visa runs out in January 2012. Because of my financial situation I am being forced to withdraw from my university and course.

However, my boyfriend and I seem to fit all the criteria for the unmarried partners visa. We've been living together for 3 years (and been dating for going on 7 years, so it would be hard argued that this is a convinience match), I've recently turned 21, there are no other relationships to speak of, I've followed immigration laws, we're not related, ect ect. The only concerns for me is that we are both currently unemplyed, though my boyfriend has applied for several part time jobs. He is a full time college student getting bursery money, we live in his mother's home (it IS a council house,and SHE is on benifits) and pay for utility bills (electrics,gas,phone bills,internet), but are under an agreement that we will not pay rent. We also have no dependants.

The thing that concerns me is that we live in a house that is paid for by a woman on benefits, and he gets bursery funding while at college (and is looking for a part time job). Does his college funding count as any form of benifits, and would us both activly seeking emplyment be enough to prove we can support ourselves? As it stands, we HAVE been supporting ourselves for a very long time on his 400£ a month, with ocassional aid from other family members when the unexpected turns up.

This is about the only thing that worries me as far as the application goes (though if you guys see anything else I should be concerned with please let me know!). My boyfriend will also be attending university next year if his application to med school goes well. Would this also be taken into concideration?

New rule in the pipeline for UP's of T2?  Expect the requirement to provide 2 years of documented joint commitments!    

That's gotta be tough!  Who in the world has that? 

So now I am confused . . .  hasn't that been the requirement all along - 2 years documented proof of living in a relationship the same as a marriage?  I just assumed leases, council tax, etc, would suffice?

So now I am confused . . .  hasn't that been the requirement all along - 2 years documented proof of living in a relationship the same as a marriage?  I just assumed leases, council tax, etc, would suffice?

No previously you just had to prove that you resided together at the same addresses for 2 years so you could use seperate bank statements, seperate Dr Bills & Such. Now the Requirement is 2 years JOINT Commitments, like a joint lease, joint bank accounts & joint bills.

That's got to be a tough one.

For what it's worth, the first recorded refusal on these grounds was issued by the NYC consulate.

Well, we have a joint lease, but everything else is separate, because it is easier for us to split the bills that way.  So it seems as though all of our saving stuff over the past year and a half (it will be 2 years end of this summer) will have been in vain?  Don't a lot of couples have their own names on certain bills?  And it would never have occurred to me to get my name put on his bank account when I first opened mine as a student.  Will just a joint lease be enough? 

That seems fine to me.

Even though we're seeing refusals on the new joint commitments grounds, I don't see how such a difficult requirement can persist without some softening.  It's not going to work the way it's been conceived. 

 Garry, did you say this is just for unmarried partners of T2 holders, or is it for all UPs?

Garry, did you say this is just for unmarried partners of T2 holders, or is it for all UPs?

Yes, it's currently about up's of T2's where it's documented.  But we're seeing refusals on up's in the family path on the same grounds.  It leads me to think that the guidance hasn't been properly synched up with their internal guidance.  It could be that.  Or it could be that suddenly a bunch of ECO's have suddenly gone off the rails.

NYC, for example, is characterised by high-quality decision making and doesn't just refuse applications on a whim or a misinterpretation of the rules. 

So I'm adding it to advice until the whole thing gets sorted.

My Sweetheart and I applied for a Fiancee visa in November of 2010 and after a long, brutal wait I finally got my visa on the 17th of January.  I landed in Scotland on the 20th, after clearing out my place, selling my car and quitting my job. 

He and I have both been married before and have gotten the short end of the stick.  Now that we're facing the barrel of the gun, so to speak, the idea of another marriage scares the daylights out of both of us - though him more than me I'm afraid.

We're desperate at this point to see if there is anything we can do to change the situation. I currently have 53 days left on my visa, and we have no plans to get married (though at one time we did).  I don't want to pressure him or guilt him into anything, as that's not who or what I am.

Is there ANY possible way of changing my visa to a U.P. visa at this point, without having to go back to Los Angeles for 6 months?  I don't want to leave, and he doesn't want me to go, but we desperately need options!

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

If you haven't been living together in a relationship like marriage for at least 2 years, you don't qualify for the unmarried partner visa.  I'm really sorry, but if you don't get married and apply for FLR(M), then you will have to leave the UK before your visa expires.  If you overstay, then you may not be able to return to the UK even to visit for as many as ten years. 

Is there ANY possible way of changing my visa to a U.P. visa at this point, without having to go back to Los Angeles for 6 months?  I don't want to leave, and he doesn't want me to go, but we desperately need options!

The problem with this is that in order to qualify for an unmarried partner visa, you have to prove that you have lived together at the same address in a 'relationship akin to marriage' for a minimum of 2 years (24 consecutive months). As you have only lived together since January 2011, you can't actually qualify for an unmarried partner visa .

Unfortunately, I think your only options are going to be:

a) Get married and apply for an FLR(M) visa to stay in the UK as the spouse of a UK citizen

b) Leave the UK before your visa expires and then maybe try to get a different kind of visa to come back to the UK, such as a Tier 2 work visa or a Tier 4 student visa (although work visas are becoming much more difficult to get these days and student visas require you to have a large amount of tuition/living costs available to you).

ETA: x-posted with historyenne

Question....

Hypothetically speaking, say I went to the UK as a visitor for 6 months or less, came back to the US, did some schooling for a few months in the US, and went back to the UK as an year exchange student and stayed with my boyfriend(if it is even possible to stay with a boyfriend under an exchange program), and somehow after that, added another 6 months in, is it possible to add up all these visits/living situations and say that we have been together two years?

Does living with your boyfriend under a visitor visa count as "living together" requirement for UP visa?

I have been reading this thread but I think the earlier posts might be outdated now because of changes to the requirements on the UK border agency site...

Thank you!

The two years need to be consecutive.

time living together while on a student visa counts, we have friends who did that.