Unmarried Partner question

Hi, everyone.  I want to explain my situation and get some advice for me to get an unmarried partner visa to live in the UK.  My boyfriend is Italian but has been living and working in the UK and is considered a settled person.  We met in South Korea and lived there together for about 2.5 years.  Currently I am in the UK just on a visitor visa for 2 months and will return to the US to apply for the visa. 

The problem we are having is with the cohabitation requirement and joint bank accounts.  We lived together for 2 years but don't really have proof.  In Korea his work paid for his apartment and my work paid for mine.  I lived with him in the apartment provided by his work and we never received any bills etc. in our name.  He has asked his work but they will not write a letter stating that I was living with him.  I have a few letters from friends in my name but they don't span the entire 2 year period and the first one I got was about 6-8 months after we moved in together.  Both of our work contracts state that we will receive housing through our jobs so I'm not sure if those would be helpful.  In addition, we did not have a joint bank account because they are not allowed in Korea...

My boyfriend is just about to finalize the purchase of a house in the UK and while I will not be on the mortgage, we have a document included in the mortgage that says that I will be living there with him. 

Any advice for how to go about our application or how successful it might be?  Or any advice what other documents to include to help our case would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you very much everyone.

How long ago was the time you lived together? 

Truthfully, I don't think you'll be able to get the unmarried partner visa.  Just sharing an address isn't sufficient--you could be platonic roommates for all they know--you really need to have proof of shared financial responsibilities.  They're looking for you to have been in "a relationship like marriage" for the two years.  If you can't prove that, you won't get the visa. 

Is the EEA permit not still an option even if your BF is settled in the UK?  For what reasons is he considered settled? 

We lived together From Feb 2011-now.  Even if we had supporting documents proving our relationship was genuine, you think the living situation would prevent us from getting a visa?

I am not very familiar with the EEA family permit but just looked it up.  Would that allow me to work in the UK?  He has been living and working in the UK since 2006.  When he was in Korea he was still working for his British company.

I also just looked at the family permit requirements and it also stated we have to prove we have been in a relationship for 2 years akin to marriage so we will run into the same problem.

Could any letters or statements from family etc. help back us up that we have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage...we just don't have proof because of the extraordinary circumstances of where we met/lived?

No, they want hard evidence.  The UP visa is notoriously difficult to get.  Is there any chance you could get married?  Then you cold get the EEA permit based on being the spouse of an EU citizen, and would have no need to prove cohabitation.

Since your partner is an European national you would need to apply under EEA/EU rules, not UK immigration rules. First for a EEA family permit to allow you entry into the UK and then again for a residence card once you are in the UK.

But under EEA rules:
If you and your partner are not married or in a civil partnership, you must be able to show that you are in a durable relationship with each other.You need to provide evidence that you lived together in a relationship akin to marriage at the same address for two year sprior to the application. Joint bank accounts help, but they aren't necessary. You can keep separate accounts, as long as the statements are sent to the same address. The same goes for other types of evidence, utility bills, etc.

From the EEA application checklist
Unmarried partners: If you are living with a partner who is not your spouse or civil partner, you must provide evidence that you are in a durable relationship with them. You should ideally demonstrate that you have been living together for at least 2 years. (Generally you can meet this requirement by providing joint bank or building society statements, joint tenancy agreements, council tax bills or evidence that you are both paying utility bills at the property where you reside.)

From what you have explained, I don't think you and your partner would meet this criteria.  You say you maintained separate apartments. It doesn't matter that you spent most of your time in yours or his you would have needed to live in one, together.

You do have other options, including getting married or coming here as a student, which I’m sure other people here have more experience with.

I had a separate apartment that was empty (because my school was required to give it to me) but we completely lived together.  The issue is that his company paid the rent and utilities at the apartment we were living in so we don't have documents with our names on them.

I believe you  but it's doubtful UKBA would without proof. You have my sympathy I was in your position once and it's not easy but as I said, you have other options including getting married. You may not like your options and they might not be convenient do you do have them.

No problem. Thanks for the honest advice, that is what I was looking for! Unfortunately not what I wanted to hear but we will figure something out.

Also, if your BF has been living in South Korea for the last 2.5 years, he's probably lost his Permanent Resident status. That's ok--it doesn't really matter all that much for EU citizens except for citizenship of future children--but if he's been out of the country for over 2 years, I doubt he's considered "settled." All this means is that you'd have to apply using the EEA rules instead of the rules for UK citizens/permanent residents. This is probably a good thing because the rules are easier to fulfill and free!

It sounds like you'll have to get married or you'll have to figure out how to get another visa--via work or study--and then live with him in the UK for two years and then switch to unmarried partner.