Unmarried Partner Visa - Non-Priority Timeline

I've seen the spousal visa timelines, and I know they're effectively the same thing, but would a timeline specifically for unmarried partner applications be at all helpful?

My application was made a lot longer by the section proving my relationship with my British bf (rather than just providing a marriage certificate), and I wonder if that has any effect on processing times....

Moved in with bf (in US): 23 October 2015
Online application date: 27 October 2017 (50 business days ago)
Biometrics appt: 02 November 2017
Documents sent via UPS: 03 November 2017
UPS confirmation of documents arrival: 06 November 2017
Sheffield confirmation of online application received: 06 November 2017 (44 business days ago)

I'm actually surprised we haven't received the "your case is complicated" email, and I'm half-expecting it to come any day (not that I want it!). We offered up way more information than necessary on finances--if there were issues with the proof provided for one form of income, we wanted to show that we had others. Also, we gave up our US apartment and were traveling for a good portion of 2017, so the proof of cohabitation was tricky there.

Anyway, fingers crossed we get some positive news soon. I knew the wait was really going to suck starting in January (November and December were fun/busy with the holidays and catching up with family and friends), and it has. I'm trying to stay in cities with friends, rather than out in the woods where my parents live, but I don't want to overstay my welcome anywhere. And it's hard to feel like I'm doing valuable things with my time. SO READY for some good news.

No difference in processing times for unmarried partners versus spouse visas.  All in the same pile fortunately.   

Non-priority usually takes a solid 12 weeks, so I think you are well within normal timelines.  Why do you think your case won't be straightforward?

Hi tiff, welcome to the forum. 

We offered up way more information than necessary on finances--if there were issues with the proof provided for one form of income, we wanted to show that we had others.

How do you meet the financial requirements?

Just making sure - you did just pick one financial category and apply under that, correct?  There really isn't need to provide any more.  The visa is a tick box visa.  You don't get a bigger or better tick for having more than requested.   

Non-priority usually takes a solid 12 weeks, so I think you are well within normal timelines.  Why do you think your case won't be straightforward?

My boyfriend and I lived together in the US until the end of 2016, when we left our jobs and gave up our apartment to travel for the year. We continued to receive joint mail to my parents' address (shared bank account statements), but we didn't actually live there. We provided all of our travel documentation (tickets, bookings, travel visas, etc), social media posts, photos, and text conversations, giving roughly biweekly evidence that we were together the whole time. (We literally spent every day of 2017 together, aside from 1 week, until I returned to the US to submit my visa application.)

Our immigration solicitor in Belfast tells us he thought we'd pulled together strong evidence and wasn't worried about the relationship/cohabitation proof. Still I'd heard from another solicitor that he's seen applications rejected because travel together didn't count as cohabitation. So, since I have nothing to do but wait and worry, I've probably thought through every detail in our application that could possibly lead to a rejection, and that section is a big point of anxiety for me.

Basically, if the Home Office is going to apply the spirit of the cohabitation rule to us (2 years living together), we meet it, no question. But if they are looking for a reason to reject it, they can probably throw the book at us with the 9 months of travel.

How do you meet the financial requirements?

Thanks! My bf earns employment income from his parents' business - he's moved back and is working there. His income is over the minimum requirement.

Just making sure - you did just pick one financial category and apply under that, correct?  There really isn't need to provide any more.  The visa is a tick box visa.  You don't get a bigger or better tick for having more than requested.   

Well, we actually included our savings and my bf's rental income as well, even though my bf's employment income is enough. But we did that because there was a payroll error (underpayment) in his first few months' salary, and even though he received back-pay, our solicitor was concerned that it may look as if he didn't earn enough those months to meet the requirement. We wrote a letter explaining this, but just to be sure, we provided those additional forms of income to show that even if they didn't let us count where he was underpaid by mistake, we had other financial means in that time to more than cover us.

We weren't trying to get brownie points as much as compensate for any potential issues/nuances with our primary form of income. I was just trying to head off a rejection on that basis, because we have the means to support ourselves otherwise.

Is he salaried or non-salaried?  That will determine how UKVI calculates the income.

Did he earn £18,600/annually in the past six months?  Just thinking if you guys were travelling he wouldn't have been working.

And he had a visa or US passport allowing him to live in the USA for the full duration required?

Is he salaried or non-salaried?  That will determine how UKVI calculates the income.

Did he earn £18,600/annually in the past six months?  Just thinking if you guys were travelling he wouldn't have been working.

Salaried, and yes, he was supposed to be earning £20k the whole time, but again, there was the payroll mistake.

And he officially started in April 2017--we were back in the UK for a few weeks during the business's busy season. We were also back in the summer and fall, and he was earning that income continuously. (I was on a visitor visa while in the UK.) So yes, we had that income for almost 7 months before I applied.

And he had a visa or US passport allowing him to live in the USA for the full duration required?

Yes, he had an employment visa for the US - he was on a work assignment here for almost 3 years.

Hmmm... that could be the tricky part.  Him earning in the UK but you say he was living in the US in the same application.

Salaried income will be calculated as the lowest payslip in the six month period x 12.  So long as that amount is greater than £18,600 you will meet the financial requirement.  If it was less, than he needed to provide 12 months of payslips.

So the lowest gross payslip needs to have been at least £1,550.

Hmmm... that could be the tricky part.  Him earning in the UK but you say he was living in the US in the same application.

I am a little concerned too that they will question whether the job is ligitimate as he is working for family and was getting paid for time he was not in the country having only just started in the position.

Hmmm... that could be the tricky part.  Him earning in the UK but you say he was living in the US in the same application.

Salaried income will be calculated as the lowest payslip in the six month period x 12.  So long as that amount is greater than £18,600 you will meet the financial requirement.  If it was less, than he needed to provide 12 months of payslips.

Oh, sorry, I misunderstood your question:

October 2015 - December 2016: We lived together in the US and he was on an employment visa

January 2017 - October 2017: We were traveling together, and when bf came to the US, it was as a visitor on an ESTA waiver; he started UK work in April

So the lowest gross payslip needs to have been at least £1,550.

Yeah, according to his contract, he was supposed to be earning £20k/year, and he received back-pay in one of his payslips that made up for the underpayment. But for a period of time in that 6 months, his payslips showed less than £1,550 in earnings, and we were concerned that they might have issues with that, even though it was a mistake.

That's why we provided his rental income and our savings information.

Oh, sorry, I misunderstood your question:

October 2015 - December 2016: We lived together in the US and he was on an employment visa

January 2017 - October 2017: We were traveling together, and when bf came to the US, it was as a visitor on an ESTA waiver; he started UK work in April

I don't believe that time spent together in the US on ESTA or in the UK on a visitor visa can count towards cohabitation. In order to prove cohabitation, you both have to be legally living in the same country (on the correct visa) for the entire 24 months prior to submitting the application, and you must have bills, rental agreements, bank statements etc. in both names at the same address spread evenly over the entire 24 months (which you can't get if you are visiting the US or the UK).

Yeah, according to his contract, he was supposed to be earning £20k/year, and he received back-pay in one of his payslips that made up for the underpayment. But for a period of time in that 6 months, his payslips showed less than £1,550 in earnings, and we were concerned that they might have issues with that, even though it was a mistake.

If he has a fixed annual salary, then if ANY of the 6 months of payslips are less than £1,550, you will not qualify for the visa.

For salaried employment, they take the lowest payslip and multiply by 12. If this amount is less than £18,600 (i.e. £1,550 x 12), then the visa will be refused.

For non-salaried employment (he is paid by the hour and not a fixed annual salary), they will add all the payslips together, divide by 6 and multiply by 12 to get the total annual salary... this must be at least £18,600 before tax.

Assuming the residency requirements are okay with UKVI....

What was his lowest payslip he received?

How much savings did you show proof of for the six months prior (lowest balance shown in the six months)?

I'm hoping you didn't have a crappy immigration solicitor....