Have there been changes to the unmarried partner visa?

[BethM]

I'm an Aussie in the UK on the Tier 5 YMS. I have recently been looking at the UK border website and it could just be me but it seems there have been some changes to the criteria for the unmarried partner visa. In particular the living together for 2 years criteria.

I ruled this visa out as my boyfriend who is a UK citizen and I have only been living together for 14 months at the time I would need to apply, we have been together longer than this, but were not living in the same residence as I was volunteering in another country prior.

Has there been any recent changes or does this rule still apply?

Also, if I were to apply, can I apply for it from another country other than Australia? eg. Europe somewhere, as it is far too expensive to keep flying back and forth to Aus! If this was possible then I could possibly change to this visa sooner rather than later so I can start actually being able to plan my life beyond early 2013!

Any help will be greatly appreciated...even if it is not good news!

[2farapart]

You can switch from the YMS visa to a family visa including 'unmarried partners' without leaving the UK provided it was issued for 6 months or longer.

There doesn't appear to have been a change to the duration of relationship. We thought so at first because mention of the requirement disappeared from the UKBA site, but it appears as though it was simply lost where the unmarried partners requirements were redirected on the site to a more generalised page. In the actual Immigration Directorate instructions (recently rewritten to account for the new rules), the definition of 'unmarried partner' still states a minimum two years:

2.2 Definitions
Throughout this guidance “partner” means:
(i) the applicant’s spouse;
(ii) the applicant’s civil partner;
(iii) the applicant’s fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner; or
(iv) a person who has been living with the applicant in a relationship akin to a marriage or civil partnership for at least two years prior to the date of application,

If your YMS visa expires before you have been able to live together, I believe you cannot extend this and must return to Australia to apply as an unmarried partner.

There are new financial requirements (the UK sponsor must be earning a minimum £18,600pa for a minimum period of 6 months with the same employer, or an average across 12 months with different employers provided the average meets or exceeds £18,600). Because you are already in the UK, if you too are working here, then your pay can be considered jointly.

You can use savings instead of earnings or use savings to make up the shortfall. To calculate this amount, take the sum you are short by (e.g. deduct your current earnings from £18,600), multiply this by 2.5 (2.5 years - the length of each probationary visa) and add £16,000 (the sum of savings deemed sufficient to live on where you are no longer entitled to public support).

[WestCoastCanadianGirl]

This document will give you a rundown of everything you need to know about the recent changes to the immigration rules.

Page 57 pertains to Unmarried partners.

You will have to read the relevant parts of the document to get concise information as to how the rules apply to you.

[BethM]

Thanks for your help, I knew the website had changed, and thought it would be too good to be true, always is!

So frustrating knowing you have not much hope left! It seems so easy for my boyfriend to move to Aus for a long period of time, under a partner sponsorship visa, does this not exisit in any form in the UK??

Here is a snapshot of my situation I think I have turned every stone, any chance I am missing out an visa options?

- Currently on Tier 5 YMS - understand I can't switch or change and am happy to travel home to apply for any other visa I am eligible for.
- working full time in for British Charity (coordinator position)
- in relationship, will have been living together 14 months at expiry
- my job is not on the shortage list
- I'm not a highly skilled or highly paid (£150,000) to qualify for any visas that relate

Work S'ship
- Not earning enough/role is not diverse enough to prove I am the only one to be able to do the role to qualify for employer sponsorship

Plan to Marry Visa
- Even if I was to get engaged, I need to work to survive and you can't work on that visa until married, and dont really want to be pressured into marriage for the wrong reasons

Study Visa
- The cost of studying as an international student is crazy, I have spent the last 12 months volunteering prior to moving to the UK (with a very empty bank account) to be with my boyfriend I am now working for a charity and only earn around £18,000 so to find the money to pay for the course prior to applying is almost impossible, so I am ruled out due to financial reasons for this visa

Unmarried Visa
- as per the above comments and advice I am not eligible due to the living together criteria


......is there anything else I am missing???

[2farapart]

Originally Posted by BethM

- Currently on Tier 5 YMS - understand I can't switch or change and am happy to travel home to apply for any other visa I am eligible for.

Correct. It's unfortunate that you won't have been together for the full two years before expiry because you would have been able to switch AND count your income (which is nearly the full amount required) to meet the requirement.

Work visas are a rather difficult route to pursue unless as you say you have specialist skills to fill a role not easily filled by someone already in the UK. So, your options (in order of 'best')...

1. Are any of your grandparents British by birth? If so, as a Commonwealth citizen you have the right to an Ancestry visa. This is a visa where you can live and work in the UK for 5 years, after which you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain where you can live in the UK in your own right. There is no hefty financial requirement to meet.

2. Failing that, is it possible for your partner to live with you in Australia for the remainder of your two years? The big snafu with this option is that your partner, as the UK citizen, is your sponsor and so would need to be earning £18,600 or more for the 12 months prior to you applying, so he would need to secure a job in Australia (any income you make outside the UK won't count unfortunately). He would also need to have a confirmed job offer ready for his return to the UK at the point you apply.

3. Fiancée or spouse visa is another option. I placed this third purely because you said you didn't wish to be rushed into marriage, but in all honesty it's easily more achievable than the second option. If your boyfriend is already earning £18,600 or more per year and has been doing so for 6 months or longer, you could marry whilst on your YMS visa, and then apply for Further Leave To Remain (FLR - as spouse) from within the UK. If he hasn't, and won't have managed this before your YMS visa has expired, you'll need to return to Australia and wait until he has earnt this much, and then you can either both marry in Australia and apply as married partners from Australia, or you alone could return to Australia and apply for the fiancée visa (a 6-month visa allowing you to marry in the UK, after which you apply for FLR as above - except you can apply from within the UK).

4. Your partner secures a job in another EEA country for 6 months (any job - doesn't need to meet the £18,600), after which he could exercise his treaty rights and return to the UK with you on an EEA Family Permit. I know next to nothing about this but can point you in the direction of the guidance if it sounds viable.

5. Savings - do you both (don't laugh!) have a substantial sum between you? You can substitute savings for any shortfall income as I mentioned in my first post. You do have to have held the money for 6 months before you can apply (and any evidence of a 'loan' - even from family - will be enough to have your application refused). I frankly find the sums involved ridiculous because they are based on the assumption that this will be the only income you will have for the duration of your visa, but rules are rules. I thought I'd mention it in case you do have additional reserves between you.

I hope this helps in some way.

[Joppa]

Are any of your grandparents British by birth?

To be eligible for ancestry visa, it isn't enough for one of them to be born British. They have to be born within UK (including Channel Islands and Isle of Man) or what is now the Republic of Ireland prior to 1922. A lot of other people are British by birth but not born in UK, and if your grandparent is one, you cannot get an ancestry visa.

[BethM]

Thanks for the help.

I'm now thinking about coming back in on a regular tourist visa and leaving after 6 months, then re-entering again to make it up to 10 months, to allow for 24 months living together.

I just won't work, I'll have to live on limited savings and the support of my boyfriend.

I assume they would have a few questions for me at the border, but if I provide a letter from my employer stating I finished work prior to my visa expiring and that they have no intension of hiring me again, then maybe provide bank details/ pay slips from my boyfriend showing he can afford to support me then do you think this would be ok? Or is this opening me up for a scene similar to Border Patrol.

After this time, I can then apply for the un married visa from within the country.

That's my last option to consider.

[Joppa]

Originally Posted by BethM

Thanks for the help.

I'm now thinking about coming back in on a regular tourist visa and leaving after 6 months, then re-entering again to make it up to 10 months, to allow for 24 months living together.

That was allowed under the old rules, but I haven't checked if it's still so under the new.

I just won't work, I'll have to live on limited savings and the support of my boyfriend.

I assume they would have a few questions for me at the border, but if I provide a letter from my employer stating I finished work prior to my visa expiring and that they have no intension of hiring me again, then maybe provide bank details/ pay slips from my boyfriend showing he can afford to support me then do you think this would be ok? Or is this opening me up for a scene similar to Border Patrol.

After this time, I can then apply for the un married visa from within the country.

If you are only in UK as a visitor, then no, you have to apply from your country of nationality.

[nyclon]

Originally Posted by BethM

Thanks for the help.

I'm now thinking about coming back in on a regular tourist visa and leaving after 6 months, then re-entering again to make it up to 10 months, to allow for 24 months living together.

I just won't work, I'll have to live on limited savings and the support of my boyfriend.

I assume they would have a few questions for me at the border, but if I provide a letter from my employer stating I finished work prior to my visa expiring and that they have no intension of hiring me again, then maybe provide bank details/ pay slips from my boyfriend showing he can afford to support me then do you think this would be ok? Or is this opening me up for a scene similar to Border Patrol.

After this time, I can then apply for the un married visa from within the country.

You can only visit the UK on a tourist visa for 6 months out of a 12 month period.

[chazbat]

Hello,

Sounds like you're in the same situation that I am in.

I just wanted to know how you've gone returning to the UK after your YMV ended and what evidence you needed at the border to get your visitor visa/stamp? What questions were you asked?

Did you just go somewhere in Europe after your YMV ended and then re-enter the UK as a visitor?

Do you both then need to go to Australian to apply for the unmarried visa, or just the person who needs the visa?