EEA2 Q's - durable relationship

[genericmember]

Hello all,

I just wanted to ask a few Q's and check if my understanding is correct. I've been lurking the forums today but am still quite confused.

So I'm a non-EEA national (Australian) and I've been with my partner for 4 years, British citizen. We've applied for EEA2, very early stages so have not received any confirmation as of yet. We've lived together for almost 2 years in the UK, we had 6 months apart before that and have sent through emails and letters during our time apart and also a tenancy agreement from Australia where we lived together for approx 1.5 years. Hoping all the cumulative evidence we've sent will suffice.

I'm currently on Tier 5, Youth Mobility visa which expires early Feb. I will receive COA before that.

I called through to the Immigration contact centre today and explained I had applied for the EEA2 and am currently on a youth mobility visa wanted to check if I had to leave the country while the residency is considered. I've already put in my resignation assuming I will lose my right to work and live in the UK. Now the gentleman I spoke to said since it was an EEA2, when I get the acknowledgement letter (I think meaning the COA), I will be allowed to work and live - I questioned him and asked even though I'm only a partner and not a family member and am applying as an extended family member. He was very confident and said yes.

However after scrolling through these forums, it seems that as an unmarried partner, I am not going to get a COA with a right to work however I do want to know - will I be able to stay while a decision is made? If I ask for my passport back and leave the country while the decision is pending, will this affect my application? That's what I was originally going to do and contact them with a change of circs.

[noajthan]

Hello all,

I just wanted to ask a few Q's and check if my understanding is correct. I've been lurking the forums today but am still quite confused.

So I'm a non-EEA national (Australian) and I've been with my partner for 4 years, British citizen. We've applied for EEA2, very early stages so have not received any confirmation as of yet. We've lived together for almost 2 years in the UK, we had 6 months apart before that and have sent through emails and letters during our time apart and also a tenancy agreement from Australia where we lived together for approx 1.5 years. Hoping all the cumulative evidence we've sent will suffice.

...

However after scrolling through these forums, it seems that as an unmarried partner, I am not going to get a COA with a right to work however I do want to know - will I be able to stay while a decision is made? If I ask for my passport back and leave the country while the decision is pending, will this affect my application? That's what I was originally going to do and contact them with a change of circs.

I assume by EEA2 you mean a Residence Card?

But a RC is for non-EEA family members of EEA nationals who are exercising treaty rights in, for example, UK.

If your partner is a BC (even if a dual citizen & also an EEA national) then they will not be considered by HO as an EEA national.

So this EEA immigration route will not be open to you unless, perhaps, you have both travelled the Surinder Singh path via a.n.other EU country first of all.
(And SS is most readily available to married couples).

In the words of Gandalf: You must stay on the path, do not leave it. If you do, you’ll never find it again.

I may be missing something here, but it's possible you've gone off on a bit of a wild goose chase & may need to rethink your next steps for when current visa expires.

[genericmember]

Oops. I've just confused myself. I applied for a RC as an extended family member of a EEA national. This is the application I sent through https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... rm-eea-efm

I thought we would be eligible as we've been in a durable relationship for over 2 years :S

[genericmember]

Um, I think I'm realising that I've made quite an error...

[Casa]

As noajthan has advised you, it appears that you have applied for an EEA2 permit in error. In order to switch from a Tier 5 Youth Mobility to an Unmarried Partner visa you would need to apply for a FLR(M) visa. However, what documented evidence can you provide that you have been living in a relationship 'akin to marriage' for a minimum of 2 years? Also, unless you have substantial savings to make up any shortfall, is your partner earning at least £18,600 per annum? The visa fee is currently £649 for a postal application or £1049 if applied for in person. NHS surcharge is £500 payable online before submitting your application. https://www.gov.uk/remain-in-uk-family/apply

Unfortunately, UKVI 'help line staff' are renowned for giving incorrect advice.

[genericmember]

Yes he's earning over that amount.

We have letters confirming our current address, tenancy agreement for almost 2 years, we were apart for a short while and have correspondence for that period, holiday bookings, tenancy agreement for Australia. We don't have joint accounts but I can provide evidence of previous payment transfers. We can get statements from friends and family if needed.

We've sent everything labelled with cover letters specifying documents and all of our original identity documents for the EEA2. Which is only really just dawning on us now that it was completely wrong..

[Casa]

Yes he's earning over that amount.

We have letters confirming our current address, tenancy agreement for almost 2 years, we were apart for a short while and have correspondence for that period, holiday bookings, tenancy agreement for Australia. We don't have joint accounts but I can provide evidence of previous payment transfers. We can get statements from friends and family if needed.

We've sent everything labelled with cover letters specifying documents and all of our original identity documents for the EEA2. Which is only really just dawning on us now that it was completely wrong..

An amendment to my previous post. As an Australian national, you are exempt from paying the NHS surcharge. Do you have anything in joint names, apart from your tenancy agreement? You'll have to request the return of your documents in order to submit them for the FLR(M) application.

[genericmember]

We can get a joint bank account, but we don't have anything in joint names apart from the tenancy agreement. We do have evidence of budgeting software though where we share finances...

[genericmember]

Yes he's earning over that amount.

We have letters confirming our current address, tenancy agreement for almost 2 years, we were apart for a short while and have correspondence for that period, holiday bookings, tenancy agreement for Australia. We don't have joint accounts but I can provide evidence of previous payment transfers. We can get statements from friends and family if needed.

We've sent everything labelled with cover letters specifying documents and all of our original identity documents for the EEA2. Which is only really just dawning on us now that it was completely wrong..

An amendment to my previous post. As an Australian national, you are exempt from paying the NHS surcharge.

Considering how crap I'm feeling about applying for the wrong thing, this is very very good news.

[noajthan]

Um, I think I'm realising that I've made quite an error...

Don't worry about it, you are amongst friends here.

You've just lost a bit of time & whatever RC fee is these days - no biggie.

The key lesson to learn here is don't rely on the HO helpline.

[Casa]

It would strengthen your application if you can submit anything showing shared finances. Submit everything you have which shows the history of a genuine relationship. I know you must be disappointed to have made an error with the application, but at least you meet the income level, which many fail on.

[genericmember]

I've just filled in the online form to withdraw the current application.

Cannot thank you enough for the guidance. I would honestly probably not have realised until HO sent a letter to say that it was invalid.

[Casa]

There's a plus point (to cheer you up a little) that you found out without too much delay. Good luck with it all.

[genericmember]

After withdrawing and asking for docs back on 11.12.15, we have now received them! Yay! Applying for a joint bank account tomorrow (needed my passport which was with HO for a month) and then sending through FLR (M) I know this is an old thread, but thank you so much again. I just found it a little strange though they sent through a certificate of application without saying it's the wrong thing - I don't know how I would've found out it was the wrong one unless I stumbled on here.

[noajthan]

After withdrawing and asking for docs back on 11.12.15, we have now received them! Yay! Applying for a joint bank account tomorrow (needed my passport which was with HO for a month) and then sending through FLR (M) I know this is an old thread, but thank you so much again. I just found it a little strange though they sent through a certificate of application without saying it's the wrong thing - I don't know how I would've found out it was the wrong one unless I stumbled on here.

Glad to know you are back on the straight & narrow.

Good luck.

[Casa]

One important issue, how much short of the full 2 years co-habitation are you at present...with the documented evidence to back that up?

[genericmember]

22 days short on our current tenancy agreement. But I haven't sent through yet, little worried about how late I'm leaving it as my current visa expires 5.2.16. I figured that actually sending through the wrong application might be a blessing in disguise because it brings us closer to the 2 year cohabitation rule and there's a lot of evidence I could've put in there.

Before I came to England, my partner flew to Australia about 3 weeks prior so we could come back together. We have flight bookings as evidence, joint accommodation plus past tenancy agreements as we lived together before in Australia. We have about 6 months of email correspondence when we were apart with us planning me coming over there (well here, England) and genuine reasons we were apart (couldn't afford it and I had exams in Australia - luckily my qualifications all have my exam dates on there as well)

In terms of proof of our 2 year cohabitation - we have a signed statement from his parents we lived together from 5.2.14 - 5.3.14, signed tenancy agreement under both names from 5.3.14 and 2 years worth of correspondence at the address (HMRC, NHS, Bank Statements, DVLA, other random letters) - last letter I put in I think was for October, but I'll update it with more recent correspondence.

For new evidence for this the FLR (M) - we're getting two of our friends to write statements that they know us as a couple (one from my past work and one from his), more evidence of our holidays together so joint flight bookings and photos, we use Airbnb and we have reviews from people that show we stayed as a couple, I am taking screenshots of our budgeting software where we treat our finances as shared and then we will also have the joint bank account. Also we'll send something from last year to show that he earned over the 18K threshold then as he started a new job 3 months ago and we'll have proof of his salary for now as well.

It's really scary to think that despite us being together for almost 5 years that they still might not approve it on some technicality. I mean if I knew about FLR(M) two years ago, I would've started up a joint bank account ages ago but we have never really bothered about money, we just use each others funds carefree as we try not to buy unnecessary stuff. We pretty much discuss most larger purchases and it doesn't matter whose account it comes out of. I think it's because we've both had times where we've financially supported each other so things are never "equal" or "split 50/50" - finances and situations change and money is secondary to a relationship. So we don't have much evidence of joint financial responsibility

[Casa]

OK....so to avoid giving the Case Worker any reason to refuse you due to falling short of the full 24 months...submit your postal application as close as possible to the expiry date. The date of posting qualifies as the application date (not the date it is received) and you will continue to have valid leave until your application has been decided. Post it registered or recorded delivery and keep the receipt. As long as you post it before the expiry date, you'll be fine.

[genericmember]

ALMOST DONE! We're hopefully getting evidence from the bank today as to our joint bank account. As soon as I got my passport *edit - sort of soonish after I got my passport* back from HO we went into the bank thinking we could sign up on the day...no such luck, they told us to sign up online as it was easier than making an in branch appointment. I'm like so I sign up online and then I can just come back and show you my identity stuff? They were like yeah sure. I didn't think any of this through very well. Obviously I fail at being an adult.

I signed up online and went back to bank and was like, um can I show you evidence of my existence now and get this sorted? And they were like nope, got to wait for the letter which can take 7 days..I was so stressed out about waiting 7 days! I'm like uh can we cancel the online thing and just get it sorted in branch through an appointment, and they were like ... you shouldn't have done it online then. I'm like why did you tell me to sign up onlineee! Anyway it took 11 days for this letter to arrive but it's here.

I did a draft version and I've just finished rewriting all the answers onto the proper version now. Yay! Hardest bit was definitely 7.3A and evidence of income over the last 12 months. I was naive and thought we could put my partners contract in there with his annual salary. All good now, we got the payslips, the P45's (I quit my job cause I knew I couldn't work while the application gets processed) and 6 months worth of stamped bank statements for my partner. I did a table up for them showing them the pay each month and how it all adds up.

So pretty much two reasons it could get rejected - being off by 2-3 days from the 24 months (however we've included loads of historical evidence of us living together, we've lived together for almost 4 years) and also insufficient evidence of shared finances - considering we're finalising this bank account today.