De Facto Visa. Please help! So confused.

[Kiwi bird]

Hi there everyone!

Firstly thanks for clicking onto my topic. Anyone's help would be much appreciated.

To cut a long story short, my partner and I are going to be applying for a de facto visa at the end of January 2012. He is a British citizen and I'm a New Zealand citizen. I'm currently on a Youth mobility visa, hence why I'm having to go back home in January and the de facto visa seems to be the best option for us.

Can anyone please point us to the right direction on how to go about obtaining this visa.

* Whose the best visa agency to go with if we do need to aquire agents to help our case.

* Is there another visa I can apply for to extend my time for a few months as a temporary solution to stay legally in the UK? If so, will it effect my chances when applying for the de facto visa?

Personal stories and any tips on this matter would be of great use.
I need all the help I can get.

Thanks kindly!

Sarah

[Kitty]

If you mean you want to apply for leave to remain as an unmarried partner then you will need to have been living together in a relationship "akin to marriage" for at least 2 years.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... you-apply/

You should be able to switch to this category from inside the UK, provided you satisfy the other criteria.

If you have not been living together for 2 years then you won't meet the requirements. Instead you could:

1. Leave the UK, apply for a fiancé visa, return to the UK and marry, then apply for further leave to remain as a spouse.

2. Marry in the UK asap and apply from within the UK for further leave to remain as a spouse.

3. Leave the UK and marry abroad, apply for a spouse visa.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas ... spouse-cp/

Does your partner have any other nationality beside his British citizen status? Does he have any plans to work in any European country in the near future?

[Kiwi bird]

Thanks Kitty for your help.

Don't suppose you would know if the length of time me and my partner have been living together would be cut off on the exit date in January as stated on my initial visa because this would make us fall short by a month on the two year required. Would the fact that I will still be on the tenancy at our current flat until it runs out at the end of April help?

Is there anyway I could return on a visitors visa just so we can reach the one month short we need?

This is all very confusing

Cheers.

[Kitty]

You could return on a visit visa, but you would need very good evidence of an intent to return to NZ as you can't apply to switch from a visit to a partner visa inside the UK. If you say you are coming to stay with your partner, then you straight away need to work very hard to persuade an Entry Clearance Officer that you are not going to try to settle in the UK by the back door.

What you might try is applying for leave to remain as an unmarried partner right at the end of your current visa. You can apply right up until the last day of validity (but do send your applicaiton by recorded delivery!). It's not unusual for applications to take more than a month to be decided, and the date of decision is the one that counts, for your purposes.

You will continue to be deemed to have permission to stay in the UK while your application is decided, as long as you make a valid applicaiton before your current leave expires.

If you're refused, well at least you will have clocked the 2 years you need to apply to come back in on a partner visa. The risk is that you may have to pay for two applications.

[Kiwi bird]

Thanks so much Kitty. This has given me at least some hope and clarification.
It seems you've been through or know of someone who has been through this process?