Which route to join my EEA partner?

[NaLu]

Hello all,

I am Colombian and currently living in Italy under a residence permit for study. I have been in a long-distance relationship with my fianceé for over 2 years. My fianceé is Italian and she has lived for 2 years in London while doing a PhD. She has now a pre-settlement status. We are intending to live permanently in the UK.

I am trying to understand what route suits us best and still can't figure it out. It is pretty confusing.

I don't know which one, among the possible routes to join her in the UK, is valid for us.

a) Apply for a Family Visa: I could apply as a fiancé and marry within 6 months of my arrival. However, I am not sure whether I could apply because as it is stated on the official website

Your partner must also either:
be a British citizen
have settled in the UK - for example, they have indefinite leave to remain, settled status or proof of permanent residence
have refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK

but she has a "pre-settled" status, not settled. So I don't know...

b) EEA Family Permit as an unmarried partner: Because she studies she's using her Treaty Rights and and such I can apply for this one. But because we have not lived together for at least 2 years as they expect you to prove, the chance of getting rejected is high (as I read on this forum several times).

c) EEA Family Permit as a married partner: it involves getting first married in Italy and then applying for the FP, which should be quite straightforward given the marriage would already exist.

d) EU Settlement Scheme family permit: I believe this one is out of consideration because it is not aimed for unmarried partners.

You must be the EEA citizen’s spouse or civil partner, or related to them (or to their spouse or civil partner) as
child or grandchild under 21 years old, or dependent child or grandchild of any
dependent parent or grandparent

Right?

My questions are:
1. Could I apply for route a) even though she has a pre-settled status?
2. In reality, how risky is it to apply for the FP as an UP (route b) and try to prove the relationship through photos, flight tickets and so on?
3. EU Settlement Scheme is indeed out of consideration, right?

I would really appreciate any suggestion and/or insight.

Sorry for the lengthy post.

[CR001]

1. Could I apply for route a) even though she has a pre-settled status?

No. You don't qualify for this one.

2. In reality, how risky is it to apply for the FP as an UP (route b) and try to prove the relationship through photos, flight tickets and so on?

Without rock solid evidence of living together in a relationship akin to marriage, very slim. Your evidence listed shows only 'boyfriend/girlfriend' relationship, not the akin to marriage with joint financial commitments.

3. EU Settlement Scheme is indeed out of consideration, right?

Possible if you are married.

[NaLu]

Thank you so much for your reply.

I have further questions. Thanks for any additional insight.

Given that I can't apply for a Family Visa

1. Could I apply for route a) even though she has a pre-settled status?

No. You don't qualify for this one.

and asking for an EEA FP without solid evidence is far from being easy to achieve

2. In reality, how risky is it to apply for the FP as an UP (route b) and try to prove the relationship through photos, flight tickets and so on?

Without rock solid evidence of living together in a relationship akin to marriage, very slim. Your evidence listed shows only 'boyfriend/girlfriend' relationship, not the akin to marriage with joint financial commitments.

Is there any other path I might be missing? Our plan is to get married one way or another and to establish permanently in the UK.

There is also the marriage visa. I don't find any reason for which I could not apply for one, apart from the fact that I want to move permanently to the UK, for which they tell you this here

Apply for a Marriage Visitor visa if you and your partner want to get married or enter into a civil partnership in the UK.

If you want to live in the UK permanently, you must apply for a family of a settled person visa if your partner is any of the following:

a British citizen
settled in the UK
someone with humanitarian protection, for example if they have refugee status

but I can't apply for a Family Visa (as you said) because she is not settled. It is a loop of non-fulfilled requirements.

Could I regardless apply to the Marriage Visa scheme, go back to my country and then ask for the EEA Family Permit as a married partner?

[kamoe]

Could I regardless apply to the Marriage Visa scheme, go back to my country and then ask for the EEA Family Permit as a married partner?

If you are planning to go back to Colombia anyway, why no plan to get married there? Or in Italy? It will be a thousand times easier either of those options, than trying to get married in the UK, especially since you simply do not fulfill the Marriage Visa requirements.

Then with the marriage certificate in hand, apply for a Family Permit in Bogota (or Italy). It is usually really quick and treated in priority (mine took about 3 days).

[NaLu]

Hello kamoe, thanks for your reply.

Getting married in Italy is indeed an option, but only because my fiancée does not have the Settled status and therefore I can't apply for a Family Permit as a married partner.

Could I regardless apply to the Marriage Visa scheme, go back to my country and then ask for the EEA Family Permit as a married partner?

If you are planning to go back to Colombia anyway, why no plan to get married there? Or in Italy? It will be a thousand times easier either of those options, than trying to get married in the UK, especially since you simply do not fulfill the Marriage Visa requirements.

I mentioned the path of Marriage Visa and a Family Permit afterwards because we want to live in the UK, so I thought it made sense to marry there and not in Italy. Otherwise, we would have to incur into an homologation of the marriage (that’s my guess but I haven’t read about it).

Putting all the pieces together I guess it makes more sense to get married in Italy and then ask for the family permit than trying to prove that a long-distance relationship is akin to marriage and and taking the risk of getting rejected (which might make things more complicated in the future I guess).

Thanks again for clarifying my doubts.

[kamoe]

I mentioned the path of Marriage Visa and a Family Permit afterwards because we want to live in the UK, so I thought it made sense to marry there and not in Italy. Otherwise, we would have to incur into an homologation of the marriage (that’s my guess but I haven’t read about it).

As long as your marriage is legal in Colombia or Italy, it will be legal and recognized in the UK. The only inconvenience of not getting married in the UK is that you would need to eventually translate your marriage certificate.

Putting all the pieces together I guess it makes more sense to get married in Italy and then ask for the family permit than trying to prove that a long-distance relationship is akin to marriage and and taking the risk of getting rejected (which might make things more complicated in the future I guess).

If you have not shared common financial commitments, such as a bank account where you both pay bills; rent, or a mortgage; or if you do not share the financial responsibility of childcare, then in all likelihood your relationship is not 'akin to marriage'.

Simply being in a long-term relationship, even if for many years, and even if cohabiting, is not sufficient, if that joint financial element is absent.

This is a common misunderstanding of people in this forum who ask if simply by sharing the same address for two years they are eligible for the EFM route. In reality, as @CR001 says, this likely only fulfills the description of "boyfriend/girlfriend" rather than that of "durable partner", which is not conducive to a successful application.

[Polunychka]

Hi! What’s the update on your situation ? Did you manage to enter the UK? I’m in similar position