# URGENT: FLR (M) Unmarried Visa Refused. What now?



## nfoleyy (Jun 30, 2015)

So, it's taken a good couple of days to sink in that myself and my partner's visa was refused. We went to Liverpool and submitted through the Premium Service Centre - 5 and a half hours we waited to be told no. Very upsetting. 

Everything in the application was spot on apart from the fact that we hadn't been living together 2 years to the day, about a week and a half short. I'd read a couple of posts on here from earlier saying that they would usually overlook a period of about a week or so but I guess we might have just been a bit unlucky. 

The question is, what now? We were so shocked on the day that when the woman mentioned about appealing we didn't even think to ask any questions about what that meant or anything. 

I've read that appeals take a very long time to process and go through, the rough estimate I have been given is around 18 months. We don't have the money to apply again just now but if we put in an appeal while saving up to apply again and then submitted a new application. Is that a way around it at all? :confused2:

Also, what about my partner? He is able to live and work just the same while an appeal is being processed but is he given anything from the home office to say he has the rights to stay and work? 

Any help would be appreciated on this as we're both very upset and trying to run around figuring out what next

Thank You


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

What visa is in on currently which allows him to remain and work?


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## nfoleyy (Jun 30, 2015)

He's currently on a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme Visa


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## clever-octopus (May 17, 2015)

If you were only a week and a half short, could you not have applied later when you were sure you could meet the requirement? Or is your partner's visa close to expiry? 

Often there are exceptions made under circumstances like being sent away for work, taking care of an ill relative, etc. which are explained in a covering letter, but it sounds as though you just didn't meet the requirement, in which case an appeal will probably just uphold the original decision.


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## nfoleyy (Jun 30, 2015)

His visa is close to expiry, hence why we applied that bit earlier


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Reading your earlier posts you had concerns about applying early, but also the fact you had little evidence of an unmarried partner relationship for the first year. No joint bills or tenancy agreements etc.

Your boyfriend arrived in the UK on 2 December 2013. He is an Aussie and you said you had no evidence of relationship in Australia. So it looks as though the most you can claim to have been together would have been from 2 December 2013 and you can't produce evidence of such "akin to marriage"

I think you should probably think about re-applying when you have a full two years of proof of relationship.


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## nfoleyy (Jun 30, 2015)

That was from a while ago when we gathered everything together we had more than enough evidence. 

Like I said the only point the application failed on was being a week or so early. 

We don't have the money to apply again straight away that's why I'm asking due to the waiting time for an appeal is it not worth just submitting that and then when we have the money submitting another application as it will have been more than 2 years by that point.


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

This is just can other piece of evidence that they are getting much tougher on the requirements which isn't terribly surprising since it's not a secret that they are trying to curb immigrating.

What does your refusal letter say exactly?


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## nfoleyy (Jun 30, 2015)

That we don't meet the legal requirement of the definition of partner as set out in the immigration rules


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## nyclon (Apr 3, 2011)

I mean type it out exactly.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

If being just two weeks short was the only reason for refusal, the funny thing is if you had waited a couple of weeks (by then his Tier 5 would have expired) but then applied by post, using the 28-day grace period, you would have been ok. But without knowing the exact ground for refusal (so type out the full wording as suggested), we can't be certain if that would have worked. For example, if you had water-tight evidence about unmarried partnership but was just 10 days short, they may have exercised discretion. So there may have been other factors behind their decision.


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## staygold (Apr 9, 2015)

Assuming that the ONLY reason the OP was refused was because they were slightly short of 2 years, could the OP just reapply within 28 days of receiving the refusal letter, if they now meet the minimum 2 years requirement? Like Joppa says, you can apply and be considered if you have overstayed using the 28 day grace period. I believe if you applied before your Tier 5 visa expired, you would be considered an overstayer from date of refusal letter, hence wouldn't they be able to reapply and presumably have met the 2 years by now?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Possibly, but a strange decision in any case. So I suspect there were other reasons other than being slightly short of 2 years that led to the refusal. So we await the full wording of the refusal letter.


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## nfoleyy (Jun 30, 2015)

It is noted that in your FLR(M) application form you state that you have been in a relationship since September 2012 and state that you have been living together since December 2013. In accordance with paragraph GEN 1.2 of Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules as you have not been living together for at least two years prior to the date of application this does not meet the definition of partner. 

It is therefore not accepted that you meet the requirement of R-LTRP.1.1.(a), (b) and c (ii) of the Immigration Rules. Your application is therefore refused under paragraph D-LTRP.1.3. of the Immigration Rules.


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## staygold (Apr 9, 2015)

Does the letter say anything else? Was your evidence of cohabitation pretty solid? Sorry to hear about this.. it sounds very harsh if there were no other issues with your application. My plan, if this had happened to me, was to do like my previous post. No guarantee it works obviously, but it seemed like a possibility when I was reading the immigration rules at the time.


I am not a regulated immigration advisor. In fact, I know very little about immigration. So only giving my own view which should not be relied upon as advice.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Please give us the exact date you started living together (as given on the application form) and the date you went to premium service centre.


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## nfoleyy (Jun 30, 2015)

All the evidence was pretty solid. We had everything we needed to prove that we had lived together all that time. 
When she told us the decision her wording literally was that the application was refused based only on the grounds that we haven't lived together for two years exactly 

Joppa, the dates were from the 1st December 2013. And we went to the premium service centre on the 19th November. There's nothing else in the refusal letter that refers to the decision, just a bunch of terms copied from the immigration rules. The previous post is the only reason the application was refused.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Well, they are within their right to refuse if you haven't lived together for full 2 years. While in the past discretion was often exercised when a couple was only a week or two short, they appear to be getting tougher and follow the rules to the letter. They are under pressure to reduce immigration.

I don't think there is any point in appealing as they were playing according to the rules. Lack of discretion isn't a reason to challenge the decision, hard done by though you may feel. You can still reapply if your existing visa is still valid. If it has expired, your options are limited.


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## nfoleyy (Jun 30, 2015)

We just unfortunately do not have the money to apply again right now. That's why we we're thinking of posting an appeal just because of how long the processing will take will give us enough time to be able to get the money together to apply again. 

Then we can cancel the appeal by submitting another application by which point it will have been over 2 years. 

Also, they gave us 14 days to appeal it and kept all our documents, do they send them back to us if the appeal doesn't go through or is cancelled?


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