# Unmarried Partner Question



## Lily Bart (Jun 2, 2011)

So I'm applying for a Tier 5 Temporary Worker visa. For just under two years now, I've been living with my German boyfriend of several years. My marital status is pretty irrelevant to my visa application. I mean, I'm applying on my own two feet--indeed, my boyfriend is staying behind in Germany while I go off to the UK for a couple of months. Perhaps I should have said I was single, but I didn't want to lie in case I get interviewed and the subject comes up: We live together. We were together in an exclusive relationship for years before we lived together. And we plan to stay together. So I said we were unmarried partners.

Here's the thing, I'm realizing that I can't really prove this. We live with family, so we have no proof of a shared lease or shared bills. We share expenses, obviously, but we don't yet have a shared bank account. All I can really point to is the fact that my passport has a number of German stamps from the years before I moved here. I might be able to find some envelopes that show we receive mail at the same address... 

Is this going to trip me up? As I said, I can't see how my marital status is terribly relevant.


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## JSturg (May 23, 2011)

Any information is fair game for visa applications. Having said that, you are in fact 'single' as you are not married and not in a registered partnership. If any questions pertain to your living arrangements, you would of course have to answer them truthfully. I don't know that that would trip you up (unless you're relying on your boyfriend for financial support), and he is entitled as a EU citizen to live in the UK as a matter of right anyway.


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## Lily Bart (Jun 2, 2011)

JSturg said:


> Any information is fair game for visa applications. Having said that, you are in fact 'single' as you are not married and not in a registered partnership. If any questions pertain to your living arrangements, you would of course have to answer them truthfully. I don't know that that would trip you up (unless you're relying on your boyfriend for financial support), and he is entitled as a EU citizen to live in the UK as a matter of right anyway.


Thanks for your reply. Unmarried partners is a category in addition to civil partners. I thought it was unusual, too, but it pretty much fits our situation.

I will, of course, answer truthfully every question that is put to me. What I'm concerned about is whether it will be a problem that I don't exactly have a pile of evidence pointing to the fact that we live together.

My sponsor is certifying maintenance so I'm not relying on my boyfriend for financial support. 

I just hope it won't matter one way or the other. I'm not applying for an unmarried partner visa after all!


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## Lily Bart (Jun 2, 2011)

Sorry to harp on, but does anyone know if I will really need to show proof of this relationship and if so what level of proof? 

I didn't realize when I submitted my application that this might be an issue since, again, my boyfriend is a European citizen and he's not even coming with me to the UK. All I wanted to do was to accurately describe my relationship status--and to show my intent to return to Germany after the job placement is over.

If the UK authorities aren't satisfied that I'm in an unmarried partnership, what are they likely to do with my application? Treat it as though I were single (which I wouldn't mind--my case is otherwise pretty cut and dried)?


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2011)

Lily Bart said:


> Sorry to harp on, but does anyone know if I will really need to show proof of this relationship and if so what level of proof?
> 
> I didn't realize when I submitted my application that this might be an issue since, again, my boyfriend is a European citizen and he's not even coming with me to the UK. All I wanted to do was to accurately describe my relationship status--and to show my intent to return to Germany after the job placement is over.
> 
> If the UK authorities aren't satisfied that I'm in an unmarried partnership, what are they likely to do with my application? Treat it as though I were single (which I wouldn't mind--my case is otherwise pretty cut and dried)?


I'm wondering if they ask for the info to add to their database on you. I've applied for the spouse settlement visa. On the application they ask if I or my husband have ever been in a "marriage-like relationship" with anyone else, and they want names if the answer is yes. (There are of course questions regarding civil partnerships and marriages, too)

There has been a real scandal in the UK about scam marriages especially with work visa and EU immigrants-the UKBA has been in the news bursting into weddings they've been tipped may be fraudulent, and it may be they are (wisely in mho) collecting info just in case.

Other than that, though, I haven't heard of the UKBA denying an work visa application based on relationship status.

Good luck, stay calm, and everything should be fine


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## Lily Bart (Jun 2, 2011)

AnAmericanInScotland said:


> I'm wondering if they ask for the info to add to their database on you. I've applied for the spouse settlement visa. On the application they ask if I or my husband have ever been in a "marriage-like relationship" with anyone else, and they want names if the answer is yes. (There are of course questions regarding civil partnerships and marriages, too)
> 
> There has been a real scandal in the UK about scam marriages especially with work visa and EU immigrants-the UKBA has been in the news bursting into weddings they've been tipped may be fraudulent, and it may be they are (wisely in mho) collecting info just in case.
> 
> ...


Thanks for this information and your kind words. I'm relieved to hear you've never heard of someone being denied a work visa based on relationship status. 

I understand completely why they would like to have this information. I have no problem disclosing it. I just might have a hard time proving it!


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2011)

Lily Bart said:


> Thanks for this information and your kind words. I'm relieved to hear you've never heard of someone being denied a work visa based on relationship status.
> 
> I understand completely why they would like to have this information. I have no problem disclosing it. I just might have a hard time proving it!


LOL, they'll likely only want proof if you decide to marry and try to stay in the UK on a different sort of visa. 

I read something in the Telegraph and on the Daily Mail last night that there were some rather big changes coming for certain kinds of settlement visas but the articles I read had more to do with domestic staff coming in with their employers and then changing their visas. Still, never hurts to read up on any of this stuff where ever it hits the news.

I do know several people in the UK there on work and student visas, lol, I think I know more about their experiences navigating the application process than I do about the visa I've applied for. 

Hopefully someone will pop in with info on their direct and personal experience with the type of visa you are applying for.


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## Lily Bart (Jun 2, 2011)

I hope you're right! I will bring what I can, just in case, but all I've really got are our German resident registration certificates showing that we live at the same address. 

Good luck with your visa--I don't even want to know how complicated the process for getting a settlement visa is. I am only trying to go to the UK for a few months and already the process is very confusing.


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