Generally speaking, when the Home Office change policy or introduce a new policy, it generally means that they are tightening up on their Rules. However, recently, there has been a change in the Rules which unusually is very helpful and it relates to unmarried partners who are looking to apply for a visa to either enter or remain in the UK. Under the old Rules, overseas unmarried partners had to prove that they had lived with their settled partner in the UK for at least two years. However, the change in the Rules means that this is no longer needed. This shift in policy, opens the door for couples who are in genuine and subsisting relationships but who have not necessarily been living together for two years. Under the change, couples only need to demonstrate that they have been together for at least two years and that their relationship is akin to a marriage or a civil partnership. We came across many instances where couples had been in a long term relationship but had not lived together for various reasons. It may well be that they were in a long distance relationship or were simply living apart because of work reasons.
Whilst the Home Office have relaxed the Rules, proving the authenticity of the relationship is still a very important factor. The overseas partner will still need to provide strong documentation to prove the authenticity of the relationship and a range of documents will need to be provided, ideally formal documents but each case will have to be assessed on its own merits.
Unmarried partner applications have never been easy or straightforward to prepare and whilst the Rules have become more flexible, careful preparation of the visa application will still be extremely important. The Home Office is certainly attempting “to strike a balance between accommodating diverse relationship dynamics and ensuring the integrity of the UK immigration system”.
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