Unmarried Partner visa

[quote="moonhead"]I too am going to be applying for an Unmarried Partners Visa from Canada in just a few months.
If any one has any success stories or words of advice, please share![/quote]


Hi Moonhead,
I just wanted to know if you have applyed for the unmarried visa yet ??

Hi,

I could use some advice so here is my story.
I applied for a Working Holiday Maker Visa from Halifax, Nova Scotia in March 04. It was accepted and on 1 May 2004 I moved to England to live with my partner. We have been living together since then and my visa is due to end on 11 March 2006 (soon) but I planned on applying for an unmarried common law visa on the 1 May 2004 when we will offical be able to prove two years.

Has anyone been through this process? Also what are my options in the interim? Can I just stay as a Canadian till the 1 May 2006. I don't believe from my research you can extend a working holiday maker visa.
Any guidance would be apperiated.

Cheers

Sam

Sam,

You can't extend a working holiday-maker visa. HOWEVER, if you definitelyl can prove 2 years' cohabitation, then simply apply for "Further Leave to Remain" THE WEEK BEFORE YOUR CURRENT VISA EXPIRES. You automatically get an extension on your working holiday-maker visa for the time it takes them to make a decision, and if you apply by post, the process can take 7-14 weeks. By then you should have your 2 years and you SHOULD be able to get a 2 year extension as the unmarried partner of a British National.

The form you want is an FLR-M which you can find here (just scroll down to "Form FLR (M)"):

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en ... _form.html?


I have done this already, and am just waiting to see if my extension gets approved. The only real drawback to this is that both you and your partner have to give up your passport for the duration of their decision-making process.

Good luck!

Hi,

Just browsing around looking for info..i am a canadian who has moved here to be with my boyfriend (british) and i'm seeing all of your posts about worrying only about applying for unmarried partner visas or having to break up or get wed..but im wondering if anyone has a job that they can just get their employer to sponser them to stay with a work permit?..my holiday maker visa is still valid until november/06..but this is what i am planning on doing..extending on a work permit with an employer..
as far as i have read this seems completely possible..and it extends your stay for 4 years..the drawback is that you must work for that employer only so you must have a suitable job that you plan on and want to stay at...
am i wrong? does anyone know anything about it..i thought i had all the info correct

thanks
keri

If you qualify for a work permit, you will still have to leave the country (go back home), apply for an entry clearance, and come back into the UK with both your permit and your entry clearance. If you were applying for a work permit that would last less than 6 months, you could just take of to France, for example. But anything longer and you'll have to go back home.

I tried to go this route, but found that despite my working for an employer who desperately needed to keep me on, AND my being a software specialist with knowledge no one else in the country had at the time, I still didn't qualify for the permit. What knocked me out of the running was a lack of specialised education in software and a salary that didn't suggest I was a software specialist. (So I'm underpaid AND I don't get to stay in the country).

That's not meant as a discouragement - only a caution to say that it can be difficult. Best of luck to you.

sooo..where are you now? have you left the country? this is all a shock to me..i thought as long as you were in a job and your employer wanted to sponsor you..you would be fine..
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

what do you mean about lack of specialized education? ill tell you my situation..im a photographer/graphic designer and have qualifactions in canada in that field..but im just starting work for a small type design company...and i will be working there for 10 months or so..by the time my visa runs out...

just wondering what you think? since you have been through it all..do you think there is no way i would get accepted?

Kezza, it's really hard to say. The IND website has a list of shortage occupations, and I kind of doubt graphic design/photography shows up on it. It's worth a look, though. Check workingintheuk.gov.uk (or something like that).

If you read back a bit, I've explained my situation. I tried to go the work permit route, but failing that have applied as the common-law partner of a British National. I'm still waiting to hear, and am currently in the UK without a passport. I had to hand over my passport and my partner's passport for them to process the application.

I strongly recommend you do some research on both the IND website (Immigration Nationality Directorate) and the Working in the UK website. There are several schemes under which an employer can sponsor you, but recently they have got a bit stricter. If you are management level, it should be easier.

I'm having the same problem as a number of you. I first came to the UK on a student visa, then went home for a week and got a working holiday maker visa. I've been working for 8 months as an administrator of a huge company and they want to keep me on, but that job is just not listed on the occupations list.

I've been dating my boyfriend here for over a year and he has asked my father's permission to marry me, but we were really thinking sometime in the future. Now it feels like I'm going to have to marry him to stay in the country. As much as I want to, I had other, more romantic plans.

We've only been living together for 5 months, so I can't even get unmarried partner!

Am I missing anything or can anyone think of another option besides marrying him? I really like my job and want to stay here, but my working time runs out in May. Any ideas?

Oh...and the IND website is impossible to get on. I think there are too many of us trying to access it!