Visit Visa Query - relationship query

Hi guys, my girlfriend is applying for a visit visa and I was looking for some advice - I signed up with an agency but they are proving hard to even get hold of constant telephone voice mails so I'm dropping them and doing it myself.

My girlfriend will be moving in with me, we've been together a year (she was on a 2 year student visa before) - is it best to put single or unmarried partner on the form?

And also is it ok to mention that I am her boyfriend as shes staying with me and I am sponsoring her and funding everything. I've seen nothing against this online at all so I assume fine however I've been told by a friend that on the UK Border Agency TV programs, some people are denied entry at the airport when they tell customs they are staying with a boyfriend. I'm not sure if this is true or not and so just wanted to confirm

My girlfriend has a sister who married a UK-national and now lives in the UK, she is going to sponsor as well - acting as a secondary sponsor I'll be the main one.

Thanks any help is appreciated
Mike

If your girlfriend is Canadian and wants to come visit you in the UK for less than 6 months, she doesn't need to apply for an entry clearance (visa). All she needs to do is fly over here with her documents (return tickets to Canada, invitation letter from you, maintenance funds, details of her trip etc.). The tricky part is that she'll have to convince the Immigration Officers that she's a real visitor and that she'll leave at the end of her stay, which is not easy when the purpose of your trip is visiting your boyfriend. She'll also have to show that she has enough ties in Canada for her to go back, such as a job, property and family. If she doesn't succeed in convincing them, she's likely to be refused at the border.

The only way one can stay over 6 months to visit a UK British boyfriend/girlfriend would be under the unmarried partner visa category, but your girlfriend is not eligible as you haven't lived together for at least 2 years. The other option would be to apply under one of the employment routes (Tier 2, Tier 5 YMS or UK Ancestry).

We hope it'll help!

VisaWise | Immigration Consultancy
OISC Registered Immigration Advisers
Members of the Quebec Bar
London, United Kingdom
info@visa-wise.co.uk
http://www.visa-wise.co.uk

Absolutely correct... I was refused at the border (Heathrow) in August 2010 when I attempted to go visit my boyfriend back in the UK after I had been back in Canada for over a month, post the expiry of my WH Visa. I had my return ticket, proof of my income, and all of what we thought we needed. Like Visa Wise says, if your girlfriend doesn't have what the IO considers significant ties back here in Canada (job, property ownership) she could be refused. The thing is, they told me I needed at least a visit visa, because they apparently have some obscure rule about always needing a visa once you've had a visa (but they don't seem to tell you that on the website) and then refused me twice when I applied for the recommended visit visa due to: A)they felt I had spent enough time over there visiting, and believed I was trying to settle and establish myself in the UK with my boyfriend, and B) not enough significant ties to Canada to bring me back. So, my boyfriend, soon to be fiance, comes to see me every 6 months.

Good luck to you and your girlfriend, and I sincerely hope the same thing doesn't happen to you both as what happened to me and mine... it was absolutely heartbreaking... Best wishes!