When Is It Best To Apply For An Unmarried Partner Visa

Question

I have been living and working in the UK for just over a year on 5 separately issued Tier 5 - temporary worker visas each lasting 3 months. As my partner of 4 years is a UK national with a passport, I am looking to transfer to an unmarried partner visa. We have substantial evidence of living together for 3 years, being leases, joined bank accounts, emails etc. My current visa expires in July and I am uncertain as to whether I can apply for a leave to remain or if I would need to move back and apply from Australia. My partner also has an Irish passport and so was wondering if an EEA unmarried partner would be a better solution? Thanks for your time.

Our Response

I am not sure I got the full picture from your email. You mentioned that you were on a Tier 5 temporary worker visa with each lasting 3 months. Does this mean that you kept extending your Tier 5 visa for up to 5 years?

We would need to double check that you have not overstayed your visa at any point throughout the 5 year period. If this is the case however, you may have issues with applying within the UK. There may however be exceptions - especially if you can show that that there are insurmountable obstacle to you returning.

Notwithstanding the fact that you may have overstayed your visa, you may still be able to apply if you are applying from outside the country as the immigration rules suggest that overstaying by itself in this case would not lead to refusal.

However if you have not overstayed your visa at any point, our immigration solicitors can assist you with making the application for an unmarried partner visa. As you know, you have to show substantial evidence of living together for at least 2 years.