Civil Partners

Immigration Lawyers for Civil Partner and Gay Couples

Westkin are proud of our immigration lawyer’s record in assisting bi-national gay couples with their immigration matters.

Your unmarried or same-sex partner may come with you to the United Kingdom, or join you here, if you:

• currently live in the United Kingdom and are settled here; or
• are returning to the United Kingdom with him/her to live here permanently.
• The relationship may be a heterosexual or same-sex relationship, but you must not be related by blood.

You must both be able to show that:

1. any previous marriage or civil partnership that either of you was in has permanently broken down;

2. you have both been living together as if you were married (or in a civil partnership) for at least two years;

3. you both plan to live together permanently;

4. you both have enough money to support and adequately accommodate yourselves and any dependants without help from public funds (see Rights and responsibilities for more information on what this means); and

5. you and your partner are aged 21or over.

6. your unmarried or same-sex partner must obtain permission to enter the United Kingdom before travelling here. We call this permission ‘entry clearance’. It will be in the form of a visa or entry clearance certificate. To obtain it, he/she should apply to the British diplomatic post in the country where he/she lives.

For information about visas, see our visa services website.

If you have followed the procedures correctly, when your unmarried or same-sex partner arrives in the United Kingdom, he/she will be given permission to live and work here for two years. Near the end of the two years, if you are still in the relationship and both plan to live together permanently, your unmarried or same-sex partner may apply to live here permanently.

The above terms are complex but our experienced Immigration Lawyers who are familiar with immigration cases with a same-sex element are on hand to provide friendly, clear, honest and professional advice.

Amongst London’s immigration lawyers, barristers, or solicitors, we are confident to provide professional, honest, and the best immigration legal service for our clients from local or around the world.

info@westkin.com

© 2011 Westkin - London Immigration Lawyers