EUSS Family Permit. Unmarried (durable) partner
You may be granted an EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit if you are the unmarried (durable) partner of a Swiss or EEA citizen who has been granted settled or pre-settled status in the UK, if your partnership was formed and was durable before 31 December 2020, and if your partnership remains durable at the date of application.
Your partner must have been resident in the UK before 31 December 2020 and must have been granted settled or pre-settled status on this basis. Their settled or pre-settled status must not have lapsed or been cancelled, curtailed, revoked or invalidated. You must provide in your application for an EUSS Family Permit the reference number of the application for settled or pre-settled status made by your partner (a 16-digit number).
You must not be a British citizen. You may be Swiss, EEA (a citizen of a Member State of the European Union, or a citizen of Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein), or a non-EEA citizen. If you are a Swiss or EEA citizen, you can apply directly for pre-settled status from outside the UK, without applying for an EUSS Family Permit first.
The entry clearance officer must be satisfied that you have lived together with your partner at and before 31 December 2020 in a relationship akin to a marriage, for at least two years. You may bring as evidence bank statements or utility bills in joint names at the same address, residential mortgage statements or tenancy agreements in joint names, or official correspondence that links you at the same address. You may also bring evidence of joint finances, business ventures or commitments, in the form of tax returns, business contracts or investments.
If you have not lived together for at least two years at and before 31 December 2020, you may still be able to provide other significant evidence of the durable relationship, like having a child together. You can demonstrate joint responsibility for a child by 31 December 2020 with the child’s birth certificate which names both parents, or with a custody agreement showing that you are living together and sharing parental responsibility.
If you were resident in the UK as a durable partner before 31 December 2020, you must have had a family permit or residence card obtained in your capacity as the durable partner of your current partner. This document must not have been revoked because the relationship had never existed or had ceased.
If you were resident in the UK as the durable partner of your current partner before 31 December 2020, but you have not had a UK residence card, then you must submit evidence to satisfy the entry clearance officer that you were otherwise lawfully resident in the UK and that the durable partnership was formed and was durable at and before 31 December 2020.
Your durable partnership must not have been one of convenience. A durable partnership of convenience is one in which you entered not because of your feelings for your partner, but as a means to circumvent the criterions you would have to meet in order to enjoy a right to enter or reside in the UK under the immigration law.
You must apply for pre-settled status within 3 months of your arrival in the UK if you wish to remain in the UK after the expiry date of your EUSS Family Permit.
If you want to apply for an EUSS Family Permit and need specialist advice, feel free to contact me. Please note that I am an accredited immigration adviser, not an employee of the UK Visas and Immigration. I charge fees for the advice provided.