A Little More Clarity

UK Visa Application

Thanks to the enormously helpful community at expatforum.com I have a few more answers:

• I am the sponsor for Steve's application (makes sense, but form was unclear).
• We have to show proof of suitable accomodation at the time of application.
• The Visa Centre that does biometric interviews will be run by VSF Global, taking over from WorldBridge, and will still have offices in the same cities: Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Ottawa as well as two temporary offices in Halifax and St.John's. The changeover is @ March 12, 2014.

So, that's good news and bad news. Clarity is good. But, finding out that we have to provide address and proof of accomodation at the time of Steve's application is going to make things a bit tricky. Our plan was to get temporary housing while I apartment hunted and Steve started work.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) wants to know that incoming visa holders won't be homeless. They require all sorts of proof too, like ownership/rental documents, bills from utility companies, property inspections, letters inviting the visa applicant to stay.

We can solve our situation in one of 3 ways:

1. Use my Mum's house as our landing spot. This would require an invitation to stay written by her, her house deed, and a utility bill to that address in her name. I'm Power of Attorney (POA) for her, as she no longer can manage her affairs, so I will have to physically travel to England prior to applying to get the house deed. 
2. Rent accomodation in England before we submit the application. This would involve extra and excessive expense to rent there and here during the decision process, which I believe can take from 5 days to 60 days, and as long as 12 weeks. I'm not sure whether having an agreement to rent starting a couple of months later would satisfy UKBA.
3. Having Steve's employer arrange accomodation and write letter saying they will house us. Again, not sure if this would be enough proof for UKBA.

My instict is to choose the one that is the most provable, and therefore most likely for UKBA to accept.

With our online application almost completed, we are now in the document gathering phase. This will involve, among other things, asking friends and family to handwrite letters saying how long they have known us to be a couple. Since we are applying for an unmarried partner visa for Steve, we have to prove we've been in a married-like relationship for at least 2 years. This shouldn't be a problem, it's just a matter of assembling everything, which takes some work.

Physical Move

I've done nothing towards this. Here's hoping that having to report weekly in this blog will shame me into getting off my butt!

Having said that, I did start in on my taxes, which is a chore that needs to be accomplished prior to moving. I have 4 years to do. It's been easy for me to put off as I get a small refund each year which means no penalties for not filing on time. It's nice to have this underway, as it has been weighing on my mind recently.