FIRST STEP TOWARDS LIFE TOGETHER

Here we are. After nearly two years wandering between Europe and Brazil a new stage, maybe a significant one, is beginning.

When I had to leave Brazil in August 2006 nothing was sure about our future, because we had no way to obtain a permanent visa either in my country, Italy, or in Daniel’s, Brazil.

Thanks to Carla and Juan, two close friends of ours, we managed to know that in the United Kingdom we would have the chance to live together.

Since 2005 this country has had a Law ruling civil partnership for same sex couples, allowing not only British citizens but also people from other countries to subscribe a Civil Partnership and have their rights as a couple recognized and protected. Basically, if one the partners, or both, are living regularly in the United Kingdom, they are eligible to sign Civil Partnership.

In our case we were not living in the UK, but being a citizen of a EU country I could easily move there and look for a job. Once found the job, I arranged an interview at Home Office to get my Registration Certificate, an official document stating I am actually living in the UK.

An EEA (European Union plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland) citizen have the right to work or study within the UK without asking for a VISA or working permit, as long as he/she can support himself/herself economically. This status lets the EEA citizen to register as a resident at the Home Office, by filling a proper form (EEA1), available on the Home Office website, and by sending it along with an ID document (passport, national ID), the job contract , a payslip or a letter from the employer (for employees), documents stating the self-employment status (for self-employed), the school registration (for students). The applicant might send all these documents either by mail or at the Home Office itself after arranging an appointment.
The process is rapid and, for those applying directly at the bureau, it takes no more than half day.

With the Registration Certificate the EEA citizen can show he is actually living in the UK and let his/her partner start the VISA inquiry. The sponsor has to send to the partner his passport, his residence document, his job contract, payslips up to the previous six months, any document showing he/she has a proper place to stay (rent contract, bill, bank statement, HM revenue letter), a birth certificate, a letter addressed to the consulate, anything showing that the couple is real and stable (photographs, e-mails, letters, informal statements by relatives and friends etc) and, optionally, a declaration from someone guaranteeing his/her support in case of necessity. What the Consulate need to understand, among the other things, is if the sponsor and his partner are self-sufficient in order to prevent themselves from asking benefits from British government.

If it is not possible to provide the partner with original documents, certified copies are allowed. As far as we know, in the UK you should ask a lawyer for this kind of service. Some consulates, as the Italian one, provide the authentication service to their citizens. Not for free, I suppose.

That is the stage where we are. Now an interview at the consulate is scheduled and another element is going to be put in the puzzle.