Hello people,

Any help on this topic would be greatly appreciated as anyone sing this site probably knows, relationships across borders can be quite stressful...

My girlfriend is a South African national, I am a British citizen born in the UK. We have been together for 2 years exactly and met in October 2004 while she was here on a working holidaymaker visa. From November 2005 we lived together but in September 2006 her extended visa expired and she has had to return home. We are desparate for her to come back to the UK but are very unsure as to whether we would fit the criteria for an 'unmarried partner' visa, as we have not lived together for two years, although we did for almost a year and can prove our relationship over that period and also for the 2 years we were togther, though phtos etc. Please see an explanation of dates below and visa status while in the UK:

Feb2004 - Feb2006, working holidaymaker
Feb2006 - September2006, extended visitor visa
We met in November2004, lived together from November 2005 -Sep2006.

I was hoping whether anyone had any experiences of applying for an unmarried partner visa and if you absolutely have had to have cohabited for the two years stated or whether they take into consideration, other factors, like the length of relationship and the fact we have lived togther for almost a year and thus if there is the possibilty of us being succesful in applying for an unmarried partner visa?

Any help much appreciated!

Thanks