Landlord unable to produce co signed lease

[Jamarns]

Ok so when I first moved into my apartment my common law partner was not living with me, later on, about 6 months later she moved in and we added her to the lease. The building I live in has since been sold, I have asked the new owners for a copy of the lease to support my common law application for residency, and they have informed me that they only have the original copy of the lease that only has my name on it.

I do have a receipt from the old landlord that has both my name and my partners name on it that dates back to the date we added her to the lease. We also do have a joint bank account but we didn't do that until about six months after she moved in. I have bills that have her name and our address on them but they are all from April instead of March when she moved in.

My question is, am I able to write a letter of explanation that there has been a mix up with our lease? the only paperwork I have that dates back to when she moved in with me is now the receipt which I'm sure won't have much weight considering it's hardly legally binding. What other evidence can we offer up to prove our relationship? We don't have wills or joint medical plans. we do have quite a few photos of us together, and we could get statements from friends and family, but would this be enough, or are our chances slim?

 

[Awesomeg]

Ok so when I first moved into my apartment my common law partner was not living with me, later on, about 6 months later she moved in and we added her to the lease. The building I live in has since been sold, I have asked the new owners for a copy of the lease to support my common law application for residency, and they have informed me that they only have the original copy of the lease that only has my name on it.

I do have a receipt from the old landlord that has both my name and my partners name on it that dates back to the date we added her to the lease. We also do have a joint bank account but we didn't do that until about six months after she moved in. I have bills that have her name and our address on them but they are all from April instead of March when she moved in.

My question is, am I able to write a letter of explanation that there has been a mix up with our lease? the only paperwork I have that dates back to when she moved in with me is now the receipt which I'm sure won't have much weight considering it's hardly legally binding. What other evidence can we offer up to prove our relationship? We don't have wills or joint medical plans. we do have quite a few photos of us together, and we could get statements from friends and family, but would this be enough, or are our chances slim?

Immigration will consider your bills from April as a good proof,
The receipt from your previous landlord will be good also.
When somebody moves in the couple does not begin to put all the bills and lease together,
that is normal,
You can explain the date that she moved in,
then with the bills you can explain that this is the first bill that came as a couple to your address...
Then you can explain that it was until 6 months after she moved with you that you guys got the account together.

You can also explain that she is not in the lease because the previous landlord did not add her to the lease,
but that you have one receipt from when you informed him,
You need to get the new lease with her name from the new owner,
and also explain that due to the fact that it was until when you asked for receipts that you found out that
her name was not in the lease, and also that now her name has been added.

Things do not need to be perfect, what they need is credibility... And explaining the reason will add credibility
to your relation.
Affidavits from friends and families giving faith of you relation and the date when they became aware will be also
very important.
Remember that what Immigration will look for is credibility, and the situation that is not perfect is also credible.

I believe that you will be OK...

Good luck

 

[wowsers]

It is not clear to me whether or not you understand that you became eligible to apply as a common law partner only after you had been cohabiting with your sponsor for a year. If you started cohabiting for the first time 6 months after the lease was granted, you first became eligible to apply as a common law partner 18 months after the lease was first granted. By the end of that period you and your sponsor would have had a joint bank account for 6 months and bills in both your names for 11 months as well as the receipt which by then would have been 12 months old. One strategy which you could consider would be to delay your application until 12 months after the earliest joint billing began by which time you will have quite good proof of cohabitation for a year: the bills, the receipt and also for over 6 months of that year the joint bank account. That entails a delay of only one month after first becoming eligible to apply. Envelopes addressed to one or other of you at your common address would be useful also even if they are not addressed to you both: they go some way to proving that you were living together. Other suggestions: joint car insurance or policy endorsements enabling you to drive one another's cars? Joint membership of clubs/gyms/libraries etc? Credit and debit cards with the same registered address? Proof of change of address for passports? The possibilities are legion.

 

[Jamarns]

Yes I'm aware that we have to have been cohabiting for a period of 12 months, she moved in with me last March, so we'll be eligible to apply this March.

We did not obtain a joint account until six months after she had moved in, however she did have bills in her name arriving at our joint address as early as April last year, we don't have a lot of credit cards or bank accounts, and we certainly haven't got any wills written up.

I have spoken to my building manager about the lease, she's given me contact details for the previous owner in the hopes I might be able to get a copy of the lease we both signed back in March of last year. She also said that if I was unable to get a copy of it that we'd sign a new lease and that she'd be able to provide a letter of explanation that she'd been aware that we were both living in the same apartment since she had managed the building (about 8 months now) and that there had been a mix up with the previous owners and that the new lease had been misplaced. I did have to pay more to add my partner to the lease, so I may even be able to provide a bank statement that shows the increased amount I've been paying in rent since she moved in.