wiyo

Good day and thank you for this service.

I have been talking to a "friend" of mine who is a British citizen for over 2 years, she was born in my country but her dad is a British citizen and she has a British passport so she now lives in the U.K. along with her daughter who was also born in my country. So they both gained citizenship through him.

We have genuine feelings for each other but we've never met in person. We've video called several times and have chatted for over 2 years and I'm thinking of taking the next step with her; but first I want to know what she's like in person and I also want her to see what I'm like in person and not just over the phone/internet. Basically we know there's a lot of obstacles if we were to become a couple so we'd like to spend some time together before taking the next step.

I don't require a VISA to visit the U.K. because I have a 6 month max stay. I want to use that time for us to grow together before returning to my country or going to Romania for vacation. Of course I don't plan on this being my first and only visit to meet her.

I wanted a one way ticket but I realize it might be safer to get a return or onward one even though my intentions are just and I'm an upstanding person.

The confusion comes in because I'd like to stay with her during my stay in the U.K. to save on renting somewhere.

The thing is she gets aid from the government to help pay the rent and bills and I told her I don't want to get her in trouble by staying with her and that right gets taken from her, she said it's fine as long as I'm not staying permanently. So first question, Is that ok? Can I stay with her knowing that she gets aid from the government because she doesn't work and is currently finishing school before she gets a job?

I don't want to be too far away from where she lives because the whole point of traveling is for us to see what it's like being together before thinking about where we'd want to spend our lives.

I'm a software developer and I have different avenues of income earning which would enable me to continue working remotely while in the U.K. without actually working for any U.K. Business, I also own a software business in my country with a certificate proving it so I hope that will help prove my ties to my country even though really and truly it doesn't because most of my work doesn't require physical contact with clients. I don't intend to tell immigration the stuff about working remotely but I will show the certificate of my business if I need to prove something.

I'm nervous because I'm not actually coming for 100% tourism, I'm coming to see how our energies relate and going out sight seeing, dining etc before taking such a big leap.

What advice do you have? I would be helping her pay the bills during my stay as well as groceries etc. because my remote work relies on the Internet.

-is it ok to stay with her knowing she gets aid from the government? she said it's ok as long as I'm not there permanently. I'm not entirely sure what this type of aid is called.

- if I tell immigration I'm going to live with her, will they pull up her records and deny because she doesn't actually own the house and is renting with help of government aid?

- what is a safe amount of money to have on your bank statement to show to immigration? I recently got my business/visitor US visa for 10 years and showed a healthy account balance for an individual my age, I did spend quite a bit of money during my temporary stay in the US so I'm wondering how high should I get my bank account balance up again before trying to visit the U.K. I know people don't like speaking about money but please shoot a figure (in USD) will me having a US business/visitor visa aid the process of passing through immigration?

-ultimately we are not sure where life is going to go this is why we'd like to spend time together and not jump blindly, ideally I'd want her to move back to my country because both she and her daughter was born there but it took a bit of work to get her in this situation and she doesn't want to give it up without good cause. Though she has to budget really hard to keep doing it.

Thank you all.

scot47

You would be putting her Housing Benefit at risk if you stayed with her. The best she could hope for is that HB would be put on hold while the authorities investigate and consider the situation. My advice is to make other arrangements.

wiyo

Did some research after you mentioned the name and saw that it's possible but they would decrease on her benefit during my stay: How other people in your home affect your claim

Editha

If I understand you correctly, you are a Romanian citizen. Romania is an EU country. For the time being the UK is still a member of the EU, which means you can travel to the UK and have the right to live in the UK, without any restrictions. You will not be required to meet any financial requirement.

But, your friend is putting her benefit entitlement at risk by entertaining you as a guest. It would be wise to stay elsewhere.

wiyo

I am not a Romanian citizen, I just have friends/colleagues there since my type of work only requires me having an internet connection so I was thinking maybe I should go there after to increase the chances of immigration letting me through rather than getting a one way ticket which they then might not trust me even though I have no intentions of doing anything illegal.

I checked out a website regarding the benefits and it said she might either get a deduction since I will be living there for a while which of course I could make up for by helping pay my shares but she might also not be affected because of this line:

"Your non-dependant is in prison, or normally lives elsewhere; or your non-dependant gets Pension Credit."

The UK isn't my main residence and it would be my first time visiting. This is the website where I got that info from:

How other people in your home affect your claim

Not sure if it applies to all parts of the UK but i rather do this the legal way and having her let them know I would be staying so I could then let immigration know that I will be staying with her so they see that I have a place to stay, does immigration look that deep into the situation if I say "I will be staying with a friend living at xxxxx street in blah blah blah"?.

verystormy

If you are Romanian, you do not need a visa to live or work in the UK.


Your prospective partner would lose some or all benefits, however, this does not men she is in trouble with the authorities, simply that they will assume she is receiving some support from you instead. My advice would be for her and maybe you to pop into the benefits office on arrival and they will assess what she may be allowed to keep

Editha

The problem with that is that if the lady has her benefit stopped, she may have to make a fresh claim after the OP has left, which could be subject to severe delay, leaving her without funds.

uk_grenada

The op said he isnt romanian. If he isnt an eu citizen then he has to enter as a tourist, prove he has funds and say where he will initially stay. If immigration decide he's not a straight foreward tourist he will be subject to all sorts of questioning. Never assume they dont know a lot about you, countries exchange a lot of info with each other, and a lot will be known when they check you out, including legal financial and criminal info, its not worth lying, if you get caught out it will affect your travels, pretty much globally.

BristolUK

"Your non-dependant...normally lives elsewhere..."

This is absolutely correct.

However, there are also rules about living together as if married.

You could have two people in a relationship both with their own houses/flats in the UK and they spend time together - weekends, occasional weeks, at each other's place or whatever. They may or may not be treated as being a couple. The constant is regularly returning to their own home.

It's not as easy as "yes her benefits will be affected" or "benefits won't be affected."

It might be argued you don't have other accommodation that you return to, because you don't keep going back there.

Pulaski

This is good advice. Visiting for a couple of weeks is one thing, maybe even a month, but "moving in" for several months at a stretch is likely to cause problems.

wiyo

I plan to spend 5-6 months there, I am from the Caribbean so yes I have max 6 months stay in the UK until it runs out, I do have my own place on my island where I pay rent, insurance, taxes, I have a bank account there and a registered business there so I'm hoping this all proves that the UK is my main residence.

The reason I want to travel for that long is to "test the waters" so we could know if this is the right thing for us, I don't intend on living in the UK longer than allowed.

The biggest concern here is if she will get in "trouble" i.e fraud if I stay that long since we have not gotten officially into a relationship and we plan to use that time to decide.

She's a bit nervous about asking officials questions, is there any anonymous way she could speak to housing benefit so we could clear up the questions before I actually travel?

scot47

verystormy


The poster has already told us that he is NOT a Romanian citizen. He lives in Romania but comes from another country (Afghanistan ? Moldova ?)

Pulaski

You'll know after a few weeks if it's the "right thing", and if you don't know by then, it probably isn't. IMO staying 5-6 months isn't going to tell you anything you didn't know in the first few weeks.

I faced the issue you're facing when I first "met" the then-future Mrs P; she was in the US, I was in the UK. We decided to get married after spending only two weeks together, though it was seventeen months after we first met face-to-face before we tied the knot, by which time we had spent a grand total of six weeks together. In February we will have been married 17 years.

You realise, if the woman you're visiting is on government provided benefits that she might be unable to sponsor you for a spouse visa to live in the UK, don't you?
The Caribbean, per post #11.

wiyo

Sorry for the confusion.

-I live in the Caribbean, I was born in the Caribbean and I am a Caribbean national.

-I have colleagues in Romania — this is why I was thinking of getting an onward ticket to Romania to increase my chances with UK immigration in contrast to getting a one way ticket.

I have no problem helping with the upkeep of the house and stuff while I'm there; if I must. But from the website it says that there would be no need to reduce on her benefits if that is not my main residence, which it's not.

The biggest questions currently are:

- What is a safe figure to show to immigration if they ask for proof that I could support my stay? As i mentioned I previously spent some time in the US so I want to know how much I need to save up again in order to pass through immigration with as least questions as possible. Please throw me a figure. I would want to stay upwards of 3 months.

- Is there any anonymous way she/I could talk to someone on the benefits matter before I fly over to the UK just so all questions are answered? I was hoping the forum would have someone specializing in that field.

Pulaski

There is never going to be any certainty, and if you come and stay for several months there will likely be an investigation, and the outcome will depend on what the investigation decides. The outcome is inherently unpredictable.

If you stay for two weeks there won't be a problem, but a month might trigger an investigation, or it might not. The longer you stay the more likely there will be an investigation, and the more likely the outcome will be unfavourable to your friend.

In short there is nobody who can give you a free pass to stay for 5+ months.