Hi everyone,

I applied for Partner (Unmarried) Visa a month ago and got the docs back yesterday with the Refusal letter and the Appeal Form. We were refused under the grounds of Relationship Requirements (Eligibility). The exact words of refusal were "You state that you lived together in Bangkok after meeting in 2009, yet the tenancy agreements you have submitted do not name you and your partner as co-tenants. Your sponsor has provided no details of what he did in Thailand for this extended period or how he supported himself financially during that time........"
We do not know whether to appeal on this decision or not. Firstly, our tenancy agreements were under his name because he is the one paying for it, he is the man of the house and we didn't realize that we will be needing these on our names for any future use, hence we didn't bother putting both our names. And now we don't have a way of getting any more documents (such as contacting prev landlords) to support that we have lived together on those apartments. Also, my partner wouldn't be able to provide any proof of his employment in Bangkok because he didn't have a work permit and payslips. We initially have the impression that only his recent (UK) circumstance is necessary for this application. So, we then feel that it's useless to appeal though we know for a fact that we have lived together for more than 2 years. Plus, appeal takes a long time as my return flight is booked on 10th Dec. It's very frustrating. :( Should we go for the appeal anyway?

It's also confusing for us because I have applied for a Family (Unmarried) Visit Visa last year in Bangkok, have submitted same documents for proof of living together for more than 2 years and got the visa. So I guess that meant I have satisfied the eligibility requirement right? I wonder why the decision is different this time. We thought we got a strong application but we were wrong.
In this case, could I go apply for a Visit Visa so I could be with my partner and so we could plan for our next step? Will my partner visa refusal have an impact to this application? Can I apply for it soon? I guess I would come as a general visitor and not as a Family visitor, right?

Your suggestions and advice would be so much appreciated. And we thank you all in advance.