OA038952014

The proceedings before the first tier tribunal were anonymised. No application has been made to change this and so this should be maintained.

I will refer to the parties as they were in the First-tier Tribunal though the respondent is appealing in these proceedings.

The appellant sought a family permit under European Treaty provisions so as to gain entry clearance to join his partner, Mr R. The basis of the application was that Mr R, an Italian national, was exercising Treaty rights in the United Kingdom and that they were in a same-sex relationship. They were not married nor had they entered into a civil partnership.

The application was refused because the entry clearance officer was not satisfied that they were in a durable relationship. The Immigration (EEA) Regulations 2006 (the 2006 regulations) are the domestic application of the Treaty provisions. Regulation 7 deals with family members, which includes a person spouse or civil partner. Regulation 8 is concerned with extended family members, which at regulation 8(5) includes partners other than civil partners of an EEA national

It is necessary to establish the relationship is durable. For parity with domestic provisions the respondent normally expects the parties to have been together for two years though this is merely a rule of thumb. The entry clearance officer was not satisfied they were in a durable relationship. It was suggested that the appellant make a fee paid application under paragraph 294 of the immigration rules. This deals with leave to enter with a view to entering into a marriage or civil partnership.