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I have wanted to study at a UK university for a long time and have worked hard in saving enough money to do so ever since I was 15, way before I even met my current boyfriend. I met him when I went to the UK to prepare for the CPE, we are still together and I have visited him twice, once staying with him for 2 months, and another for 2 weeks.

I was considering staying at his place during this one year, but I am now starting to question whether this is a good idea. In fact, I am starting to wonder if my relationship in itself will be detrimental for my visa application. I do not intend on lying as I know this would only make matters worse, but I need to know if I have a chance of being accepted or if they would just assume I am not a genuine student because of my relationship and outright refuse me.

I do intend on coming back to my country (Brazil), but whether Immigration would believe me is a different story, I suppose.

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    T4 is points-based so if you have sponsorship from an actual university and a CAS, and the money, you should be okay. I did a very similar thing to you; met someone when making plans to study in UK, visited the country twice before applying for T4. It went fine and I lived there for 5 years. But this was before immigration became such a huge issue, so YMMV – la femme cosmique Feb 27 '17 at 10:35
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While I am sure there are horror stories, most cases of refusal are because of people not being honest. Assuming you have been offered a place, the university is sponsoring your visa, and you can afford to live in the UK (it is likely much more expensive than Brazil), you should be fine. Being able to document that you have strong ties to Brazil (e.g., family and friends that live there) and being up front about your boyfriend would be helpful.

You could also demonstrate that you understand the visa process and that you realize that if your plans change you would have to leave the country and apply for the appropriate visa. When I was first living as an expat in the UK I would simply hand my passport over. The first question I would get asked was always "how long are you staying" (once I started handing over my passport open to my visa, the conversation started with welcome back). I always saw this as a "trick" question. My response was always "I do not plan on leaving, but will not overstay my visa that expires on X".

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  • Thank you for your answers! Came back here because I will be applying for application soon, and I am being helped by an immigration lawyer in my country. She has told me to basically omit I have a boyfriend, but I feel like that would only get me in trouble. Not sure whether to trust her or my gut feeling on this one. – L.R Jul 31 '17 at 16:26
  • "Being up front about your boyfriend" are you sure that is wise. Obviously don't lie, but just omitting the fact there is a boyfriend in play seems (to me) to be more sensible. – Martin Bonner supports Monica Nov 7 '18 at 10:20

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