A Canadian man has been denied leave to remain in the UK with his British partner because they cannot prove they have lived together for 24 months.
Brian Slusarek has lived with British girlfriend Michelle Harper in Sheffield since January 2015 and before that, the couple cohabited in Canada. But immigration authorities have rejected evidence they submitted in support of their application which showed they had lived together in Canada.
Mr Slusarek is in the UK on a two-year Tier 5 visa and works as a business manager. His visa runs out on January 6 next year and he has been told he must return to Canada.
The regulations state that a couple must have lived together for at least two years for the overseas partner to be eligible to apply for leave to remain. The couple had only cohabited in the UK for one year and nine months when Mr Slusarek applied for his visa although their time living together in Canada takes them over the threshold.
Ms Harper told The Express: "Brian is from a country in the Commonwealth. We share the same Queen, the same language, and same cultural values. He has no criminal convictions, no children and no previous marriages.
"Yet besides all of this, the government have refused his visa to remain in the UK and he must return to Canada on January 6, no exceptions."
The couple met in Australia in 2013 and travelled together, before living together at his family home in Ontario in Canada. However, because Ms Harper did not open a bank account while in Canada or have other paper work to show she shared an address with her partner, she cannot prove they lived together.