We have written this article to share knowledge on the importance of ensuring the confidentiality and safety of clients who make visa applications for entry clearance based on same sex relationships, and our experience of the steps that can be taken to achieve this.

Being in a same sex relationship or revealing one’s sexual orientation can be life threatening in many countries. Even for those who do not live with an immediate risk to their lives, discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation can be rife. It may be necessary to ensure that a visa application abroad does not lead to the applicant’s sexual orientation becoming known to that country’s authorities or the wider public. 

The current application process is good in some respects.  A visa issued abroad under the Appendix FM partner route will show the partner’s name and initials, but it is not possible to ascertain the sex of the partner.  When a biometric residence permit is issued, it simply refers to a “partner” and therefore when crossing borders, a same sex relationship is not disclosed.

Historically there were concerns with the visa application process because applicants were expected to show evidence of the relationship to a commercial partner’s local members of staff at a visa application centre. In the past, we have managed to contact officials in UK Visas and Immigration to put in place special arrangements to protect applicants, for example by using different details for the UK-based partner and/or submitting evidence directly to caseworkers in the UK.

This situation has been partially alleviated by the introduction of self-uploading.  It is now possible in most instances for the documents to be uploaded and therefore the applicant does not have to have the documents in the country of origin or take them to the visa application centre. However, there are concerns that remain and which practitioners will need to consider when working on these applications:

1. Access to uploaded documents: We need to be sure that uploaded documents cannot be seen by a commercial partner’s local members of staff. 
2. The requirement to take document checklists to a visa application centre appointment: In some countries, the applicant is instructed to bring the document checklist to the visa application centre appointment.  The document checklist refers to the UK-based partner with their full name. If a commercial partner’s local member of staff were to examine that document, they may be aware that the applicant is in a same sex relationship.   
3. Digital status: UK Visas and Immigration is moving towards the use of digital status with the aim that such status will be accessible abroad, for example by airlines. It is essential that a same sex relationship is not disclosed. 

We put each of these issues to UK Visas and Immigration and they have provided the following reassurance:

1. Once a customer self-uploads their supporting documents and submits these, commercial partner staff do not have access to the content of the documents.
2. It is preferred that customers take their document checklists to their appointment but it is not a mandatory requirement and commercial partner staff are able to accept applications regardless of whether this has been provided.  I would advise that customers who do not wish to disclose the identity of their partner take the front page of their visa application form as well as their appointment confirmation letter to the visa application centre so that staff can validate they are taking biometrics against the correct reference number without any delay.
3. When airlines are given access to information regarding the immigration status of passengers this will not include the name of partners or any persons upon whom they are dependent.

This is welcome reassurance, but we need to remain vigilant.

Unfortunately, despite these assurances, an applicant we represented recently faced issues on arrival at the visa application centre. Upon attempting to enrol his biometrics, he was not permitted to do so without providing the full document checklist.

This situation occurred despite senior entry clearance managers having already communicated the sensitivity of the application to the visa application centre, and us providing the applicant with a letter that explained the situation sensitively. In this case, it was only when we were able to again advocate for the applicant through the entry clearance managers contacting the visa application centre again that the applicant was permitted to complete the submission of their application at the centre.

We therefore encourage practitioners to continue to act cautiously when dealing with these applications, and to make attempts to correspond with the entry clearance team prior to any attendance at the visa application centre. in order to place safeguards in place. As above, we would also suggest providing the applicant with a letter to take with them to the centre, explaining that any missing documents will be provided directly to UK Visas and Immigration (although as above, this may not be well received in some cases).

We will continue advocating to UK Visas and Immigration on this issue, so that visa applicants who are applying based on their same sex relationships can make visa applications as safely as possible. 

This article was co-written by Barry O’Leary, a partner at Wesley Gryk whose practice deals with the full range of immigration and nationality issues.