The way that I tell clients to treat this kind of evidence gathering process is… don’t treat it as an evidence gathering process. It may sound a little corny, but treat it as a celebration of your relationship so far. You’re telling a story to someone of how you met, what you’ve done together, where you’ve been. Imagine that you were explaining the relationship to your gran.

Among the requirements for getting a UK partner visa are that “the relationship between the applicant and their partner must be genuine and subsisting”. That two people are in a real and committed relationship might be obvious to themselves and their lawyer, but satisfying a suspicious Home Office official making the decision on the visa application is another matter entirely.

As so often in immigration law, the key is getting together the right evidence. In this interview, solicitor Nick Nason talks through the Home Office’s guidance on what constitutes a “genuine and subsisting relationship” and what evidence needs to go in to make sure this particular box is well and truly ticked — while bearing in mind the wider risk of an “evidential arms race” between applicants.