To think this is cheeky & irrelevant? (permanent residence form)

[Venella]

Just wading through the application form for permanent residence for EEA members. DH is British btw.
While I understand they need to know about employment, living together, divorces etc, there is also a question regarding previous relationships.
(bold: mine)

"Have you [applicant, ie me] or [spouse] been in a long-term relationship (not including a marriage or civil partnership) before your current relationship?
Provide details of all other long-term relationships
This should include:
name and nationality of former partner
how long the relationship lasted
date of death of former partner (if applicable)
any other relevant details

AIBU to think this is a bit of a cheeky question? How is this relevant?

How does it help we enter 'Paul Smith, British, 2 years' or 'Sarah Sample, Irish, 3 years'?

If you have gone through the ordeal and survived applied or know someone who has, what did you or they enter in the form?

My first AIBU! So excited! Any input would be welcome. Thank you!

YABU.

If I were to apply for residency here in Oz...where it's bloody full-on...they'd ask me the same question. They want to know in case you've got associates who are potential security threats.

Provide details of all other long-term relationships

Good grief, how long has this question been in the PR form?

Good grief, how long has this question been in the PR form?

A while I believe.

As pp has said, my friend had to go through similar when applying for residency abroad.

Bloody hell, how rude! I sort-of understand why they're asking, but honestly, if you had had a relationship with someone dubious, wouldn't you just leave it off anyway?
I pity the poor bugger having to go through all this stuff too, like when conspiracy theorists try to tell me someone reads all our emails; they must be bored to sobs.

The form for permanent residency in France is four pages long and doesn't ask anything even vaguely like that. Bizarre. How could it possibly be verified?

How could it possibly be verified?

Well quite! It certainly wasn't on the form wayyyyyyy back when I applied.

Also it seems like you might be "penalised" for past associations that you regret and/or were glad to get out of. Surely on MN we've read enough sad tales of really nasty/abusive/dodgy exes?

They probably don't check the names on the sanctions list etc as you need addresses for that. I think it gives an idea of the applications authenticity & which ones perhaps need a manual review - for example my cousin (from India) marked no prior relationships but he was 50 at the time. It flagged up as they were expecting him to have had some kind of relationship history at that age & so he had to be interviewed. During the interview they asked for all kinds of further evidence of residence & further references. It was weird.

I have written letters of recommendation for friends hoping to settle with their partners in Australia and New Zealand, so no, I don't think it's terribly unreasonable.

I do smile every time an EU citizen is newly outraged at the hoops that non-EU citizens have been subject to for years when applying for ILR or naturalisation (such as losing your passport for months on end). There's been no one to stick up for us during what is often an intrusive and undignified experience.

There's been no one to stick up for us during what is often an intrusive and undignified experience.

Possibly because people are unaware?

Do they define the what is a long term relationship? One mans short term is another persons long term. It's a tad vague.

I had no idea the forms were this probing. And surely if you had slept with a bloke with dubious connections for 6 months a few years ago you'd just leave that off, wouldn't you? No-one's going to say "Oh yes, there was that terrorist sympathiser I had a longish fling with back in 2012".

It's based on expectation of truth ... if someone is 21 and they have no real LTRs, it's not unusual but if someone is 50 and are claiming to have only had one LTR in their life, 20 years ago, thn it's going to flag up as an unusual pattern.

It's looking for patterns and anything that is unusual or invites questions ... so say years ago you had a British boyfriend for 5 years, why didn't you apply for residency when you were with them, but you are when you got together with your OH that you have been together with for 3 years? You've had 5 relationships in the last 10 years, all about 18 months/2 years long ... why is this the one to make you apply for residence? etc

Thanks, everyone!

As far as I know, there isn't anything on the form to define long term.
(I think letters of recommendation or at least a signature of an 'official' as well as listing every absence from the UK is needed for the citizenship application).

I shall get on with it. Stiff upper lip and all that!

I've actually got my ILR appointment on Tuesday. I've not got letters of recommendation, simply my marriage certificate and a letterhead from my employer confirming dates and salary amongst other things like bank statements, P60s etc.

Are you sure you've got the right form? I recently applied for PR as EU citizen and there was no question there about my previous partners...