UK Unmarried Partner Visa: Does Cohabitation Still Matter?

1. Navigating the Cohabitation Expectation

Following changes to the Immigration Rules on unmarried partner visas, couples may now qualify as unmarried partners even if they have not lived together for at least two years.

But these changes to the law do not mean that living together (or cohabitation) is irrelevant to an unmarried partner visa application. Home Office guidance states that "the couple must usually have lived together" to qualify on this visa route.

Given the Home Office's position that unmarried partners should usually have lived together, how can an unmarried couple make a successful application in circumstances where they have not lived together or currently do not live together?