It has always been pretty much decided that if we are ever to close the distance, he is going to come here to the UK. It would be almost impossible for me to get a job in his country, and I would always be an object of curiosity in his area due to my ethnicity, which isn't particularly safe for me. We would have a much better life here, with more freedoms for the both of us. But if he can't even get here to visit me for a couple of weeks, I don't know what I am supposed to do, particularly in the long term. The relationship could very well end at the moment on the grounds of bureaucracy.
I haven't felt this sad in an extremely long time.
I haven't so much as seen his face since January, if I want to see him I have a choice of two photographs available to me. Sorry to any readers for sounding so pathetic, but it is feeling at the moment that I may never see him again.
What has really annoyed me is that on the rejection, they have said that I have not provided enough financial proof, and that it is not clear how we know each other, or what we plan to do in the country. I wrote a letter of sponsorship which explained how we met, how I have visited him in Kenya, and what my plans are for when he is here. I also sent them six months of bank statements and payslips which show a perfectly adequate amount of money, as well as my contract of employment. They obviously didn't look at any of the evidence I sent.
It's good to see that some of you have also gone through this and managed to come out the other side. I am contacting my local MP to see if he can get me in contact with someone in the Home Office who can help me work out what evidence would help the application. Then we are going to go from there if my SO is still agreeable. He is beyond angry.