Dependant rights follow the route, not the person
There is no single "UK dependant visa". What exists is a set of dependant provisions attached to individual immigration routes, and each route sets its own answer to three questions: may family apply at all, may they work, and how much money must be shown. Two people with identical families can therefore get opposite answers purely because one is a student and the other is a Skilled Worker.
That has always been true, but it mattered less when most routes were permissive. Since the restrictions introduced from January 2024 onwards it has become the single most important planning question a prospective applicant faces — often more important than the university, the course or the salary.
These rules changed recently and continue to change
UK dependant policy has moved several times in a short period, and further reform has been signalled. Nothing in this article should be treated as the current legal position. Check the route page on GOV.UK and the relevant Appendix of the Immigration Rules on the day you apply, or take advice from a regulated adviser.
The Student route: sharply restricted
The Student route used to be the most common way families arrived in the UK together. It is not any more. The restriction introduced in January 2024 removed the ability of most students to sponsor dependants, and the exceptions are narrow.
Broadly, dependants remain possible where the student is:
- enrolled on a postgraduate research programme — a PhD or other research-based higher degree — rather than a taught master's; or
- a government-sponsored student on a course above the minimum length, where the sponsoring government or agency is funding the study.
A one-year taught master's — historically the most popular UK option for international students — no longer carries dependant rights for most applicants. That single change has redirected a large number of family-minded applicants towards work routes, or towards Ireland, where the calculus is different. Our Ireland dependant visa guide covers that comparison.
Continuity provisions exist for people who already held dependant permission before the change, so if your family was already in the UK as your dependants your position is not the same as a fresh applicant's — check the rule that applies to extensions.
Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker
The work routes remain the realistic path for anyone who needs their family with them. Skilled Worker visas continue to permit a partner and children to apply as dependants, subject to the route's own requirements on the main applicant — a licensed sponsor, an eligible occupation, and a salary that meets the applicable threshold. Salary thresholds have risen substantially and the eligible occupation list has been revised, so route eligibility itself is the first hurdle. Our UK Skilled Worker visa guide covers that in detail.
The Health and Care Worker route is a variant of Skilled Worker with concessions on fees and health surcharge. It is more complicated on dependants, because the government specifically removed the ability of care workers and senior care workers to bring dependants for new applications, while leaving dependant rights in place for other health and care occupations such as doctors, nurses and allied health professionals. If you are considering a social care role specifically, verify the current position before accepting an offer — the difference between two apparently similar job titles can decide whether your family can come at all.
The Graduate route sits awkwardly in the middle. It generally does not allow new dependants to be added: family members can normally only continue on it if they were already your dependants on your Student visa. For most post-2024 students, that means there is nobody to carry forward.
Decision tree: if you are on X, your family's position is Y
| Your route | Can family apply? | Partner's work rights | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student — taught master's or undergraduate | Generally no | Not applicable | Course level is what decides it, not course length |
| Student — PhD or research degree | Usually yes | Generally permitted, with exclusions | Confirm the programme is research-based on the CAS |
| Government-sponsored student | Usually yes, above the minimum course length | Generally permitted | Sponsor consent is normally required |
| Skilled Worker | Yes | Generally permitted, with exclusions | Meeting the salary and occupation rules first |
| Health and Care Worker — care roles | Restricted for new applicants | Not applicable where excluded | The exact occupation code you are sponsored under |
| Graduate route | Only existing dependants continue | Generally permitted | You cannot add a new partner or child on this route |
Treat the table as an orientation map, not an authority. Every row has exceptions written into the Immigration Rules, and each has been amended at least once in recent years.
What a dependant partner and children can actually do
Partners
Where a dependant partner visa is granted, it is a genuinely useful permission rather than a token one. A dependant partner may normally work — including full time, in most employment, and in self-employment — without needing their own sponsor. There are exclusions, typically covering roles as a professional sportsperson or sports coach, and doctors and dentists in training are subject to their own rules. A dependant partner may also study.
This makes the household economics very different from Ireland's Stamp 3, where a dependant usually cannot work at all. For dual-career couples, a UK Skilled Worker dependant permission is often the strongest option available in either country.
Children
Dependent children must generally be under 18 at the date of application, unless they are already in the UK as your dependant. They may attend school; state education is available, though children of visa holders on certain routes may face restrictions or fee implications at particular institutions, and independent schools charge fees regardless. Children who turn 16 can normally work, subject to the same exclusions as adult dependants. Where the child's other parent is not applying, evidence of sole responsibility or the other parent's consent is normally required.
The financial maintenance requirement
Every dependant application must show that the family can be maintained without recourse to public funds. The mechanism differs by route: on work routes a licensed sponsor can often certify maintenance on the applicant's behalf, which removes the need to evidence savings; where that is not available, the applicant must show a set amount of money for themselves and an additional amount for each dependant.
Two structural points matter more than the headline figures:
- The money must normally be held for a continuous 28-day period ending shortly before the application, and the closing balance must not dip below the required level on any day in that window.
- The account must generally be in the name of the applicant, the partner or a parent, and the funds must be accessible. Money in a friend's account, an employer's account or a company account will not count.
Amounts differ for London and outside London on the Student route, and are set per dependant per month up to a capped number of months. Because these figures are updated by rule change, we deliberately do not quote them here — read the current amounts on the GOV.UK route page. We break down how the UK approach compares with Ireland and Canada in dependant visa financial requirements compared.
The Immigration Health Surcharge and the real cost
The cost people underestimate is not the visa fee. It is the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), which is charged per applicant, per year of permission granted, and is normally payable upfront for the full length of the visa. A family of four applying for a multi-year permission can face a five-figure bill before any visa fee is added. The rate rose sharply in 2024, with a reduced rate for children under 18 and for students and their dependants.
Paying the IHS gives access to the NHS on broadly the same basis as a resident, but it does not remove the no recourse to public funds condition that applies to almost all dependants — most benefits and housing assistance remain out of reach. Budget for the household to be entirely self-supporting. If cost is a deciding factor between destinations, our complete guide to studying in the UK sets out the wider cost picture.
Switching routes and adding dependants in-country
Many applicants arrive alone as a student and hope to bring family later by switching to a work route. That is a legitimate strategy and it does happen — but treat it as a plan with a real failure mode rather than a formality. It requires you to find a licensed sponsor, secure an eligible role at the applicable salary, and switch successfully before your student or graduate permission expires. If any of that slips, the family plan slips with it.
Practical points if you go this route:
- Confirm your current permission actually allows in-country switching to the route you want; not every combination does.
- Apply to switch before your existing permission expires — do not let it lapse.
- Dependants can generally apply at the same time as the main applicant or afterwards, but their permission is tied to yours and normally expires with it.
- Keep every document that evidences the relationship during the period you have lived apart; a relationship that has been long-distance for two years attracts more scrutiny, not less.
Before you act, verify
Make one check the first step of any family plan, not the last: open the GOV.UK page for the exact route you intend to use, read the dependant section, and note the date the guidance was last updated. Decisions about courses, employers, tenancies and school places should follow that check, not precede it.
This article is general information published in August 2026 and is not legal advice. It does not reflect changes made after publication.
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