Who counts as a dependant
If you hold a Skilled Worker or similar work visa, your partner and children may be able to join you or stay with you as your dependants. A dependant is:
- your husband, wife or civil partner,
- your unmarried partner,
- your children under 18, including a child born in the UK while you are here, and
- an adult child who already has permission in the UK as your dependant.
Their visa usually ends on the same date as yours. If a child’s parents have visas ending on different dates, the child’s visa ends on the earlier one.
Restrictions on care workers and medium-skilled jobs
Not every worker can bring dependants. A care worker or senior care worker can do so only if they have been continually employed in the UK in that role, on a Health and Care Worker or Skilled Worker visa, since before 11 March 2024. Someone in a medium-skilled job on the Temporary Shortage List can do so only if continually employed in that kind of job on a work visa since before 22 July 2025. In both cases a worker can still apply for a child born in the UK, as the only living parent responsible for a child, or where the child’s other parent is also sponsored in the same kind of job.
What you must prove
You must show that your relationship is genuine. A marriage or civil partnership recognised in the UK is enough. For an unmarried partner, you must have lived together in a relationship for at least two years, or have been in a relationship for two years but be unable to live together, for example because of work or study elsewhere or because it is not accepted in your culture. In that case you show an ongoing commitment: regular contact, financial support, care of any children together, and time spent together as a couple. A child must live with you, unless they are in full-time education away from home, and must not be married or in a civil partnership. For a child you need evidence of their address, such as a bank statement, NHS registration or a letter from their school or university.
Funds
Dependants must show that they have a set amount of money, held for 28 consecutive days, with day 28 within 31 days of the application, unless an exception applies:
| Dependant | Funds required |
|---|---|
| Partner | £285 |
| First child | £315 |
| Each additional child | £200 |
The money can be held by you or by the dependants. It is not needed if you and your dependants have all been in the UK with permission for 12 months or more, or if your employer certifies on the certificate of sponsorship that it will cover your family’s first month of costs. A dependant who applies later needs to show the funds only if they have been in the UK for less than a year.
Fees and how to apply
Each dependant makes a separate application and pays the same fee as the main applicant, plus the immigration health surcharge (not on the Health and Care Worker route). They apply online, using your application number and, if you have one, the family linking code that connects the applications.
| Route | Fee per person, from outside the UK |
|---|---|
| Skilled Worker, 3 years or less | £819 |
| Skilled Worker, over 3 years | £1,618 |
| Health and Care Worker, 3 years or less / over 3 | £324 / £628 |
See the full fees page and the health surcharge.
Work and study
Dependants can work in the UK, except as a professional sportsperson or coach, and can study. They can also travel abroad and return while their permission lasts.
Children born in the UK
A child born in the UK to a worker on a temporary visa does not automatically become British. You must apply for the child’s dependant visa, with a full birth certificate showing both parents’ names, and you should do so before the child turns 18 if they are to stay. Whether the child can later register as British depends on your own status. See born in the UK: are you a British citizen?
How we help
We apply for dependants together with, or after, the main applicant, check the evidence of relationship and funds, and advise on timing, for example when a baby is expected or a dependant is about to turn 18. See also the Skilled Worker visa. A consultation costs from £99.
