Students with families

Your dependants can only join you in the UK if you meet the following rules:

• You are doing a postgraduate level course of 9 months or longer and, where this course began on or after 1 January 2024, your course is a PhD or a research-based higher degree, or
• You are government sponsored and your course is longer than 6 months in duration, or
• Your current or most recent immigration permission was as a Student on a full-time course lasting at least six months AND all four bullet points below apply:
  • your permission is current or expired no more than three months before this immigration application AND
  • your new immigration application is for a full-time course that is at least six months AND
  • your dependant already has Student dependant immigration permission (or it is the most recent immigration permission that they had, and it expired no more than three months before this application); or is your child who was born since you were last granted permission AND
  • you apply for immigration permission at the same time as your dependant

If you are doing an English pre-sessional course and then a postgraduate level course of 9 months or longer, and you have been given a joint CAS to cover both courses then your family members can apply to join you in the UK.

Students who will be studying in the UK for six months or less cannot bring their dependants with them.

Your dependants must apply for 'entry clearance' from the British Embassy or a visa application centre in their home country before they travel to the UK.

Each dependant must complete a separate application form and pay a fee, in local currency.

They need to apply online.

Before starting the application, you should read the information on the Home Office website, and especially the Student Caseworking Guidance.

If you meet the Student rules to bring dependants and your family are already in the UK as your dependants, they can apply to stay in the UK with you.  They can apply inside the UK before their visa expires (this date should match your visa end date) or they can apply outside the UK.

If your family are in the UK with different immigration permission but the requirements for them to be your dependants are met, then they can become your dependant from within the UK as long as they are not here with permission as a visitor, with short-term student leave, immigration bail or leave outside the immigration rules.

For a complete list of categories not permitted to switch, check UKCISA guidance.

Dependants make either an entry clearance application (at a UK Visa Application Centre (VAC)) or a visa extension application (extending their Dependant Visa within the UK) application with the following documents:

Application form

• Entry clearance: Student Dependant online form
• Visa extensions - PBS Dependant online form - Partner
• Visa extensions - PBS Dependant online form - Child

Passport(s): Current valid passport.

Proof of current dependant leave if applicable

TB test certificate (if applicable). A certificate will only be valid for 6 months from the date of your x-ray.

Financial evidence: showing that your dependants can meet the maintenance requirements (see below). If you and your dependant have been in the UK with a valid visa for longer than 12 months and are applying for your visa in the UK, you are not required to provide any financial evidence.

However, if there have been any significant absences from the UK of more than 3 months within this 12-month period, you will be required to provide financial evidence.

Proof of relationship: This is only a requirement for dependants applying outside the UK or those who wish to switch from a different category of leave to become a PBS dependant from within the UK. These dependants must show proof of relationship to the student, such as marriage and full birth certificates.

Proof of genuine relationship: You and your dependant partner must prove your relationship is genuine and subsisting.

For PBS dependant applications being made for the first time from overseas, we would suggest submitting as much evidence as possible, for example, and depending on your individual circumstances, this could include:

• evidence of correspondence during times apart, for example, phone bills, text messages, Whatsapp messages, letters, emails etc.
• evidence of living together if applicable
• a timeline/history of your relationship and letters of support, photographs of yourselves together, perhaps while on holiday, or at any other significant events.

The Home Office may also require you and your dependant partner to attend interviews.

If dependants are applying from outside the UK at a different time from the student, they should also provide:

• Proof of student's visa status: copies of the student's current visa and passport details pages.
• Proof of student's enrolment: a student status letter from your SIMs online account.
• An explanation of why they did not join the student at the start of their course if applicable (job commitment in home country for example).

Proof of address: For extension applications for spouse or partner 2 official documents evidencing shared address should be included.

For child applicants, there is a requirement that the child is not living an independent life. Please refer to the Home Office's guidance on Appendix Children for information on how this is assessed.

Dependants applying overseas or who have been in the UK for less than 12 months must show they hold a specific level of funds for the period of leave they are requesting, up to a maximum of 9 months. This is different from the requirements for students, who only have to show funds for the duration of their course, up to a maximum of 9 months.

Evidence is usually provided in the form of bank statements. The funds must have been held for 28 consecutive days before the application being submitted and must be from an officially regulated financial institution. The statement must not be dated more than 31 days before submitting the application.

The amount of money that each dependant must show is as follows:

£680 for each month of immigration permission you have been granted (if your dependants are applying after you have received your permission) or will be granted (if your dependants are applying at the same time as you). This is up to a maximum of 9 months (therefore, a maximum figure of £6,120).

The number of months of immigration permission granted to a student depends on the type, and length, of the course. Dependents of students are granted the same length of time as the student.

If you are financially sponsored by an official sponsor (such as a government) and they are also providing funds for your dependants, then you will need a letter from them confirming this. The name of each dependant must be included. Read the Student Caseworking Guidance carefully to ensure that your sponsor’s letter meets the UKVI requirements and that the maintenance requirement is met. If your sponsor is not providing the full required amount of money for the required duration for all of your dependants, then you will need to provide a bank statement to meet the shortfall.

The Home Office is particular about the format of documents. Ensure that you read the section on maintenance and that your documents are acceptable.

More general information about family member visa applications can be found on the Home Office website.

The Immigration Rules state that you can only bring your child/children with you to the UK if both parents are going to be in the UK. This means that if your partner is going to stay outside the UK, your child /children cannot join you.

The exceptions to this are if you:

• are the only living parent; or
• have 'sole responsibility' for your child/children; or
• there are serious compelling reasons which mean the child should be with you in the UK and you have made suitable arrangements for the child's care.

The rules also state that to qualify as a 'child' they must 'not be living an independent life'. Read the Student Caseworking Guidance for further details.

If you are in a position where both parents are not going to be in the UK, contact us via Student Connect for further advice regarding the types of documents you could include with your application. It is important that evidence is included with your application to show you are relying on one of the above exceptions.

Your child (of any age) “must not be living an independent life”, according to the Immigration Rules. This means that:

• They do not have a spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner.
• They live with their parents, except if they are at boarding school, college or university as part of their full-time education. The Home Office's guidance on Appendix Children outlines what the Home Office will look for in assessing this.