Children on a UK Spouse Visa: Bringing Your Children to the UK
A child applying alongside a parent on the partner route makes their own application under Appendix FM, with its own fee and its own requirements. This guide sets out what those requirements are and what they cost.
- Section
- Costs, English & General
- Reading time
- 9 min
- Last checked
- 3 September 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- A child must be under 18 at the date of application, unmarried, and not leading an independent life.
- One of the three conditions in E-ECC.1.6 must be met, including sole responsibility for the child's upbringing.
- The income requirement is a flat £29,000 for new applications, and does not rise with the number of children.
- Each child pays a full fee: £2,064 from outside the UK, £1,407 inside, plus £776 a year health surcharge.
- No English test or Life in the UK test applies while the child is a child.
A child under 18 can apply under Appendix FM alongside a parent applying as a partner. Paragraph E-ECC.1.6 sets three alternative conditions covering the child's other parent, one of which must be met. For applications made on or after 11 April 2024 the income requirement is a flat £29,000 and does not rise with the number of children. Each child pays a full application fee, £2,064 from outside the UK or £1,407 inside, plus the health surcharge at £776 a year.
Who Can Apply
A child applying alongside a parent on the partner route makes their own application under Appendix FM, with its own fee. The relationship requirements are at paragraphs E-ECC.1.2 to E-ECC.1.7:
- Under the age of 18 at the date of application
- Not married and not in a civil partnership
- Not having formed an independent family unit
- Not leading an independent life
- One of the child's parents must be in the UK with limited permission as a partner or parent under Appendix FM, or be being granted or have been granted entry clearance in that capacity, or have protection status in the UK
- There must be suitable arrangements for the child's care and accommodation in the UK, complying with relevant UK law
GOV.UK adds, on its family visa page for children, that the child must live with their parent in the UK unless they are living away from home in full-time education.
Where the Other Parent Comes In
This is the part most commonly described wrongly, as a requirement to produce a consent letter. The Rule is not about consent. Appendix FM paragraph E-ECC.1.6 sets three alternatives, and one of them must apply:
- The applying parent's partner under Appendix FM is also a parent of the child — in other words, both of the child's parents are part of the same family unit on the route; or
- The applying parent “has had and continues to have sole responsibility for the child's upbringing”; or
- “There are serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable and suitable arrangements have been made for the child's care”.
Sole responsibility is a factual test the Home Office applies to the history of the child's upbringing: who has been making the decisions, over what period. A letter of consent from the other parent is evidence that can be put before a decision-maker, and is often useful, but it does not by itself establish sole responsibility and it is not what the Rule asks for. Documents that speak to the same question include court orders on residence or parental responsibility, a death certificate where a parent has died, and evidence about who the child has lived with and who has made decisions for them.
This site does not assess whether the test is met on any particular set of facts, and it is one of the areas where regulated advice makes a real difference. See our note on what immigration advice costs.
The Income Requirement Does Not Rise per Child
For applications made on or after 11 April 2024, Appendix FM paragraph E-ECC.2.1 sets the requirement for a child applying with a parent at a gross annual income of £29,000, or specified savings of £16,000 plus 2.5 times the shortfall. That is the same figure as for the partner. It does not increase with the number of children.
The older arrangement is still in the Rules as a transitional provision at E-ECC.2.5, and it does add per child: £18,600, plus £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each additional child. It applies only to people who fall within the transitional provisions, which broadly means extending on the route having first applied before 11 April 2024. Even there, E-ECC.2.6 caps the requirement: if the number of children pushes the total above £29,000, only £29,000 has to be evidenced.
Not every child counts towards the transitional calculation. The Rules exclude a child who is a British citizen, settled in the UK, or in the UK with permission under Appendix EU. Our documents checklist covers the financial evidence, which is specified in Appendix FM-SE.
Costs Per Child
Each child is charged as a separate applicant:
- Application fee: £2,064 applying from outside the UK, £1,407 applying inside the UK
- Immigration health surcharge: £776 a year, the rate for anyone under 18 at the date of application. GOV.UK gives the family visa totals for a child as £1,940 for 2 years 6 months, £2,328 for 2 years 9 months, and £3,880 for 5 years.
- Biometrics: no separate fee for providing fingerprints and a photograph
A child applying from outside the UK on a 2 year 6 month permission therefore comes to £2,064 plus £1,940, which is £4,004. Two children on the same basis is £8,008 before anything else. Applying inside the UK the same figures are £1,407 plus £1,940, so £3,347 a child.
A fee waiver can be applied for where the fee cannot be paid. Our budgeting guide sets out the whole cost of a route over time.
Documents
For each child, an application will normally include:
- The child's passport or travel document
- A birth certificate or adoption certificate showing the parents' names
- Evidence relevant to whichever condition in E-ECC.1.6 is being relied on
- Evidence of the care and accommodation arrangements in the UK
The financial evidence is the same evidence the parent's own application relies on; it is not duplicated per child. Our documents checklist covers it.
Through the Route
First application
Children apply at the same time as the parent. Biometric information is given as part of the application; GOV.UK sets out which children give fingerprints and which give a photograph only, by age.
Extension
Children extend at the same time as the parent, and pay the fee and the health surcharge again. The English requirement that rises to A2 at extension applies to the partner, not to the children.
Settlement
A child can apply for indefinite leave to remain with the parent, at £3,226 each. While they are under 18 the Life in the UK test and the English language requirement do not apply. Someone who reaches 18 before the settlement application is in a different position, and the requirements that apply to adults apply to them.
Citizenship
After settlement, a child under 18 registers as a British citizen rather than naturalising. The registration fee for a child is £1,000, against £1,540 for registration as an adult and £1,709 plus a £130 ceremony fee for naturalisation. See citizenship for children.
Children Born in the UK
A child born in the UK to parents who are neither British nor settled is not automatically a British citizen, and does not automatically hold permission. Our guide to a child born in the UK on a partner visa sets out what applies.
Related Guides
Questions and answers
Can my children come with me on a partner visa?
A child under 18 can apply under Appendix FM alongside a parent who is applying, or has been granted, entry clearance or permission as a partner. The child must not be married or in a civil partnership, must not have formed an independent family unit, and must not be leading an independent life. There must be suitable arrangements for the child's care and accommodation in the UK, complying with UK law.
What if my child's other parent is not coming to the UK?
Appendix FM sets three alternative conditions at paragraph E-ECC.1.6, and one of them has to be met: the applying parent's partner under Appendix FM is also a parent of the child; or the applying parent has had and continues to have sole responsibility for the child's upbringing; or there are serious and compelling family or other considerations which make exclusion of the child undesirable and suitable arrangements have been made for the child's care. Sole responsibility is a test the Home Office applies to the facts, not a document you supply.
Does the income requirement go up for each child?
Not for applications made on or after 11 April 2024. The requirement is a gross annual income of £29,000 whether the application is for a partner alone or a partner and children. The older tier, which added £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each additional child on top of £18,600, applies only where the transitional provisions do, and even there the total is capped at £29,000.
How much does each child cost?
Each child pays the same application fee as an adult on the route: £2,064 applying from outside the UK, or £1,407 applying inside it. Each also pays the immigration health surcharge at £776 a year, the rate for people under 18 at the date of application. GOV.UK gives the child health surcharge totals for a family visa as £1,940 for 2 years 6 months, £2,328 for 2 years 9 months and £3,880 for 5 years.
Do children need an English test or the Life in the UK test?
Not while they are children. The English language requirement and the Life in the UK test do not apply to a child applying under Appendix FM, and they do not apply to registration as a British citizen while under 18. They would apply to anyone applying for settlement or naturalisation as an adult, so a dependant who reaches 18 before settlement is in a different position.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.