Skilled Worker Visa Dependants: Bringing Family to the UK

Who can be a dependant

• Your partner: a husband, wife or civil partner in a relationship recognised in the UK; or an unmarried partner. For an unmarried partner you must have been living together in a relationship for at least 2 years when you apply, or have been in a relationship for at least 2 years but be unable to live together, for example because you work or study in different places. Where you have not lived together you need to show an ongoing commitment: regular contact, supporting each other financially, caring for children together, time spent together. See our guide to evidence of living together.
• Your child under 18, including one born in the UK during your stay. The child must live with you, unless they are living away in full-time education, and must not be married or in a civil partnership.
• Your child over 18, but only if they already have permission to be in the UK as your dependant.

Everyone must provide evidence of their relationship to you. If you are the first in the family to apply you can get a family linking code, which the others enter to connect the applications.

The restrictions that came in on 22 July 2025

This is the part most older guides miss. Whether family can join you now depends on your occupation code.

If your job is “medium skilled”

Medium-skilled codes are those below degree level, sponsorable only through the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List. If yours is one of them, your partner or children can apply to stay in the UK as your dependant only if:

• you have been continually employed in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa and in a medium-skilled job since before 22 July 2025;
• they are your child and they were born in the UK;
• they are your child and you are the only living parent responsible for them;
• they are your child and their other parent is also sponsored for a medium-skilled job; or
• they are your child or partner and you are extending or switching as a prison officer (code 3314).

From outside the UK, only the first two of those apply. So someone newly sponsored in a medium-skilled job cannot bring a partner or child with them.

If you are a care worker or senior care worker

Codes 6135 and 6136 have their own version of the same rule, with an earlier date. From inside the UK, family can apply if you have been continually employed as a care worker or senior care worker in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa since before 11 March 2024, if the child was born in the UK, if you are the only living parent responsible for them, or if the child's other parent is also sponsored as a care worker or senior care worker. From outside the UK, only the first two apply. See our care worker guide.

Money they need to show

On top of the £1,270 you need for yourself, there must be:

• £285 for your partner;
• £315 for one child; and
• £200 for each additional child.

GOV.UK gives the example of a partner and one child: £600 for them, plus your own £1,270. The money must have been available for at least 28 days in a row, and day 28 must be within 31 days of applying.

You do not need to show it if you have all been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months, or if your employer confirms on your certificate of sponsorship that it will cover your family's costs during your first month. Someone applying later than you only has to show the money if they have been in the UK for less than a year.

What it costs

Each dependant pays their own:

• application fee — the same as the worker's: £819 (up to 3 years) or £1,618 (more than 3 years) from outside the UK, £943 or £1,865 from inside, and £628 or £1,235 where the job is on the Immigration Salary List; and
• immigration health surcharge — £1,035 a year for an adult, and £776 a year for anyone under 18 at the date of application. On the Health and Care Worker visa nobody in the family pays it.

There is no separate fee for giving fingerprints and a photo. Our fee guide has the current figures across all routes.

How they apply

1. Each person applies online, on their own form, as your partner or your child. They can apply at the same time as you or later.
2. They need your application number — the Global Web Form or Unique Application Number that appears on Home Office emails and letters — or the family linking code, if you got one. The forms are linked from GOV.UK.
3. They prove their identity, either with the UK Immigration: ID Check app or at an appointment. See our appointment guide.
4. They wait for a decision: usually within 3 weeks from outside the UK, or 8 weeks from inside.

Someone applying from inside the UK must not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man before the decision, or the application is withdrawn. Some people cannot switch into a dependant visa from inside the UK at all: those on a visit visa, short-term student visa, Parent of a Child Student visa, seasonal worker visa, domestic worker visa, immigration bail, or permission granted outside the immigration rules. Someone on a Student visa can only switch after completing the course they were sponsored for, or after 24 months of PhD study. Our general guide to adding a dependant covers the steps in more detail.

What a dependant can and cannot do

• Work: they can work, except as a sportsperson or coach.
• Study: allowed.
• Travel: they can travel abroad and return.
• Settlement: they can apply to settle after 5 years in the UK, if they meet the requirements.
• Benefits: they cannot claim most benefits (public funds) or the State Pension.
• Healthcare: paying the health surcharge means using the NHS on the same basis as a UK resident. It does not make treatment free: in England a prescription costs £9.90 an item and NHS dental treatment falls into bands of £27.90, £76.60 and £332.10. Prescriptions are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• School: children can attend state schools. See our school places guide.

How long their permission lasts

A dependant's permission usually ends on the same date as yours. Where a child's parents hold visas ending on different dates, the child's ends on the earlier of the two.

If you extend or switch, their existing permission runs to its original end date. They apply separately, either at the same time as you or at any point before it expires — including a child who has turned 18 during your stay. A child born in the UK does not become British automatically, and needs their own dependant permission before travelling in and out of the UK with you. That application must be made before they turn 18 if they are to stay.

Dependants and settlement

When you apply for indefinite leave to remain, family can be included on the same form or apply separately later. A partner qualifies if they have lived in the UK as your dependant for 5 continuous years — time on their own visa does not count — the relationship is genuine and continuing, and you can support yourselves without public funds.

A partner aged 18 to 64 must pass the Life in the UK test and meet the English language requirement. This differs from the worker, who does not have to prove English again. Settlement costs £3,226 for each person.

A child can be included where they have dependant permission, are not married or in a civil partnership, will live with and be supported by you without public funds, and both parents are settling or already settled — or where you are the sole surviving parent, have sole responsibility, or there are serious or compelling circumstances. Family can also carry on extending as your dependant after you settle. See settlement for dependants.

Related guides

• Skilled Worker visa guide
• Adding a dependant to your visa
• What a dependant can do
• UK visa fees guide
• Settlement for dependants
• Immigration health surcharge

Questions and answers