Including Step-Children on a Spouse Visa Application
Section E-ECC of Appendix FM governs a child joining a parent on the partner route. For a step-child it narrows to two bases: sole responsibility, or serious and compelling considerations. This guide follows the rule as written.
- Section
- Spouse & Partner Visa
- Reading time
- 10 min
- Last checked
- 21 March 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 applies under section E-ECC of Appendix FM, not as a bolt-on to the partner application.
- For a step-child the bases are sole responsibility, or serious and compelling family or other considerations with suitable care arrangements.
- The other parent's written consent is not a basis in the rule; it is evidence going to those tests.
- The £29,000 threshold does not increase per child. Child uplifts exist only in the transitional £18,600 rules, capped at £29,000.
- Each child pays a separate application fee and immigration health surcharge.
A step-child applies under section E-ECC of Appendix FM. Paragraph E-ECC.1.6 offers three alternative bases; for a step-child, only sole responsibility or serious and compelling family or other considerations are available. The £29,000 income requirement does not rise with the number of children — that only happens under the transitional £18,600 rules, and it is capped at £29,000 in any event.
Who Counts as a Step-Child
For immigration purposes, a step-child is the child of your partner from a previous relationship. The child does not need to have been formally adopted by you. What matters is the relationship between the child and the parent who is applying for or holds the spouse visa.
Section E-ECC of Appendix FM sets four conditions on the child:
- E-ECC.1.2. Under 18 at the date of application
- E-ECC.1.3. Not married or in a civil partnership
- E-ECC.1.4. Has not formed an independent family unit
- E-ECC.1.5. Is not leading an independent life
Note that only the age is fixed at the date of application. A child who turns 18 while the application is pending is still assessed against the age they were when it was made.
The Three Bases In Paragraph E-ECC.1.6
Paragraph E-ECC.1.6 requires that one of the child's parents is in the UK with permission, or is being granted entry clearance, as a partner or parent under Appendix FM, or has protection status. That parent is then called "the applicant's parent". On top of that, one of three things must be true:
- (a) the applicant's parent's partner under Appendix FM is also a parent of the child; or
- (b) the applicant's parent has had, and continues to have, sole responsibility for the child's upbringing; or
- (c) 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
For a step-child, (a) is unavailable by definition: the UK partner is not the child's parent. So the application has to rest on (b) or (c).
What About The Other Parent's Consent?
The other parent's written consent does not appear in the rule as a basis in its own right. Rowan previously described it as one; that was wrong. Consent, and the absence of it, is evidence relevant to whether one parent has sole responsibility and to whether there are serious and compelling considerations. It is not a substitute for either test.
A separate requirement sits at paragraph E-ECC.1.7: there must be suitable arrangements for the child's care and accommodation in the UK, complying with UK law. Basis (c) repeats the care arrangements point, which suggests how much weight it carries.
Sole Responsibility
Note the wording of (b): has had and continues to have sole responsibility. It is a continuing state, not a historical fact. Evidence commonly used includes:
- Court orders granting you sole custody
- School records showing you as the sole contact
- Medical records listing you as the parent responsible
- Evidence of the child living with you
- Evidence that the other parent has had no contact or financial involvement
See the GOV.UK child visa page for official guidance.
Financial Implications
This is where Rowan previously got it wrong, and it is worth being precise. Under paragraph E-ECC.2.1, the income requirement for a child applying alongside a parent on the partner route is £29,000 — the same figure, however many children apply. It does not rise per child.
The per-child uplift lives in the transitional rule at paragraph E-ECC.2.5, which applies only where the parent qualifies under the older regime. There the figure is £18,600, plus £3,800 for the first child and £2,400 for each additional child. Even then, paragraph E-ECC.2.6 caps it: where the total would exceed £29,000 because of the number of children, only £29,000 has to be evidenced.
The cash savings alternative works the same way on both: £16,000 plus 2.5 times the shortfall between the qualifying income and the amount required.
What does rise with each child is the cost of applying. Each child pays their own fee — £2,064 from outside the UK, £1,407 from inside — and their own immigration health surcharge: £1,940 for 2 years 6 months, £2,328 for 2 years 9 months, or £3,880 for 5 years. Our cost breakdown works through the totals.
Accommodation Requirements
The accommodation requirement is where the number of children genuinely does change the test. Paragraph E-ECC.2.4 requires evidence that there will be adequate accommodation, without recourse to public funds, for the whole family — including household members who are not part of the application — which the family own or occupy exclusively.
The rule then defines adequacy negatively. Accommodation is not adequate if it is, or will be, overcrowded, or if it contravenes public health regulations. Adding a child changes the number of people the property has to house without being overcrowded.
Applying at the Same Time or Later
You can submit the child's application at the same time as the spouse visa application, or you can apply for the child separately after the spouse visa has been granted. Applying together is generally simpler and ensures the family arrives at the same time.
If applying later, the child applies as a dependant joining a person already in the UK. The requirements are the same, but the process is a separate application.
What If the Other Parent Objects
The rule does not address objection directly, because it does not treat consent as a basis. What an objection bears on is whether the applying parent has had and continues to have sole responsibility for the child's upbringing — an actively involved other parent tends against that — and whether there are serious and compelling family or other considerations that make excluding the child undesirable.
Relocating a child across borders can also raise questions under the family law of the country the child lives in, which is separate from the Immigration Rules and is not something Rowan covers. An adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority handles the immigration side; our guide to using an adviser explains how to check that someone is regulated.
Children's Rights in the UK
Once in the UK, step-children on dependant visas have access to:
- Free state education (see our school places guide)
- National Health Service treatment, having paid the immigration health surcharge
Public funds are the exception rather than an entitlement. Paragraph D-ECC.1.1 states that the child is granted entry clearance expiring at the same time as their parent's permission, and is subject to the same conditions on recourse to public funds as that parent. A partner on the five-year route is normally granted with no recourse to public funds, and the child inherits that condition.
The alignment of expiry dates is the practical point: the child extends and applies for settlement on the parent's timetable, not on one of their own.
For more information, check the GOV.UK page on child dependant visas.
Next Steps
The question the rule actually asks is which of the two available bases in paragraph E-ECC.1.6 the application rests on: sole responsibility that the parent has had and continues to have, or serious and compelling family or other considerations with suitable care arrangements in place. The income requirement is £29,000 whatever the number of children; the accommodation and the cost of applying are what change.
Related guides:
Questions and answers
Can step-children come to the UK on a spouse visa?
A child applies in their own right under section E-ECC of Appendix FM, as the child of a parent who has, or is being granted, permission as a partner. Paragraph E-ECC.1.6 sets out three alternative bases, and for a step-child only two of them are available: 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 that make excluding the child undesirable and suitable arrangements have been made for their care. The third basis — that the parent's partner is also a parent of the child — does not fit a step-child by definition.
Is written consent from the other parent one of the routes?
Not in the rule as written. Paragraph E-ECC.1.6 names sole responsibility and serious and compelling considerations; it does not list the other parent's consent as a basis of its own. Consent, or the lack of it, is evidence going to those two tests rather than a test in itself. A guide that presents written consent as an alternative to sole responsibility is describing something the rule does not say.
Do step-children need their own visa application?
Yes, and each pays a separate fee: £2,064 from outside the UK or £1,407 from inside, per person, plus the immigration health surcharge — £1,940 for a child staying 2 years 6 months, £2,328 for 2 years 9 months, or £3,880 for 5 years. GOV.UK notes that where an application includes family members, everyone must attend the appointment for fingerprints and a photograph together.
Can step-children over 18 join their parent in the UK?
Paragraph E-ECC.1.2 of Appendix FM requires the applicant to be under 18 at the date of application, so this route is not open to them. Paragraphs E-ECC.1.3 to 1.5 add that 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. Someone over 18 would need to qualify for a visa in their own right; the adult dependent relative route exists but has its own separate and narrow requirements.
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.