UK Dependent Visa: Who Can Bring Family Members After the 2024 and 2025 Rule Changes

A UK dependent visa allows the close family members of a main visa holder to live, work, and study in the UK alongside them. Eligible dependants typically include a spouse or civil partner, an unmarried partner in a qualifying relationship, and dependent children under 18. The dependent visa is tied to the main applicant's permission: it lasts for the same duration as the main visa and must be renewed in line with it.

Dependent visa rules apply across most UK visa categories, including Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, Global Business Mobility, student, and family visas. However, the eligibility rules differ significantly between routes, and several major restrictions were introduced between March 2024 and July 2025. Understanding which rules apply to your specific visa category is essential before making any application.

March 2024: Care Worker Dependant Ban

From 11 March 2024, care workers (SOC 6135) and senior care workers (SOC 6136) in the Health and Care Worker Visa category can no longer bring new dependants to the UK. This rule applies regardless of employer or location.

Transitional protection: if you held a Health and Care Worker Visa in one of these care worker occupation codes before 11 March 2024 and have maintained continuous permission in that role, or changed jobs within the same SOC code, you may still be able to sponsor dependants. If you applied for or switched into the care worker route on or after 11 March 2024, you cannot bring new dependants.

January 2024: Student Dependant Restrictions

From 1 January 2024, the vast majority of Student Visa holders can no longer bring dependants to the UK. The main exceptions are:

• Students enrolled in postgraduate research programmes, including PhDs, at institutions with a track record of compliance, provided the course lasts at least nine months. The student must also have completed at least 24 months of their PhD before a dependant spouse or partner can switch to the dependant route from within the UK.
• Government-sponsored students on fully funded undergraduate programmes lasting more than six months.

All other students, including those on taught postgraduate master's programmes, undergraduate degrees without government sponsorship, and pre-sessional English courses, may not bring dependants. Existing dependants who held Student Visa dependant status before January 2024 can continue to extend their visas, provided the main student's course began before 1 January 2024.

What About Dependants on Other Routes?

The dependent visa rules for other visa categories are generally less restrictive:

• Global Business Mobility visas (Senior or Specialist Worker, Graduate Trainee, UK Expansion Worker): dependants are generally permitted. The Graduate Trainee route does not lead to ILR, so dependants on this route also cannot progress to settlement.
• Graduate Visa: dependants who were already in the UK as dependants during the main applicant's Student Visa course may extend on the Graduate route. New dependants cannot join a Graduate Visa holder.
• Innovator Founder Visa and Global Talent Visa: dependants are generally permitted.
• Family Visas (Appendix FM): spouses, partners, and children can apply as dependants of a family visa holder in the normal way, including under the Spouse Visa.

Eligible Dependants and Who Can Apply

Where dependants are permitted, eligible applicants include:

• Spouse or civil partner: must be in a genuine and subsisting marriage or civil partnership.
• Unmarried partner: must have been in a qualifying relationship for at least two years. Strict cohabitation is no longer mandatory since January 2024, see our Unmarried Partner Visa page.
• Dependent children under 18: must not be leading an independent life and must be financially dependent. Children aged 16 or 17 must show they are unmarried and living as part of the family.

Limited exceptions apply for dependant children in certain care situations, children born in the UK, and children where the visa holder has sole responsibility. These are assessed case by case.

Financial Requirements for Dependants

Most dependant visa applications require evidence that the main visa holder, or the applicant if they have a right to work in the UK, can maintain and accommodate the dependants without recourse to public funds. The specific financial evidence required depends on the main visa category and how long the parties have been lawfully resident in the UK:

• If the main visa holder and dependant have both been in the UK lawfully for 12 months or more at the time of a further leave application, the financial requirement is generally considered met without additional evidence.
• For new applicants joining from outside the UK, evidence of sufficient funds must be provided. Where the main applicant's employer has certified maintenance on the Certificate of Sponsorship, this may also satisfy the requirement for an initial application.

Rights of Dependants in the UK

Most dependants on UK visas have the right to work and study freely in the UK, including full-time employment, self-employment, and study at any level. Dependants on certain restricted routes, including care workers and some Immigration Salary List or Temporary Shortage List roles, may have more limited rights. Dependants do not have the right to claim public funds in general.

Dependants may progress to ILR alongside the main applicant: once the main visa holder becomes eligible for ILR, their eligible dependants who have been continuously resident may apply for settlement at the same time. Each family member submits their own ILR application and pays the applicable fee.