UK Dependant Visa: Requirements, Eligibility and How to Apply

UK dependant visa rules changed on 1 January 2024, and most students can no longer bring family. Only postgraduate research students and government-sponsored students qualify. Taught master's, undergraduate and foundation students are excluded. Dependants who do qualify get full work rights. The restriction was deliberate policy. It formed part of the government's plan to reduce net migration, alongside limits on switching from Student to work routes. The eligibility, the money, the documents and the process below cover the whole application.

• Course type decides everything, and the CAS must confirm it.
• Your own assessment does not count, so the university must state it in writing.
• Funds are per dependant, held for 28 unbroken days.
• Dependants work without restriction, which changes the family budget entirely.

Conversions based on a GBP-INR rate of INR 126 as of July 2, 2026. Rates fluctuate; check the current rate before financial planning.

Who Can Still Bring Dependants

Two routes survive the 2024 restriction, and everything else is closed. Check yours before making family plans.

Check yours against the two below before anything else. The eligible routes:

• Postgraduate research students: PhD, doctoral qualifications, MPhil and research-based higher degrees lasting 9 months or more.
• Government-sponsored students: those funded by a government or international scholarship agency for 6 months or more, regardless of course type.

Everyone else falls outside the route entirely. Who cannot bring dependants:

• Taught master's students on MA, MSc, MBA and LLM programmes, unless government-sponsored.
• Undergraduate, foundation and pre-sessional English students, whatever the course length.

Immigration rules define a research degree by workload. The research component, including original work, must be larger than the taught component measured by student effort.

Note: Your own reading of the course structure is not accepted. The university must confirm research status in writing, and the CAS must reflect it. Research-integrated master's programmes can qualify, but only with that written confirmation in hand.

Funds, Fees and the 28-Day Rule

Each dependant needs their own maintenance money, on top of yours. The banking rule is stricter than the amount.

Every figure below applies per dependant, not per family. The money:

• Maintenance: GBP 845 a month for London courses and GBP 680 outside London, for up to 9 months per dependant.
• The London total: GBP 7,605 per dependant, around INR 9.58 lakh.
• The outside-London total: GBP 6,120 per dependant, around INR 7.71 lakh.
• The 28-day rule: funds must sit in the account for 28 continuous days. The closing balance must be dated no more than 31 days before the application.
• Health surcharge: GBP 1,035 a year for each dependant, paid upfront for the full permission.
• Application fee: the student dependant fee mirrors the main Student visa charge, currently GBP 558 from outside the UK.

Cost planning sits in this guide on the average cost of studying abroad. Family applications roughly double a UK budget.

Documents and Relationship Evidence

The file has two halves: proof that you qualify and proof that the relationship is real. The second half fails more often.

Assemble both halves before starting any form, since incomplete uploads delay biometrics appointments. The document set:

• Your CAS and course confirmation showing research status or government sponsorship.
• Marriage or civil partnership certificate for spouses and civil partners.
• Two years of cohabitation evidence for unmarried partners, across multiple document types.
• Children's birth certificates naming both parents.
• Bank statements covering the 28 days.
• Passports and biometric details for every applicant.
• Tuberculosis test certificates where required for Indian applicants, from an approved clinic.

Photographs, correspondence and travel records help unmarried partners most, since they show a relationship over time rather than on paper. Two evidence rules matter. Unmarried partners need multiple document types rather than one long tenancy agreement. Children are never added automatically, so each child needs a separate application.

The wider approval climate sits in this report on Indian student visa approval rates in 2026.

How to Apply and What Goes Wrong

Dependants apply online and individually, usually after the main applicant. Processing runs about 3 weeks from outside the UK.

Plan the sequence before anyone pays a fee. The steps:

• Step 1: confirm your route qualifies and obtain written course confirmation.
• Step 2: hold the maintenance funds for 28 continuous days.
• Step 3: the main applicant applies first, or all applications go together.
• Step 4: each dependant completes their own online form and pays the fee and health surcharge.
• Step 5: book biometrics and submit documents at the visa centre.
• Step 6: receive the decision, typically within 3 weeks from outside the UK.

Five errors appear repeatedly in refused dependant files. The errors that cost applications:

• Insufficient relationship evidence for unmarried partners.
• Forgetting to apply for children, who are never included by default.
• Funds not held the full 28 days, or balances that dip mid-period.
• Missing the joint extension, since a dependant's leave lapses if the extension is skipped.
• Choosing the wrong route, such as a family visa where student dependant rules apply.

Once approved, most dependants work without restriction in any job, though public funds stay off-limits. Research-degree families sit at Russell Group universities most often, since doctoral programmes concentrate there.

Also Check:

The UK dependant visa is now a narrow door with a clear key. Confirm your course counts as research or government-sponsored before promising anything at home. Get the confirmation in writing and park the maintenance money 28 days early. Evidence the relationship across several document types and apply for each child separately. Do that, and a family that qualifies moves together without drama. Families that do not qualify are better served by knowing that early than by hoping late.