If you are on the Student route, you may be eligible to bring your dependants (family members) with you to the UK. Only some family members can join you in the UK and there are rules and requirements that they may need to meet.
Some people studying on the Student route can have family with them in the UK as their ‘dependants’. The only relationships that qualify as dependants of those on the Student route are your partner and your child. Other family members including your parent, brother, sister or other relative will not be able to join you in the UK as a dependant.
If your family member wishes to come to the UK for a period of up to six months only, they may be eligible to apply as a Visitor.
You might have heard of Tier 4, but the Student route has replaced Tier 4 (General) and the Child Student route has replaced Tier 4 (Child). If you have Tier 4 permission, then this information will still apply to you.
Can I have dependants when I study in the UK?
Last updated April 19, 2024
If you are studying on the Student route, you can have dependants with you in the UK if any of the situations in the following categories apply to you. Please note that Child Students cannot bring dependants.
You are in receipt of a scholarship or sponsorship from a government and your course (of any level) is full-time and at least six months.
Home Office guidance explains that: "Scholarships and sponsorships may on occasion be awarded using different terminology", and that "[t]his should not prevent the applicant from meeting the requirement, as long as the evidence provided refers to a financial award issued by a national government for the purpose of completing a course of study which meets the requirements of the student route". In addtion, for the purposes of being eligible to bring dependants, the scholarship or sponsorship does not need to cover your full fees and living costs. You and your dependants are, however, still required to meet the financial requirements.
Home Office guidance currently adds additional requirements relating to the term 'government'. If your dependants are refused immigration permission on the basis that your scholarhsip or sponsorship is from a government that is not your national government or the UK government you have the opportunity to pursue an administrative review. This is on the basis that the Immigration Rules only require that you, the Student, are in receipt of an award from 'a government' (with no specification about it being your national government or the UK government). We recommend that you seek advice from your institution or seek legal advice about this
You are doing a full-time research-based higher degree, a PhD or other doctoral qualification of nine months or longer at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance, where the start date of the course was on or after 1 January 2024. If your course start date was before 1 January 2024, the course must be a full-time postgraduate level course of nine months or longer undertaken at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance.
The Student and Child Student caseworker guidance explains what a ‘research-based higher degree’ is and explains how your institution will identify this on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS).
A higher education provider (HEP) is a Student sponsor which provides higher education in accordance with the criteria of the government. For more details, including the criteria of the four governments in the UK, see paragraph 6 of the Immigration Rules. You can find your HEP and confirm if they have a track record of compliance in the ‘sponsor type’ and ‘status’ columns in the register of Student sponsors. ‘Higher education provider’ is not an option in the sponsor type column. The sponsor type that applies to you may be higher education institution, publicly-funded college, independent school, embedded college offering pathway courses or private provider.
You are studying or have studied on a full-time course lasting at least six months and all four bullet points below apply:
Your Student permission is current or expired no more than three months before this immigration application.
Your new immigration application is for a full-time course that is at least six months.
Your dependant already has Student dependant immigration permission (or it expired no more than three months before this application), or your dependant is your child who was born since you were last granted your immigration permission.
You are applying for immigration permission at the same time as your dependant.
Who is a dependant?
Last updated May 09, 2024
If you are studying on the Student route, your partner and your child can be your dependant. Your parent, brother, sister or other relative cannot.
In the Immigration Rules, a 'partner' is defined as:
Your husband or wife.
Your civil partner.
Your unmarried partner.
In the UK, 'civil partners' are couples who have registered their partnership and who have thereby gained formal legal recognition of their relationship. Schedule 20 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 provides a list of partnerships in countries outside the UK that are automatically treated as civil partnerships by the UK government.
In all cases, you and your dependant must be at least 18 years old when you apply for immigration permission.
The relationship with your spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner must be “genuine and subsisting”. There is guidance for Home Office caseworkers, which gives some details of what caseworkers will consider from partners as evidence that the relationship is genuine and subsisting when the dependant applies for permission. However, guidance can change at any time and without warning, so it is important that you check this guidance before you apply.
Immigration permission may be cancelled if the Home Office think there has been a change in circumstances since the permission was granted.
These are the requirements that your child must meet to apply for immigration permission as your dependant:
If you are on the Student route and your child is applying to come to the UK as your dependant for the first time, they must be younger than 18 years old when they apply.
Your child (of any age) “must not be living an independent life”, according to the Immigration Rules. This means that:
They do not have a spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner.
They live with their parents, except if they are at boarding school, college or university as part of their full-time education. The Home Office's guidance on Appendix Children outlines what the Home Office will look for in assessing this.
Both of the child’s parents must be in, or coming with the child to, the UK (although not with Visitor permission). Each parent must either be applying for immigration permission at the same time as the child or already have immigration permission to be in the UK. The immigration permission each parent has or is applying for cannot be as a Visitor. If one parent has British citizenship or has immigration permission in the UK without restriction, and they live or intend to live in the UK, that parent will not need to meet this requirement to have the relevant immigration permission.
The only exceptions to the requirement that both parents must be coming to the UK are:
When the child's other parent is deceased.
If you have sole responsibility for the child's upbringing.
If there are other serious or compelling considerations that mean the child should be with you in the UK and you have made suitable arrangements for the child's care.
If you are relying on any of these exceptions, it is important that you include this as part of your child’s application. The Home Office's guidance on Appendix Children outlines how the Home Office will assess this.
For applications made from 6 June 2024, the term 'parent' will no longer include a step-parent and will be limited to biological parents, legal parents, and adoptive parents. See our news item for more information.
Financial requirements
Last updated February 20, 2024
Your dependants do not need to meet the financial requirements if:
They are applying from within the UK.
They have been living in the UK with immigration permission for 12 months or longer when they apply. The immigration permission can have been in any immigration category.
If they do not meet the criteria above, each dependant must have a certain amount of money, held in a bank or building society account, or an account with an officially regulated financial institution. All dependants will need to have evidence of this, and in many cases, your dependant must produce this evidence with their immigration application.
The Immigration Rules state that funds for your dependants must be in addition to funds you require as a Student:
"The funds must be in addition to the funds required for the Student to meet the financial requirement, and the funds required to meet the financial requirement for any dependent who is applying at the same time, or is already in the UK as a dependent of the Student."
"If your partner or child is applying at a different time to you (they’re applying separately) they only need to prove they have money to support themselves."
As information can change without warning, it is important to check before you make your application that this sentence is still on the gov.uk website and save a screenshot of it on the day you apply.
If your dependant is required to meet the financial requirements, the amount of money that each dependant must show is as follows:
If you will study in London, each dependant must show £845 for each month of Student immigration permission you have been granted (if your dependants are applying after you have received your permission) or will be granted (if your dependants are applying at the same time as you). This is up to a maximum of nine months, therefore, a maximum figure of £7,605. The definition of 'London' for these purposes is complicated, so check with your college or university whether or not you will be considered to be studying in London.
If you will study somewhere other than London, each dependant must show £680 for each month of Student immigration permission you have been granted (if your dependants are applying after you have received your permission) or will be granted (if your dependants are applying at the same time as you). This is up to a maximum of nine months, therefore, a maximum figure of £6,120.
The number of months of Student immigration permission that you are granted depends on the type and length of the course. The Student and Child guidance explains how long someone is granted Student permission for and when to start the calculation from.
The money can be held by the dependant or by you. If the dependant is your child, the funds can be held by the child’s other parent.
The money must have been in the account for a minimum period of 28 consecutive days up to the date of the closing balance. The account must not have dropped below the amount required at any time during the 28-day period. Also, the final date of this 28-day period must not be more than 31 days before the immigration application is made.
There is an exception to this requirement if any of the following institutions are giving you money to cover your course fees or living costs:
a government
the British Council
an international organisation
an international company
a university
an independent school
In that case, ask if they are prepared to give you a letter stating that they will cover the full maintenance costs of your dependant. If they will, then that letter on its own will mean that your dependant has met the financial requirements. There will be no requirement for them to show that they have any money at all in a bank or building society account, or in an account with an officially regulated financial institution. There are precise instructions about the format the letter must take in the Home Office guidance on financial requirements. Your letter will need to comply with all of these instructions.
Each dependant must declare in their application that the money for living costs will remain available to them, unless used for living costs in the UK.
If the funds held in the account (relied upon to prove funds for the immigration application) fall substantially below the level of funds required, the caseworker must be satisfied when they make a decision on the application, that the used funds have been, in part, used to pay a deposit for accommodation or for “other costs associated with the proposed period of their permission in the UK”.
If in the 12 months before the date of application, any of your dependants have completed a course of studies in the UK for which they have been awarded a scholarship or sponsorship by a government or international scholarship agency covering both fees and living costs for study in the UK, they must provide written consent to the application from that government or agency.
'Low risk' applicants
If your dependant counts as a 'low risk' applicant, they must have the right amount of money for the right period held by an acceptable financial institution, but they do not have to provide any evidence of that with their immigration application. The Home Office calls this the ‘differentiation arrangement’ for low risk applicants. Your dependant will count as a low risk applicant if all of these apply:
Your dependant is applying at the same time and in the same location as you.
Your dependant is applying for entry clearance in the country of their nationality or where they are resident, or they are applying for leave to remain inside the UK.
It is very important that your dependant should obtain the evidence that they meet the financial requirements, even though they do not need to send it in. This is because the Home Office are entitled to ask them for it at any point while they are processing the application. If the applicant is unable to produce it within a short period of time, then their application will be refused.
The Student and Child guidance outlines how to complete the application form if relying on these arrangements.
If you are eligible to bring dependants they can only make successful applications if they meet the requirements and either of these situations apply:
You already have your Student immigration permission (except in the case of category 3 in 'Can I have dependants when I study in the UK?' where both the dependant and Student must be applying at the same time).
You are applying at the same time as your dependant(s).
Each dependant must complete a separate application form. The Home Offices charges a fee for the application which is the equivalent of approximately £524 in local currency. In some countries, there are optional extra services. If your dependants choose to use these extra services, they will be charged additional fees (for example the priority service is equivalent to £500, and the super priority service is equivalent to £1,000).
Your dependants will need to know your course details and Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number in order to complete the application form.
If your dependant's application is successful, a vignette (sticker) will be placed in their passport. If they are being given immigration permission for more than six months, the vignette will only be valid for 90 days. They will have to enter the UK within that 90-day period. When they are notified of their decision to be granted permission they will also be invited to set up UKVI account. Once they have registered for a UKVI account they will be able to login and view their (digital) eVisa which will show the full length, and the conditions, of their permission. For more information about eVisas, visit our eVisas webpage.
If your dependant is being given immigration permission for six months or less, the vignette (sticker) in their passport will last for the whole period. It will not expire after 90 days.
In some cases, your dependants will only get permission in a digital format.
Your dependant can make their application from inside the UK, as long as they are not on immigration bail or their latest immigration permission was not outside the Immigration Rules or as a:
Visitor
Short-term student
Parent of a Tier 4 (Child)
Seasonal Worker
Domestic Worker in a Private Household
In addition, if their eligibility to be your dependant is because you meet the requirements of category 3 in ‘Can I have dependants in the UK?’, they must apply at the same time as you and from within the UK.
If your dependant is allowed to apply from inside the UK, they can apply for an extension by making an online application as your partner or as your child through the Home Office website.
It is very important that your dependants make their application to the Home Office before their current immigration permission expires.
If your dependant has immigration permission to be in the UK as a Visitor, Short-term student or Short-term student (child), they must leave the UK to apply for 'entry clearance' in their country of residence, before travelling back to the UK with that entry clearance.
Working
Last updated February 20, 2024
Your dependants will be able to work, except if their eligibility to be in the UK as your dependant is based on you meeting category 3 in ‘Can I have dependants in the UK?’. In this case, your dependants can only work if either of these situations apply:
You are applying for Student permission of nine months or more and your full-time course is at degree level or above.
You are applying for Student permission of less than nine months to continue studying on the course for which you were previously granted permission of nine months or more.
Dependants who are permitted to work can do any type of work, but:
They must not work as a professional sportsperson, which includes being a sports coach.
If their permission as a Tier 4 Partner was decided before 9:00 (UK time) on 5 October 2020, they must not work as a doctor or dentist in training (although there are some special exemptions to this, described in the archived Immigration Rules paragraph 319D(b)(iii)).
Schooling for your children
Last updated February 20, 2024
If your children are aged between five and 16, they can attend government primary and secondary schools in the UK, as long as they are here as your dependants. You will not have to pay for their education. However, schools may sometimes refuse places to children if they consider their stay in the UK will be too short, or if the schools have no free places.
If you are on the Student route and you are pregnant, it is very important that you talk to an immigration adviser as soon as possible. If you find you need to interrupt your studies due to pregnancy, you and any dependants will normally need to leave the UK, then apply for new entry clearance in order to return to the UK and resume studies.
Birth in the UK does not automatically make a baby a British citizen. The baby needs to have a parent with British citizenship or settled status in the UK in order to be born British.
If your child is born in the UK but is not a British citizen, it is lawful for them to remain in the UK without making an immigration application. However, the child will need immigration permission to re-enter the UK after any travel abroad. For children born to those on the Student route, there are limited instances when you can apply for immigration permission, on behalf of a child, as your dependant.
A child, born anywhere, can apply for immigration permission as your dependant if any of these situations apply:
The child was born during your current permission as a Student, and this permission was granted for a full-time course of at least six months (or, if you have permission for a re-sit or to re-take a module for the same course of at least six months duration, the child was born during the permission for the original course or during the permission for the re-sit or re-take).
The child was born no more than three months after the expiry of your most recent permission and the child is making an entry clearance application (an application from their country of residence) within six months of their parent's most recent
If you want the child to make an application from inside the UK, they apply by making an online application through the Home Office website:
Apply online using this form if you are applying at the same time as your child. The application form will ask if you want to add a dependant child to the application.
Before filling in the form, read the relevant pages of the Student and Child guidance, as the child will need to meet all requirements for dependants. If you wish to make an immigration application from inside the UK for your baby in other circumstances, you should seek legal advice.
The Student route is for international students who want to study in the UK – find out if you can apply for immigration permission from outside of the UK.
Essential guide on maintaining your student visa status in the UK, covering everything from attendance requirements to visa renewals, ensuring your educational journey remains uninterrupted.
If you’re planning to visit the UK for a temporary duration, you may need a Visitor visa. Read about coming to the UK as a Visitor and any restrictions.
