Dependants and Student Visas inside the UK
This page outlines what to do if you are applying for a visa inside the UK as a student dependant or on behalf of a dependant of yours.
Eligibility
If you are applying for a Student Dependant Visa from outside the UK, visit:
Course requirement rules before 1 January 2024
If your course started before 1 January 2024, you could have dependants join you if you are:
- Government sponsored students studying on a course lasting six months or longer, or;
- Doing a full-time postgraduate course (at RQF level 7 on the Ofqual Register) and that course is 9 months or longer
- Studying at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance (This applies to the University of Sheffield)
- The student’s current or most recent immigration permission was as a student on a full-time course lasting at least six months and all four points below apply:
- your permission is current or expired no more than three months before this immigration application, and
- your new immigration application is for a full-time course that is at least six months, and
- your dependant either already has Student dependant immigration permission (or it is the most recent immigration permission that they had, and it expired no more than three months before this application), or;
- is your child who was born since you last grant of permission, and;
- you are applying for immigration permission at the same time as your dependant
If your child dependant does not meet the above, they must meet one of the following requirements.
- Be a child born during your current period of permission to study a full-time course of six months or longer and they are applying for permission during that period, or any period granted to for resitting examinations or repeating modules, or;
- Your child must have been born no more than three months after the expiry of your most recent permission and must be making an application for entry clearance within six months of the expiry of your most recent permission
You may wish to seek advice if relying on these requirements before submitting a dependant application.
If your course started before 1 January 2024, your dependants can still apply to join you or extend their visas after 1 January 2024.
New course requirement rules from 1 January 2024
If your course start date is after 1 January 2024, to be eligible to have dependants you must be studying either:
- a PhD or other Doctoral qualification (RQF level 8), or;
- a research based higher degree (RQF level 7-RESEARCH)
The definition of 'research-based course' includes PhDs and MPhils but does not include other types of courses like MRes.
If your course is 'research-based' then your CAS statement should include the letters 'RE' in the 'Academic Level' section (eg 'RQF 7 - RE'). This will confirm that you are studying a research based level, and should satisfy UKVI requirements.
Other eligibility requirements remain the same.
Contact ISSAC if you need further advice.
How to apply
Step 1: Online application
Dependants must complete the online application:
- Apply Online as a Partner
- Apply Online as a Child (If you already have a UK visa)
- Apply Online as a Child Born in the UK (Making a first UK visa application)
- If the student migrant is applying at the same time as their dependants, they may wish to include their application and those of the dependants all on the same application form. There are instructions on how to do this by not using the UKVI ID check app to confirm identity for the application here. If any applicant (student migrant or dependant) does use the app to confirm identity, they will need to complete and submit a separate application form and pay the application fees separately.
Step 2: Immigration Health Surcharge
During the application, dependants will need to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge.
Step 3: Supporting documents
The following supporting documents must be submitted in support of the application:
- Current passport for the dependant
- Current BRP (if you have one)
- Documents to show that children aged 16 or over are not leading an independent life
- Evidence of sole responsibility or serious and compelling circumstances and appropriate care (if applicable)
- Document(s) to show that partners are living at the same address as the student, (e.g bank statements, council tax bills, utility bills). If the dependant partner and the student migrant are not married or in a civil partnership, this evidence needs to cover a 2-year period.
- Evidence of sufficient funds to meet criteria* – (if the student migrant is receiving official financial sponsorship, your name must appear on their sponsor letter for the funds to be considered as being available to you)
- Evidence of the dependant’s relationship to the student migrant (original marriage/birth certificates) – ONLY if the dependant's current visa is not as a dependant of the student migrant they are applying to join
- Evidence the dependant has consent from their previous financial sponsor to extend their visa in the UK- ONLY if the dependant has been fully sponsored (receiving both fees and living costs) from a government or international scholarship agency in the 12 months before the visa application is being submitted.
- A copy of the student migrant’s passport and visa
- A letter of consent signed by all parent(s) that have responsibility for any dependant child submitting an application. It must confirm:
- The relationship between parent(s) and child;
- Whether one or both parents have responsibility for the child;
- That both or all parents responsible for the child consent to the child making this visa application; and
- The address where the child will be living, whether it is the same address that the parent(s) live at and that both or all parents responsible for the child consent to the child's living arrangements in the UK.
Download Letter of Consent template (PDF, 68KB)
* Evidence of funds, differentiation arrangement & living in the UK for 12 months or more
Differentiation
Where the dependant is applying at the same time as the student migrant, if both the dependant and the student migrant are nationals of a country listed in paragraph 22.1 of the immigration rules, you will not need to submit evidence of funds with your visa application.
You will need to ensure you have held funds that meet the requirements in case UKVI ask for the documents later in the visa process.
Living in the UK for 12 months or more
If the dependant has already lived in the UK with a visa for 12 months or more by the date they submit the visa application, and they submit the application inside the UK, they will automatically meet the funds requirement and do not need to submit evidence of funds with the visa application.
If the student they are dependant on meets this requirement, the dependant does not automatically meet this requirement as well, they will need to have lived in the UK with a visa for at least 12 months in their own right.
Where a dependant has had absences from the UK in the 12 months before the date they submit your visa application, UKVI's guidance on the financial requirement suggests that they will still meet the requirement if they have only had holidays and short absences.
UKVI list being absent from the UK for at least three months as an example of where they would not meet this requirement.
If they have had one or more absence(s) from the UK in the 12 months before the visa application is submitted, and the total time they were outside the UK was more than three months, we would advise that they do not automatically meet the financial requirement.
If they do not automatically meet the financial requirement, and they are not from a differential evidence country, they must provide evidence to show they have adequate funds.
Some dependants may have already lived in the UK for 12 months without a visa, for example a child born in the UK who is applying for their first visa. In this case, the dependant will need to submit evidence of funds with the visa application.
The required funds for each dependant are £680 per month, multiplied by the number of months the dependant visa will be granted for (this will be the same length as the Student's visa) up to a maximum of nine months (£6120). This must be in addition to any funds already provided as evidence for the student.
Step 4: Obtain BRP
Dependants will need to have their fingerprints and photograph taken to obtain their BRP.
Child applications
Age requirement
Dependant children must be under the age of 18 on the date of the visa application unless their most recent visa is as a dependant child of the Student or the Student's partner.
Responsibility for the child
Children can only apply to join a student migrant where:
- Both parents are present in the UK (with a valid visa); or
- Both parents are applying at the same time as the dependant; or
- One parent is present in the UK and the other is applying at the same time as the dependant
Where the student migrant is a single parent, children can only apply if:
- The other parent is dead; or
- You have had sole responsibility for the child’s upbringing; or
- There are serious and compelling family or other considerations and suitable arrangements have been made for the child’s care
You are not considered to be “lawfully present” if you have a Visitor Visa.
Where you are required to submit evidence of sole responsibility or serious and compelling circumstances and appropriate care, you should obtain legal advice from an immigration specialist beforehand.
You must provide evidence of this with your child’s application (eg divorce or death certificates).
The caseworker must also be satisfied that any children aged under 16 will be living with the student migrant and their dependant partner in a care arrangement in line with UK legislation, unless they can show a valid reason why they do not live with that parent but they have also not been leading an independent life.
UKVI guidance on Serious and Compelling Considerations (PDF, 197kb)
Children born in the UK
Where you have a child born in the UK that is not a British citizen, the child can remain in the UK lawfully without applying for, or obtaining a visa.
However, once they are more than three months old, they are not entitled to free NHS healthcare unless it is emergency treatment. You may therefore, choose to submit a visa application for your child within three months of their birth in order to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge for them, or purchase appropriate medical insurance.
If the child leaves the UK before they get a visa, they will need to apply for, and obtain a visa from overseas in order to be able to travel back to the UK.