If you are moving to the UK to study, you may be wondering if your partner or children can come with you. This is where the UK Dependent Student Visa comes in. The rules changed a lot in 2024, and most of those changes are still in place in 2026. This guide explains who can bring family members, what it costs, and what you need to apply.
What is a Student Dependent Visa
A Student Dependent Visa allows the partner or children of someone on a UK Student visa to live in the UK for as long as the main student's visa is valid. Dependents get their own visa, but it is tied to the main applicant. If the student's visa ends or is cancelled, the dependent's visa ends too.
Who counts as a dependent
Under the rules, a dependent can be:
- Your husband, wife, or civil partner. You must be legally married or in a civil partnership.
- Your unmarried partner, if you have lived together in a relationship like a marriage for at least 2 years.
- Your children under 18, including biological and adopted children.
Parents, siblings, and adult children do not qualify as dependents on a Student visa. They would need to apply under a different route, and those routes are very restrictive.
The big restriction: not everyone can bring dependents
This is the most important part of the whole guide. Since January 2024, most international students in the UK have not been able to bring dependents at all. The rule change was one of the biggest shifts in UK student immigration in years, and it is still in effect in 2026.
You can only bring a partner or child if you fall into one of these two groups:
- Postgraduate research students. This means you are on a research-based programme, usually a PhD or another course at RQF level 8, or a research master's that is classed as research-based rather than taught.
- Government-sponsored students. This applies if you have official financial sponsorship from a government or an international scholarship agency (such as Chevening or Commonwealth Scholarships), and your course is at least 6 months long.
If you are on a standard taught master's degree, an undergraduate degree, a pre-sessional English course, or any short course, you cannot bring dependents under current rules, no matter how long the course lasts. If you already had dependents with you before the rules changed in January 2024, they can usually continue to renew their visas, but new applications from students starting after that date are judged under the new, tighter rules.
If you are not sure which category your course falls into, check with your university's international student office before you make any plans or spend money on the assumption that your family can join you.
Documents you will need
For each dependent, you will typically need:
- A valid passport
- Proof of your relationship, such as a marriage certificate, civil partnership certificate, or evidence of living together for 2 years for unmarried partners
- A birth certificate for any dependent child, showing the sponsoring parent's name
- Proof of the main student's visa or Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS)
- Bank statements or other evidence showing the required maintenance funds
- Tuberculosis test results, if applying from a country where this is required
Any documents not in English need a certified translation.
Financial requirement (maintenance funds)
This is often the part that catches people out, because the amount needed can be significant. In addition to the money you must show for yourself as the main student, you need extra funds for each dependent.
As of 2026, the official rates are:
- £845 a month for courses in London
- £680 a month for courses outside London
This is required for up to 9 months, and it applies per dependent. So if you are bringing a partner and one child to a course in London, you would need to show roughly £845 plus £845 for 9 months, which comes to about £15,210, on top of your own course and living cost funds.
The money must be held in a bank account for at least 28 consecutive days in a row. The 28 day period must end no more than 31 days before you submit the visa application. If the balance drops below the required amount at any point during those 28 days, the application can be refused, so it is worth checking your statements carefully before applying.
If your dependent partner has already been living in the UK with valid permission for 12 months or more, they usually do not need to show this financial evidence again.
Fees for a Student Dependent Visa
There are two separate costs to budget for: the visa application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge.
Application fee: From 8 April 2026, the Home Office fee is £558 per person. This applies whether you are applying from outside the UK or switching or extending inside the UK, and it is charged per dependent, not as a family package. There is no discount for applying as a group.
Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS): This gives dependents access to the NHS. For students and their dependents, the rate is £776 per person per year. It is paid upfront in full for the entire length of the visa, not year by year. So a dependent joining you for a 2-year course would pay roughly £1,552 in IHS alone.
A simple cost example: A student with a partner and one child, applying for a 2 year course, would pay for the partner and child combined: 2 x £558 (application fee) plus 2 x £776 x 2 years (IHS), which comes to around £4,244 just for the two dependents, not including the maintenance funds they need to show or the main student's own fees.
Always check the current fee on the official GOV.UK website before applying, since Home Office fees are reviewed and can change during the year.
Work rights for dependents
One advantage of the Dependent Student Visa is that dependents are usually not restricted in the same way as the main student. While the student may be limited to working part time during term (usually 20 hours a week), a dependent partner on an eligible course can normally work full time in most jobs. Dependent children under 18 cannot work.
Dependents cannot claim most public funds, such as certain benefits or housing assistance, but they can use the NHS once the health surcharge has been paid, and children can attend state school.
How and when to apply
You can apply for a dependent visa in two ways:
- At the same time as the main student, applying together as a family. In this case, you both need to prove you have the combined funds needed for the course, living costs, and dependent maintenance.
- After the main student already has their visa, applying separately. In this case, the dependent only needs to show they can support themselves, since the student's own funds have already been assessed.
Applications are usually made online, followed by a biometric appointment where fingerprints and a photo are taken, either at a visa application centre abroad or, in some cases, using the UK Immigration: ID Check app if applying from inside the UK.
Length of visa and what happens after
A dependent's visa runs alongside the main student's visa and expires at the same time. If the student later switches to the Graduate Route after finishing their course, dependents can usually switch too, but only if they were already dependents during the Student visa. You generally cannot add a new dependent once you move onto the Graduate Route.
Time spent in the UK as a dependent does not automatically lead to settlement. Most people need 5 years of continuous residence to apply for indefinite leave to remain, and the main applicant's visa route matters for how that residence is counted.
A few practical tips
- Check your course type carefully before assuming your family can join you. This single detail decides everything.
- Budget early. Between application fees, the health surcharge, and maintenance funds, the total cost for a family of three can run into several thousand pounds before you even land in the UK.
- Keep your bank statements clean and consistent for at least 28 days before applying. Sudden large deposits close to the 28-day cutoff can raise questions.
- The Home Office reviews rules and fees and can change them with little notice. Always confirm the latest figures on GOV.UK or with a qualified immigration adviser before you commit to a decision.
This guide reflects rules and fees as understood for 2026. Immigration law changes often, so treat this as a starting point for planning, not as a substitute for official guidance or professional immigration advice for your specific situation.
A note on this guide: This article is for general information only and is not immigration advice. It does not take into account your personal circumstances, and UK visa rules and fees can change without notice. For a decision on your specific case, always check the latest guidance on GOV.UK or speak to an OISC-registered immigration adviser or immigration solicitor.
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