Bringing Your Family to the UK on a Skilled Worker Visa

If you're moving to the UK on a Skilled Worker visa, your partner and children can usually come with you as your dependants. But "usually" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. The rules tightened in March 2024 and again in July 2025, and whether the door is open depends on your occupation code, when you started your current visa, and whether your family is applying with you or joining later.

This guide walks through what dependants can do, what it actually costs to bring a family of four versus a family of two, when you can and cannot include care workers or medium-skilled roles, and the three common mistakes that turn a straightforward family application into a mess. Every figure is verified against gov.uk as of publication.

Who Counts as a Dependant

gov.uk defines a dependant partner or child on a Skilled Worker visa as one of the following:

• Your husband, wife, civil partner, or unmarried partner
• Your child under 18, including a child born in the UK during your stay
• Your child over 18, if they already hold permission ("leave to enter" or "leave to remain") to be in the UK as your dependant

A partner needs to prove one of three things: a civil partnership or marriage recognised in the UK, at least two years of living together in a relationship, or at least two years of relationship where you can't live together (for example, working in different countries). If you can't live together, you'll need documented evidence of ongoing commitment: regular communication, shared finances, shared childcare, time spent together as a couple.

A child needs to live with you (unless they're at boarding school or university), can't be married or in a civil partnership, and needs address evidence like a bank statement, credit card bill, or NHS registration document.

The Care Worker Restriction (March 2024)

This is the first place people get caught. From 11 March 2024, care workers and senior care workers on the Skilled Worker route can no longer bring new dependants to the UK. If you're in these roles, your partner or children can only join or stay if at least one of the following applies:

• You have been continually employed as a care worker or senior care worker in the UK, on a Skilled Worker visa, since before 11 March 2024
• Your child was born in the UK
• Your child's other parent is also sponsored as a care worker or senior care worker
• You're the only living parent responsible for the child (in-country applications only)

If none of those apply and your role is care work, the dependant route is closed. A care sector job offer with a family that needs to come with you is one of the toughest cases in the current rules. The Health and Care Worker visa (for NHS and non-care healthcare roles) is not affected by this restriction; that's the exemption to know.

The "Medium Skilled" Restriction (July 2025)

A second wall went up on 22 July 2025 for jobs on the government's "medium skilled" occupation list. If your Skilled Worker role is on that list rather than the standard skilled list, your partner or children can only join or stay if:

• You've been continually employed in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa and in a medium-skilled job since before 22 July 2025
• Your child was born in the UK
• Your child's other parent is also sponsored for a job on the medium-skilled list
• You're the only living parent responsible for the child (in-country only)
• You're extending or switching to this visa as a prison officer (occupation code 3314)

If you're not sure whether your role is "medium skilled" or standard skilled, check the current eligible occupations list against your Certificate of Sponsorship occupation code before you plan any dependant application. This is the second most common trip-up we see; the first is people assuming the pre-2024 rules still apply.

What It Actually Costs to Bring Family

Each family member pays their own visa fee plus their own Immigration Health Surcharge. The fees match the main applicant's amount and route.

Skilled Worker dependant visa fees (2026, per person):

• Applying from outside the UK for up to 3 years: £819
• Applying from outside the UK for more than 3 years: £1,618
• Applying from inside the UK for up to 3 years: £943
• Applying from inside the UK for more than 3 years: £1,865
• Immigration Salary List discount: £628 up to 3 years, £1,235 beyond

Immigration Health Surcharge (per year of visa length):

• Adults 18+: £1,035/year
• Children under 18 at time of application: £776/year

If your route is Health and Care Worker rather than standard Skilled Worker, both you and your dependants are exempt from the IHS. That alone is worth thousands over a five-year visa for a family of four.

The Savings Requirement (and How to Get Out of It)

On top of the fees, you have to prove you or your family can support yourselves in the UK for the first month. The amount depends on how many people are applying:

• £1,270 for you (the main Skilled Worker applicant)
• £285 for your partner
• £315 for your first child
• £200 for each additional child

This money must have been in your (or your partner's, or your child's) bank account for at least 28 consecutive days, and day 28 must fall within 31 days of the application. gov.uk is strict about the 28-day window; a single day where the balance dips below the required amount resets the clock.

Two ways to skip the savings requirement:

• You've all been in the UK on a valid visa for at least 12 months (so you're extending or switching, not entering fresh)
• Your sponsoring employer certifies on your Certificate of Sponsorship that they'll cover your family's first-month costs

If your offer letter mentions relocation support, ask your employer directly whether they'll issue the CoS with maintenance certification. It saves you having the money sat idle in an account for a month, and it's one less document to gather for the application.

Apply Together or Apply Later?

You have two options: bring your family with you on day one, or move first and bring them out once you're settled. Both are common. The financial and administrative trade-offs are different.

Applying together (same time, from outside the UK).

• Single "family linking code" connects your applications
• Decisions usually arrive within 3 weeks for all family members
• One coordinated move — schools, housing, biometrics all planned around the same start date
• You need the full savings amount upfront and IHS for all family members at the same time

You go first, family follows.

• Smaller cash outlay to start; you can pay their fees and IHS from your UK salary
• If you've been in the UK for at least a year and hold a valid visa, your family can skip the savings-requirement proof when they join
• Family members applying from outside the UK still get decisions in ~3 weeks
• Family members applying from inside the UK typically get a decision in ~8 weeks (longer than the initial 3-week outside route)
• Your child's dependant visa always ends on the earliest expiry date across their parents' visas — plan around that if you're on different route lengths

For most people the decision comes down to whether your employer's relocation package covers upfront family fees. If yes, apply together. If no, going first and paying for family in staged batches from a UK salary is usually easier to cash-flow.

What Your Family Can and Cannot Do

Once dependants have their visa, they can:

• Work (except as a sportsperson or professional coach)
• Study
• Travel in and out of the UK freely
• Apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after 5 years of continuous UK residence, if they meet the other requirements

They cannot:

• Claim most public benefits
• Claim the State Pension

A partner's ability to work is one of the strongest arguments for the dependant route over other family visa types. It means a spouse can carry the household while you settle in a new role, or dual-earn from month one. In cost-of-living terms in London, Manchester, or Edinburgh, dual income makes a much bigger difference to net position than the visa fees ever will.

Three Mistakes That Break Applications

1. Assuming the old dependant rules still apply. The March 2024 care-worker restriction and the July 2025 medium-skilled restriction are the two big changes. If your offer sits in either category, verify with your employer's HR or immigration solicitor before the CoS is issued whether your family can come at all. A CoS issued for a role that bars dependants is not something you can undo cheaply.
2. Missing the 28-day savings window. The most common technical rejection. If the account balance drops below the required amount for even one day inside the 28-day period, you have to wait and re-count from a new day one. Move the money into a savings account that pays interest but doesn't have direct-debit outflows, and don't touch it until you've filed.
3. Applying separately when applying together would have been simpler. If your family will follow within a few months anyway, applying together saves one round of biometrics appointments, one set of document uploads, and lets you use the family linking code. Splitting the applications only makes sense if the cash-flow argument is decisive, or if a family member's documents (a passport renewal, a birth certificate correction) aren't ready in time.

Before You Apply: Confirm the Employer Actually Sponsors

None of the family rules matter if the job offer itself won't turn into a sponsored visa. Verify the employer's sponsor licence status before you accept an offer or plan a relocation. Sponsored Jobs UK's directory lists every UK-licensed sponsor from the Home Office register, updated daily, so you can filter for employers that are actively hiring rather than sitting on a dormant licence. If your role permits dependants under the current rules, and the employer holds a valid licence and posts sponsored vacancies, the mechanics of bringing family follow the process above.

If you already have a Skilled Worker visa and are considering a job change, the switch employer guide covers what happens to your (and your family's) status when you move sponsor.