Guides
Bringing Your Partner and Children on a Skilled Worker Visa
Who counts as a dependant, the money you must show for each family member, the two dates that block dependants for some jobs, and what your family can and cannot do once they are here.
Most Skilled Worker visa holders can bring a partner and children with them. Some cannot, and the difference usually comes down to the occupation code on the Certificate of Sponsorship and the date the sponsorship started, not the salary or the employer.
This guide covers who qualifies, what money has to be shown, the two dates that decide the restricted cases, and what family members are allowed to do once their visas are granted.
Who counts as a dependant
GOV.UK defines a dependant partner or child as:
- your husband, wife or civil partner;
- your unmarried partner, where you have been living together in a relationship for at least two years;
- your child under 18, including a child born in the UK; and
- your child over 18 who already has permission to be in the UK as your dependant.
The two-year cohabitation test for unmarried partners is evidential, not a formality. Joint tenancy agreements, joint bills, joint bank statements and correspondence addressed to both of you at the same address across the period are the sort of evidence that carries weight. A relationship that is genuine but poorly documented is a common refusal reason.
A child turning 18 while in the UK as a dependant does not lose their status automatically, but a child who is already over 18 and has never held dependant permission cannot normally be added.
The two dates that block dependants for some jobs
This is the part that catches people out, and it has nothing to do with how much you earn.
Care workers: 11 March 2024
GOV.UK sets out different eligibility for dependants of workers in the Care Worker and Senior Care Worker occupation codes, tied to whether the person has been sponsored in that role since before 11 March 2024. Someone who entered those codes after that date is in a different position from someone who was already in them.
Medium-skilled roles: 22 July 2025
For jobs classified as medium skilled, GOV.UK restricts dependants unless the worker has been continuously employed on the route since before 22 July 2025. That date matches the wider skill-level change to the Skilled Worker route, when the general skill threshold moved up and a large number of occupations became eligible only through the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List.
The practical effect is that two people on identical salaries, at the same employer, can have different family rights, purely because of when their sponsorship in that occupation began.
If your role sits in either category, read the exact GOV.UK wording against your own CoS history before making plans, and take regulated advice before anyone gives up a job or a tenancy abroad. Do not rely on what a colleague was able to do in a previous year.
Money your family must show
There are two separate financial tests, and they stack.
Your own maintenance. You must show at least £1,270 available to you, held for 28 consecutive days, with day 28 falling within 31 days of your application.
Extra for each family member. On top of that:
| Family member | Amount |
|---|---|
| Partner | £285 |
| First child | £315 |
| Each additional child | £200 |
So a partner and two children adds £285 + £315 + £200, which is £800, to your own £1,270, for a total of £2,070 to be evidenced.
The same 28-day rule applies to the family funds: the money must sit in the account for at least 28 days in a row, and day 28 must fall within 31 days of the application date. A balance that dips below the required figure on a single day inside that window restarts the clock.
When you do not need to show it
GOV.UK sets out two situations where the maintenance evidence is not required:
- the family has already been in the UK with valid visas for 12 months or more; or
- your employer, as an A-rated sponsor, certifies on the Certificate of Sponsorship that it will cover your first month of costs.
The second one is worth asking your employer about directly. Many sponsors will certify maintenance as a matter of routine and simply do not mention it.
What each family member costs
Each dependant pays their own application fee and their own healthcare surcharge. Fees are per person, not per family.
Using the current published figures, for an application made from outside the UK:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Application fee, up to 3 years | £819 per person |
| Application fee, more than 3 years | £1,618 per person |
| Healthcare surcharge, adult | £1,035 per year |
| Healthcare surcharge, under 18 | £776 per year |
A partner and one child joining a three-year application therefore costs roughly £3,924 for the partner (£819 plus three years of surcharge at £1,035) and roughly £3,147 for the child (£819 plus three years at £776), before any of your own costs.
Applicants on the Health and Care Worker visa are in a very different position: GOV.UK states that you, your partner and your children do not pay the healthcare surcharge on that route, and the application fee is £324 for up to three years or £628 for more than three years per person.
We have set out the full arithmetic, including the employer side, in a separate guide:
What a Skilled Worker visa actually costs
What your family can do once they are here
GOV.UK confirms that dependants:
- can work, in almost any job, with the exception of working as a professional sportsperson or sports coach;
- can study;
- can travel abroad and return to the UK; and
- cannot claim most benefits (public funds) or the State Pension.
The right to work is broad and is often underestimated. A dependant partner is not restricted to sponsored roles, does not need their own Certificate of Sponsorship, and does not need to meet a salary threshold. For many households this is the single largest factor in whether the move is financially viable.
Dependant permission normally ends on the same date as yours. It is tied to your permission, which has a consequence people rarely think about until it happens: if your sponsorship ends badly, it affects your family's status too.
What happens to dependants if your sponsorship ends
If your sponsor's licence is revoked and your permission is curtailed, your dependants' permission is linked to yours rather than standing independently. Their deadline is not a separate, later problem to deal with once yours is solved.
Read the individual Home Office notices for each family member rather than assuming everyone has the same date, and factor the dependants into any new application from the start.
Sponsor licence revoked: what to do in your 60 days
A practical order of work
- Confirm your occupation code and the date your sponsorship in it began, then check that against the 11 March 2024 and 22 July 2025 provisions.
- Confirm each family member meets the definition of a dependant, and gather relationship evidence early if you are unmarried.
- Calculate the total maintenance figure, or ask your employer whether it will certify maintenance on the CoS.
- Start the 28-day clock on the funds well before you intend to apply.
- Budget the per-person fees and surcharge for the full visa length, not the first year.
Sources and verification
This guide was checked on 25 August 2026 against:
- GOV.UK: Skilled Worker visa, your partner and children;
- GOV.UK: Skilled Worker visa, how much it costs;
- GOV.UK: how much the healthcare surcharge costs;
- GOV.UK: Health and Care Worker visa, how much it costs; and
- Immigration Rules, Appendix Skilled Worker.
This is general information, not legal advice. Dependant eligibility for care and medium-skilled roles depends on precise dates and continuous permission, and the rules have changed more than once. Confirm your own position on GOV.UK and take regulated advice before your family makes irreversible arrangements.