Family

Only in the following circumstances is a student’s family eligible for a Dependant visa:  

• Your course is a full-time postgraduate level research degree which is at least 9 months long. You can check whether individual postgraduate degrees at Cambridge are defined as 'Taught' or 'Research' on the Postgraduate Study website.  

OR 

• You are a government sponsored student on a full-time course that is 6 months or longer. This means you are receiving a funding award for your studies from the UK government or an overseas government. This is defined in policy guidance as a scholarship from a national government department.   

OR 

• You have already been studying in the UK and all the following specific requirements are met:
  • You hold current Student immigration permission to study on a full-time course of 6 months or longer, or this permission expired no more than 3 months before the new visa application.
  • Your new course is full time and is 6 months or longer.
  • Your family members are applying for their visas at the same time as you.
  • Your family member: 
    • already has, or had within the last 3 months before the date of application, permission as a dependant partner or dependant child of a student OR
    • the child was born since the last grant of permission to the student.

A dependant is: 

• a husband, wife or civil partner 
• an unmarried partner if you have been in a relationship similar to marriage or a civil partnership for at least 2 years - this would normally be evidenced by having lived together for the 2 year period prior to making the visa application 
• a child under 18 years old 

If your husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner is applying as your dependant, the relationship must be genuine and subsisting at the time of application and you must intend to live together throughout your stay in the UK. 

For children to be eligible for a Dependant visa, it is a requirement that both parents need to be in the UK or coming to the UK. There are few exceptions to this requirement. 

Families who cannot meet this requirement will need to evidence the 'serious and compelling' reasons why the child should be with you in the UK, or that you have 'sole responsibility' for the child, and that you have made suitable arrangements for the child's care. It is recommended that you contact the International Student Office if this is relevant to your circumstances. 

If you are extending your Student visa and have children over the age of 18, they may be able to apply for further permission to stay as a dependant. Please contact the International Student Office for further advice. 

Dependants can apply either at the same time the student is applying for their visa, or after the Student visa has been granted. 

Similar to a Student visa, dependants should apply in their country of nationality or country of residence (where you have permission to live). 

The application is made online. A separate application needs to be completed for each dependant. 

As part of the online application, the applicant will book to attend a Visa Application Centre to enrol biometrics (have your fingerprints and facial image taken). 

EEA and Swiss passport holders will be able to confirm their identity using the 'UK Immigration: ID Check app' instead, in the same way that EEA and Swiss nationals can when applying for a Student visa.  

Fees are charged for each dependant and are the same as Student visa application fees.

As part of the visa application, dependants must have sufficient funds to cover living costs in the UK. 

• This is £680 for each month the visa will be valid, up to a maximum of 9 months. This is a total of £6,120 per dependant if the visa will be granted for 9 months or more (9 x £680). 

A bank statement or bank letter can be used to fulfil this requirement and the funds can be held in the student's name or the spouse/partner's name. 

The financial documentation must show that the required level of funds have been held for a minimum consecutive 28 day period (finishing on the date of the closing balance), ending no more than 31 days before the date of application. 

If the student has official financial sponsorship which covers the living costs of any dependants, a letter from the sponsor confirming this can be submitted to fulfil the financial requirements. 

The letter would need to confirm the amount they are providing to cover the living costs for any dependants. 

If it does not cover the full amount required, additional financial documentation would need to be provided. 

Differentiation arrangements

Certain nationalities do not need to provide financial evidence at the point of application if:

• the student and dependant are both nationals of one of the countries applying for entry clearance from their country of residence; and 
• both are applying for their visas at the same time. This is taken to mean you make the payment for all applications on the same day.  

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) advises that you should still make sure you have enough funds and they reserve the right to ask you to show evidence of this. 

The following documents also need to be provided in support of a dependant application: 

• passport. 
• TB test certificate if applicable - check on the gov.uk website.

• evidence of relationship to main applicant:

  - If you are married or in a civil partnership, you should provide the marriage certificate or civil partnership certificate. The application may also require you to provide evidence the relationship is 'genuine and subsisting'. This can be demonstrated by providing official documents as evidence you are living together. Where you have not been living together, contact the International Student Office for further guidance. 

  - If you are not married, you will need to provide evidence that you have been in a relationship similar to marriage for at least two years. This would normally be demonstrated by providing evidence you have been living together for the minimum 2 year period. Documents you may use to evidence this could include bank statements, utility bills, tenancy agreements, or official correspondence or documents that link the student and the partner and show they have been living at the same address. 

  - For dependant children, a birth certificate, or equivalent official government-issued documentation, should be used to demonstrate the relationship. For children over 16 years old when they apply, documentation confirming their residential address from two separate sources will need to be provided to prove they are not leading an independent life. Contact the International Student Office for further guidance on children over 16 years old. 

Any documents not in English must be accompanied by official certified translations. 

It is not possible to apply for a Dependant visa from inside the UK as a Visitor.  

Dependants can apply either at the same time the student is extending, or switching their visa, or any time before their current visa expires.  

Fees are charged for each dependant and are the same as the Student visa application fees.

If a dependant has been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months on the date of their permission to stay application, evidence of funding does not need to be provided to support the new Dependant visa application in the UK. 

UKVI advises that the requirement is to have arrived in the UK and held their current visa for at least 12 months at the point of application, rather than the dependant being based in the UK for the full period. 

However, if the dependant has not been in the UK for a significant part of the previous 12 months, and UKVI gives an example of at least 3 months, they may be asked to provide evidence of meeting the financial requirements during the application process. 

These requirements are the same as applying from outside the UK as outlined in the section above.  

The following documents also need to be provided in support of a Dependant application: 

• Passport 

• Evidence of relationship to main applicant if the dependant partner or child has not previously been granted permission as a dependant of the student: 

  - If you are married or in a civil partnership, you would provide the marriage certificate or civil partnership certificate. If your last visa was not as a dependant, you will need to demonstrate your relationship is 'genuine and subsisting'. This can be demonstrated by providing official documents as evidence you are living together. Where you have not been living together, contact the International Student Office for further guidance.  

  - If you are not married, you will need to provide evidence that you have been in a relationship similar to marriage for at least two years. This would normally be demonstrated by providing evidence you have been living together for the minimum 2 year period. Documents you may use to evidence this could include bank statements, utility bills, tenancy agreements, or official correspondence or documents that link the student and the partner and show they have been living at the same address. 

  - For dependant children, a birth certificate, or equivalent official government-issued documentation, should be used to demonstrate the relationship. For children over 16 years old when they apply, documentation confirming their residential address from two separate sources will need to be provided to prove they are not leading an independent life. Contact the International Student Office for further guidance on children over 16 years old. 

Any documents not in English must be accompanied by official certified translations.