Who Can Apply for a UK Dependant Visa?

 

To qualify for a Dependant Visa, you must be a dependant family member of a qualifying migrant.  The Immigration Rules define a ‘dependant’ as being a:

• Husband, wife or civil partner;

• Child aged under 18 years at the time of application.

It is highly unlikely that any other family members would be successful in claiming dependant status for the purposes of a Dependant Visa.

To obtain a Dependant Visa as a spouse or partner, you must be the spouse or partner of someone who is either:

• In the UK on a relevant visa, or

• Applying for a visa at the same time as you are making your application for a Dependant Visa

Children may apply for a Dependant Visa if:

• Both parents are applying for entry-clearance at the same time, or;

• Both parents are already in the UK and the child is applying to join them, or;

• One parent is already in the UK and the other parent is applying for entry-clearance to join them along with the child.

Children can only apply for a Dependant visa of a sole parent if:-

• The parent is the only surviving parent; or

• The parent has sole responsibility for the child’s upbringing; or

• There are serious or compelling reasons for why the child can exceptionally apply as the dependant of only one of his/her parents.

An essential requirement of the Dependant Visa is that the family have enough money to support themselves without having to rely on public funds.  For example, if the main applicant is applying for a Skilled Worker Visa, they will need to show that they have £ in savings for the dependent partner plus an extra £ in savings for the first dependent child and £ for each additional dependent child.  However, if a Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence holder with an A-rating can certify that these funds will be made available, the applicant may not have to provide proof funds availability.

What is the processing time for the Dependant visa?

From outside the UK, a Dependant visa could take 12 weeks to be processed, from the date of your visa appointment.

For an additional fee the application can be submitted using the priority service, which would normally expedite the decision to within 5 working days.

From inside the UK, the current service standard is 8 weeks, from the appointment date.

There are priority and super priority services available for an additional cost. The priority service expedites the decision to 5 working days and the super priority expedites the decision to 24 hours.