
As a general rule, the Home Office will consider a dependant to be a spouse or civil partner, an unmarried partner (provided they have been living with the main applicant for at least 2 years), or a child under the age of 18.
As part of the application, specified documentation would need to be submitted with the application to evidence the relationship to the main applicant.
Dependants can join main applicants in a wide variety of immigration routes, such as Skilled Worker, Expansion Worker, Global Talent, UK Ancestry, or Innovator Founder, amongst others, provided the requirements are met.
It is important to note a recent update in UK Immigration. Currently, those coming to the UK on a Student visa to study a postgraduate course are permitted to have their dependants join them in the UK. However, the Home Office have recently announced that, from January 2024 onwards, UK Student visa holders will no longer be permitted to bring their family members to the UK, unless they are studying postgraduate courses with a research focus.
Another visa to consider is the Adult Dependant Relative. This route is for individuals over the age of 18, who will be sponsored by a relative in the UK (who must meet certain requirements). The threshold for this route is quite high and the applicant would need to show that they require long-term personal care to perform everyday tasks due to age, illness or disability, and that care must be either not available or not affordable in the country where the applicant is living.
How Gherson can assist
Gherson’s Immigration Team are highly experienced in advising on UK visa matters. If you have any questions arising from this blog, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or, alternatively, follow us on X, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.
The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.
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