Bringing Your Family to the UK
Your partner and children may be able to join you on a Health and Care Worker Visa, but family eligibility depends on your occupation and immigration history. Nurses and many other healthcare professionals can sponsor eligible dependants. Care workers, senior care workers and other medium skilled occupations face restrictions.
Before preparing applications, check your occupation code, previous permission, family relationships and each person’s location. Holding this visa does not automatically mean every family member qualifies.
This guide explains dependant requirements, documents, costs and future settlement. For advice on the wider route, see our Skilled Worker Visa service.
What is the Health and Care Worker Visa?
The Health and Care Worker Visa is part of the Skilled Worker route. It covers eligible jobs with the NHS, an NHS supplier or an organisation providing adult social care.
Applicants need a qualifying job offer from a licensed sponsor, a valid Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), appropriate salary and the relevant English language evidence. Other eligibility and suitability requirements apply.
Qualifying applicants benefit from lower fees and exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). Eligible dependants also receive that exemption. Working in a healthcare business does not, by itself, establish entitlement to these arrangements.
New overseas applications for care workers and senior care workers are closed. Certain in-country applications remain possible under specific provisions. Check the worker’s position separately from the family’s eligibility.
Bringing your family to the UK: who can apply?
Dependants include your spouse, civil partner or qualifying unmarried partner, and eligible children under 18. Children over 18 may qualify where they previously held permission as dependent children and meet the continuing requirements.
Parents, siblings and other relatives cannot use this dependant route simply because you support them financially.
Family members can apply at the same time as you or later. Each needs their own application planning, supporting evidence and visa fee. Your approval does not grant them permission.
Can care workers and senior care workers bring dependants?
Usually, new dependants are restricted where the worker is sponsored under occupation code 6135, care workers and home carers, or 6136, senior care workers.
Transitional protection can apply where the worker was granted permission under the rules in force before 11 March 2024 in the corresponding care occupations and has continuously held qualifying sponsored permission since that grant.
The Home Office guidance explains that the original application must have been made before that date. A qualifying worker may bring family later; the dependants did not necessarily need to apply before the cutoff themselves.
Specific child exceptions can apply, including a child born in the UK. For permission to stay, provisions also cover a sole surviving parent, sole responsibility, or joint responsibility with another worker sponsored in a relevant restricted occupation. These exceptions do not create equivalent permission for a partner.
Check the decision letters and sponsorship history. A job title, CoS date or employer’s assurance alone cannot resolve transitional eligibility.
What about other medium skilled healthcare jobs?
Other medium skilled occupations also face dependant restrictions. Transitional protection generally requires a qualifying grant under the rules in force before 22 July 2025 and continuous qualifying sponsored permission afterwards.
Specific child exceptions remain relevant. Being eligible for sponsorship under a shortage list does not automatically allow a worker to bring dependants.
Distinguish the occupation code from the workplace. A registered nurse, senior carer and residential care manager can have different immigration positions, despite working in the same setting.
Eligibility for dependant partners
Both partners must be at least 18. The relationship must be genuine and subsisting, and you must have met in person. Relevant previous relationships must have permanently ended.
Provide a marriage certificate or civil partnership certificate where applicable. Unmarried partners need a relationship similar to marriage or civil partnership lasting at least two years before applying.
There is no universal requirement for unmarried partners to have lived together for those two years. If work, study or cultural circumstances kept you apart, explain why and provide evidence of continuing commitment.
Shared addresses, financial support, visits and communication can help explain the relationship. A certificate proves an event; the wider evidence should show the relationship continues.
Eligibility for dependant children
For a first application, children normally need to be under 18. Older children must meet the rules for continuing dependent children and must not lead an independent life.
Check both parents’ immigration positions. Normally, both must be applying or have qualifying UK permission, subject to exceptions involving a British or unrestricted parent, sole responsibility, a sole surviving parent, or serious and compelling reasons.
A birth certificate establishes parentage but does not settle every requirement. Explain care and accommodation arrangements, particularly where one parent remains overseas.
Children born in the UK are not automatically British. Check nationality and permission before travelling, using the full UK birth certificate where required.
Health and Care Worker salary requirements in 2026
The worker must meet the salary rules for the occupation and applicable salary option. There is no single minimum salary covering every healthcare role.
For many eligible healthcare jobs, pay is assessed against national pay scales, including NHS Agenda for Change, usually with a £25,000 floor. Other occupations have different arrangements.
A registered nurse, physiotherapist, paramedic, senior carer or medical technician should therefore check their own occupation rather than rely on an old salary table. Hours and the applicable going rate can also matter.
Dependants do not need their own sponsored job or salary meeting the worker’s threshold. Their maintenance requirement is a separate check.
Financial requirement for dependants
Where savings evidence is required, the maintenance amounts are:
| Family member | Required funds |
|---|---|
| Partner | £285 |
| First child | £315 |
| Each additional child | £200 |
These funds are additional to any amount required for the worker and other dependants. A partner and two children require £800, plus the worker’s £1,270 if that requirement also applies.
The money normally needs to be held for 28 consecutive days. The financial evidence must be dated within 31 days before applying and cover the required period. Check account ownership, access to funds and currency conversion.
An A-rated sponsor can certify maintenance for qualifying family members. Ensure the certification covers the dependants as well as the worker.
For an in-country application, a dependant who has lived in the UK with permission for at least 12 months meets the financial requirement without showing funds. Your residence alone does not exempt a family member applying from overseas.
Documents for your family’s application
Prepare evidence around the requirements, including:
- Passports and current immigration permission for each applicant.
- Your CoS, occupation code and relevant decision letters.
- Marriage or birth certificates and continuing relationship evidence.
- Bank statements or confirmation of sponsor-certified maintenance where needed.
- Evidence of children’s dependency, address and care arrangements.
- Required translations for documents not in English or Welsh.
Tuberculosis screening may be required for overseas applicants. Partners applying overseas may also need criminal record certificates where the worker’s occupation triggers that requirement.
Compare names, dates and addresses across documents and forms. Explain missing records or inconsistencies. This is a preparation guide; the evidence needed depends on the application.
How to apply for dependants
Step 1: Check eligibility and application location
Confirm occupation restrictions, relationships and maintenance before paying. Visitors and certain other categories cannot switch to dependant permission inside the UK. Students face course-completion or qualifying doctoral-study conditions.
Step 2: Complete the online form
Use the partner or child application through the Home Office dependant guidance. Use your application number or family linking code where requested. Applying alongside the worker is permitted.
Step 3: Pay the visa fee and submit documents
Check the Health and Care eligibility details so the correct fee and surcharge treatment apply. Upload readable, complete evidence following portal instructions.
Step 4: Complete identity checks
Applicants may use the UK Immigration: ID Check app or attend a biometrics appointment at a UKVCAS service point or Visa Application Centre. Follow the instructions given; an appointment is not compulsory for everyone.
Step 5: Wait for a decision
Published usual processing times are three weeks outside the UK and eight weeks inside, after the required application, identity and document steps. Checks can cause delays. Faster services depend on availability and do not guarantee approval.
Avoid overseas travel while an in-country application is pending. Leaving the Common Travel Area can withdraw the application; obtain advice before making travel plans.
Costs in 2026
Eligible Health and Care Worker dependants currently pay:
| Permission period | Visa application fee per applicant |
|---|---|
| Up to three years | £324 |
| More than three years | £628 |
The fee is the same for applications inside and outside the UK. Eligible dependants are exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge. Confirm the current government fees before payment.
There is no separate Home Office biometric enrolment fee. Optional appointments, priority services, translations, tests and professional advice can cost extra. Maintenance savings are separate from fees.
See our immigration fees for service information. Agree any professional fee and included work before instructing us.
Dependants’ rights in the UK
Eligible dependants can work, including self-employment, except as professional sportspersons or sports coaches. Study is permitted, subject to any applicable ATAS requirement.
They normally have no access to public funds. Travel and return depend on holding valid permission and the correct travel documents.
The IHS exemption supports access to NHS healthcare, but does not make every treatment free. Charges can still apply for prescriptions, dental treatment and other services. Check the decision and eVisa conditions after approval.
Extending or switching dependant permission
Your family’s visas usually end with yours. A child’s expiry may follow the earlier expiry of parents’ permission.
Extending your own visa does not automatically extend theirs. Record each expiry date and submit the necessary valid applications before permission ends.
Before changing employer, occupation or route, check the family’s future eligibility. Existing dependant permission can remain valid, while a later extension may be restricted under the new sponsorship circumstances.
If you obtain ILR through the Skilled Worker route first, eligible dependants can continue extending dependant permission. Switching immediately to a spouse or family visa is not automatically necessary or advisable.
Can dependants apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain?
Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) means settlement. A dependant partner needs five continuous years with permission as your dependant, alongside the relationship, residence and other settlement requirements. Their eligibility date may differ from yours.
Children do not have the same universal five-year residence requirement. Their dependency, parental settlement and other conditions require separate assessment.
English and Life in the UK requirements apply to settlement applicants where required, with exemptions. Current rules specify B1 speaking and listening before 26 March 2027 and B2 from that date, unless exempt. Dependants do not need an English test for initial or extension permission under this route.
Keep permission decisions and absence records. Future applications must meet rules applicable when you apply.
Healthcare worker dependants FAQs
Must I receive approval before my family applies?
No. Eligible dependants can apply alongside you, or later. Their applications still depend on the required worker and family conditions being met.
Can my family work without sponsorship?
Generally yes, subject to their dependant conditions, including the professional sport restriction. They do not usually need their own CoS.
What mistakes should we avoid?
Common mistakes include overlooking occupation restrictions, assuming maintenance exemptions, using outdated relationship evidence, missing documents and choosing the wrong visa category. Do not assume all family members qualify together for ILR.
How AHJ Immigration can help
Start by telling us your occupation code, immigration history, family details, locations and expiry dates. You can enquire before your document pack is complete.
A Case Assessment helps identify the questions needing attention. Under an agreed service, we can review eligibility, explain evidence gaps and prepare applications. Confirm scope, fees and responsibilities before paid work begins. The Home Office decides applications.
Book a consultation to discuss bringing your family to the UK, or request a call back.
Call 0121 828 2224 or email hello@ahjimmigration.co.uk.
