If you currently hold a Skilled Worker Dependant visa, you can apply to extend it either together with or separately from the main Skilled Worker visa holder, as long as you continue to meet the dependant visa requirements. It is important to submit your extension application before your current visa expires.
Under the new immigration rules. from 11 March 2024, care workers and senior care workers (SOC codes 6135 and 6136) are no longer permitted to bring dependants when applying for a new Health and Care Visa. This restriction also applies to those who switch into these roles after that date.
However, if the main applicant was already on a Health and Care Worker visa in one of these roles before 11 March 2024 and had dependants in the UK at that time, their dependants can still apply to extend their visas, provided all relevant requirements are met.
Give our Skilled Worker Visa lawyers a call on 02037442797 if you have any questions regarding your Skilled Worker Dependant visa extension.
Skilled Worker Dependant visa extension requirements
To make a successful Skilled Worker Dependant visa extension application, you will need to meet the same eligibility requirements that you met when your dependant visa was granted by UKVI. This includes:
- You must still be an eligible dependant of the main Skilled Worker visa holder
- The main Skilled Worker visa holder is still in the UK on a valid visa (or is applying to extend at the same time).
Eligible dependant requirements
To qualify for a dependant visa, you must be a dependant partner or child of a Skilled Worker visa holder. A dependant partner includes a married, civil partner, or unmarried partner (as long as you have been living with your partner for 2 or more years) who is still in a genuine and subsisting relationship with the main visa holder.
A dependant child must be under 18, live with (unless they attend university or board school) and be financially supported by their parent/s, and not be married or in a civil partnership. In other words, they must not live an independent life.
If a child is born in the UK to Skilled Worker Visa parents, they will not qualify for British citizenship. Therefore, your child may require a Skilled Worker Dependant visa for a child born in the UK. However, if certain conditions are met, your child may be able to register for British citizenship. For more information, see our guide on British citizenship for child born in uk to non-british parents.
Skilled Worker Dependant visa extension documents
As part of Skilled Worker Dependant visa extension application process, the Home Office will ask you to provide a number of documents to prove your eligibility; these include:
- Your valid passport
- Proof of a genuine and subsisting relationship with the Skilled Worker visa holder, such as
- marriage or civil partnership certificate
- valid overseas registration document for a same-sex relationship
- evidence that you still live with your partner in the form of bank/building society statements, council tax, utility bills, residential mortgage statements, tenancy agreements, or other correspondence showing you both live at the same address
- Child’s birth certificate (for child dependant visa extension)
- Evidence of child dependency (if 16 years or over):
- bank or building society statement (showing funds provided by the parent to the child)
- official letter from the child’s current school, college, or university confirming their address
- Available funds to support yourself and your child(ren):
- £285 for your partner
- £315 for one child
- £200 for each additional child
Please note the list of documents above is by no means exhaustive. Please contact our immigration lawyers if you have any questions regarding you documents.
How to apply for a Skilled Worker dependant visa extension
To apply for a Skilled Worker dependant visa extension, you will need to complete the following steps:
- Complete and submit the dependant visa extension application form – you may be asked to include the main Skilled Worker visa holder’s Global Web Form (GWF) or Unique Application Number (UAN). The form you need to complete depends on whether you are applying as a child1 or as a partner2.
- Pay the Dependant visa extension fees
- Pay the healthcare surcharge
- Book and attend an appointment at your nearest UKVCAS service to provide your biometrics (fingerprint scan and photo) if needed.
- Submit or upload dependant visa extension documents requested by UKVI.
In most cases, you can expect to receive a decision on your Skilled Worker dependant visa extension within 8 weeks. If you require a faster decision, you may be able to use the super priority service for a fee of £1,000 for a decision within 1 working day. Alternatively, the priority service can provide a decision within 5 working days for a fee of £500.
Can you extend your dependant visa if the main applicant has ILR?
Yes, the Home Office guidance confirms that if a main Skilled Worker visa holder has obtained ILR, their dependants can still apply for a dependant visa extension to stay in the UK. To extend your dependant visa, if the main applicant has ILR, you must have held permission to stay in the UK as their dependant before they settled in the UK.
References
1 GOV.UK: Application as a child
2 GOV.UK: Application as a partner
