Switching from Student Visa to Dependent Visa

Last updated: 4 July 2024

If you are currently living in the UK on a Student visa, you can switch to a Dependant visa (e.g. as a partner or child of Skilled Worker visa holder) as long as you have completed your course of study before you apply, or if you have studied at PhD level for the required amount of time.

The UK dependent visa allows immediate family members (i.e. partner and children) to live with main visa holders in the UK, such as holders of the Skilled Worker visa and Innovator Founder visa. If your spouse, partner or parent has Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or British Citizenship, it is recommended that you consider applying for a spouse visa instead of a Dependant visa.

Requirements to switch from Student visa to Dependent visa

To switch from a Student visa to a Dependant visa, applicants must:

• Meet the study requirement
• Meet the relationship requirements
• Meet the financial requirements

Meet the study requirement

To switch to a Dependant visa, applicants who are currently in the UK on a valid UK long-term Student visa must have either completed course they were sponsored to study or studied for a PhD for at least 24 months.

Meet the relationship requirements

Those applying to switch from a Student visa to a Dependant visa as a partner of the main visa holder must:

• Be in a civil partnership or marriage that is legally recognised in the UK, or
• Have been living together in a relationship for at least two years when they apply, or
• Have been in a relationship for at least two years when they apply but unable to live together for a valid reason (e.g. working or studying in different places, or if living together is not accepted for cultural or religious reasons). In this case, sufficient evidence of a genuine relationship will be needed as proof that you:
  • Regularly communicate with each other
  • Support each other financially
  • Care for any children you have together
  • Spend time together as a couple, e.g. on holiday or at events

Those applying to switch from a Student visa to a Dependant visa as a child of the main visa holder must:

• Live with the main visa holder (unless they live away from home in full-time education at boarding school or university)
• Not be married or in a civil partnership

Meet the financial requirements

As part of the application process of switching from a Student visa to a Dependant visa, it may be necessary to prove that there is enough money to support the applicants while they are living in the UK, as follows:

• £285 for a partner
• £315 for one child
• £200 for each additional child

Note: if the person switching from a Student visa to a Dependant visa has already been living in the UK on a valid visa for at least 12 months, they will not need to meet this requirement.

How to change Student visa to Dependent visa in UK

To switch from a Student visa to a Dependant visa in the UK, the following steps are required:

1. Complete the course of study in the UK for which you are currently sponsored.
2. Complete and submit the Dependant visa online application form. There is one form to apply a partner¹ and another to apply as a child². It is important to include the Global Web Form (GWF) or Unique Application Number (UAN) of the main visa holder.
3. Pay the required application fee.
4. Provide any documents to support your application.
5. Prove your identity. You can do this by having your fingerprints and photograph taken at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) service point or use the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ mobile phone app.

In most cases you can expect to receive a decision on your Student to Dependant visa switch application within 8 weeks of your application.

Indefinite Leave to Remain for Dependent visa holders

Once you are on a Dependant visa, you will qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) which will allow you settle permanently in the UK after five continuous years of lawful residence here. It is important to note, that the Student visa is not an eligible visa type to combine visas for settlement. This means that any time you have already spent in the UK on a student visa can not be combined with the time spent on a Dependant visa to apply for the 5 year settlement route.

However, you may be able to do so if you’re applying for the 10 year settlement route or UK private life visa.

References

¹ GOV.UK: Apply for a dependant visa as a partner

² GOV.UK: Apply for a dependant visa as a child