Can you bring your family on a Skilled Worker or Health and Care visa in 2026?

Whether your partner and children can join you depends on your job's occupation code. If your job is listed as "higher skilled", they can usually come as your dependants. If you are a care worker or senior care worker, they can only join you if you have been continuously employed in that role on a sponsored visa since before 11 March 2024, apart from narrow exceptions for children. For other "medium skilled" jobs, including new jobs on the Temporary Shortage List, the cut-off date is 22 July 2025. This is from gov.uk, checked on 23 October 2026.

This is general information, not immigration advice. Family applications turn on detail, so check your own dates against gov.uk or use a regulated adviser from the Immigration Advice Authority register.

Who counts as a dependant?

Gov.uk's partner and children page lists:

• your husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner
• your child under 18, including a child born in the UK during your stay
• your child over 18, but only if they already have permission to be in the UK as your dependant

A partner must show you are married or in a civil partnership recognised in the UK, or that you have lived together in a relationship for at least two years, or have been in a relationship for at least two years and cannot live together for reasons such as work, study or culture. Children must live with you (unless they are away in full-time education) and must not be married or in a civil partnership. Parents and other relatives are not dependants on this route.

Does your job let you bring dependants?

This is the part that changed most in 2024 and 2025. Check your occupation code in gov.uk's eligible occupations table: every code is labelled "Higher Skilled", "Medium Skilled" or "Ineligible".

For children already inside the UK, gov.uk adds that they can apply to stay if you are their only living parent with responsibility for them, or if their other parent is also sponsored in a care or medium-skilled job.

The Health and Care Worker visa follows the same pattern. Gov.uk's Health and Care Worker partner and children page sets out the 11 March 2024 rule for care workers and the 22 July 2025 rule for other medium-skilled jobs.

How much does it cost to bring your family?

Each family member makes a separate application and pays a fee for the same length of time as your visa, even if they apply later. From gov.uk's Skilled Worker costs page and the Health and Care Worker costs page:

On a Skilled Worker visa, each person also pays the immigration health surcharge, usually £1,035 for each year. Gov.uk says that on the Health and Care Worker visa neither you nor your partner or children have to pay the healthcare surcharge.

Your family must also show savings, unless you have all been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months or your employer certifies maintenance on your certificate of sponsorship: £285 for a partner, £315 for one child and £200 for each additional child, held for 28 days in a row.

A worked example, using gov.uk's per-year method: a Skilled Worker coming from overseas on a three-year certificate with a partner and one child pays three fees of £819 (£2,457) plus the surcharge of £1,035 a year for three people over three years (£9,315). That is £11,772 before maintenance funds. The same family on the Health and Care Worker visa pays three fees of £324, or £972, and no surcharge. The exact surcharge is calculated when you apply.

What can your partner and children do in the UK?

Gov.uk says your partner or child can work (except as a sportsperson or sports coach), study, travel and, after five years, apply to settle if they meet the other requirements. They cannot claim most benefits. Their visa usually ends on the same date as yours, and if your child's parents have visas with different end dates, the child's visa ends on the earlier one.

Can family members switch from another visa inside the UK?

Sometimes. Gov.uk says a partner or child cannot switch into a dependant visa from inside the UK if they are on a visit visa, a short-term student visa, a Parent of a Child Student visa, a seasonal worker visa, a domestic worker in a private household visa, on immigration bail, or on permission outside the rules. A partner on a Student visa can only switch if they have finished the course they were sponsored for, or have studied for a PhD for at least 24 months.

What about children born in the UK?

A child born in the UK does not automatically become a British citizen. Gov.uk says you must apply for the child's dependant visa if you want to travel in and out of the UK with them, and before they turn 18 if they want to stay. A UK-born child is one of the exceptions that applies even to care and medium-skilled workers.

Are there more changes coming?

No new dependant rules had been laid as of 23 October 2026. The government's earned settlement consultation, which closed on 13 February 2026, asked how dependants should be treated under a new settlement model, but we found no published response or rule change on gov.uk. Treat anything you read about future dependant rules as proposals until a Statement of Changes appears.

How to use this before you accept a job

1. Ask the employer for the occupation code it will put on your certificate of sponsorship.
2. Look the code up in the eligible occupations table to see whether it is higher or medium skilled.
3. If it is medium skilled and you started after the cut-off dates, assume your partner cannot join you as a dependant.
4. Check the employer is licensed on the Register of Licensed Sponsors or with our sponsor licence check, and confirm the salary with our Skilled Worker salary calculator.

Health employers are the biggest group of Health and Care visa sponsors. Our page of health employers that sponsor visas in London is a place to start.

Sources: every gov.uk page linked in this article was checked on 23 October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Can I bring my wife or husband on a Skilled Worker visa in 2026? Yes, if your job is in a higher-skilled occupation code and your partner meets the relationship and financial requirements. If your job is medium skilled, including care work, your partner can only join you if you meet the continuous-employment cut-off dates on gov.uk.

Can care workers bring dependants to the UK? Only if you have been continuously employed as a care worker or senior care worker on a Skilled Worker or Health and Care visa since before 11 March 2024, or for limited cases involving children, such as a child born in the UK.

Do dependants of Health and Care Worker visa holders pay the healthcare surcharge? No. Gov.uk says Health and Care Worker visa holders and their partners and children do not pay the immigration health surcharge. They still pay the visa application fee.

How much money does my family need to show? £285 for a partner, £315 for one child and £200 for each additional child, held for 28 days in a row, unless you have all been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months or your employer certifies maintenance on your certificate of sponsorship.

Can my partner work in the UK as my dependant? Yes. Gov.uk says partners and children on dependant visas can work, except as a sportsperson or sports coach, and can study.

Can I bring my parents as dependants on a Skilled Worker visa? No. Dependants on this route are a partner and children. Parents are not included.