Whether you are working or studying in the UK, leaving your family behind in your home country can give loneliness and stress. The country may have the best sceneries, go-to places, and a lot of good benefits, but there will be times that you want to have your family staying with you.
If you have the appropriate visa, you may bring your family to the UK for visiting or residency. Although UK immigrations are now a lot stricter than before, you can seek help from an immigration lawyer or an Irish immigration solicitor to assist you in bringing your family members to the UK.
There is no one full visa for the whole family but each family member may apply for a visa category where they suit more. Processing time and approval of family visas may depend on the background of the applicant and their relationship with the sponsor. However, you must check first you are eligible in bringing your family to the UK.
Bringing Your Family When You Are on a Student Visa
Under certain circumstances, you may bring your dependents to the UK even if you have a tier 4 visa. If you are under RQF 7 or above that lasts 9 months or longer, a student sponsored by the government for more than 6 months, or a Doctorate Extension Scheme student, you may apply for a family visa to bring your family to stay longer or visit you in the UK.
You need to prepare pieces of evidence of your relationship with your dependents when applying for a family visa. This evidence may be a marriage certificate or a civil partnership certificate if you are planning to bring your spouse, or a birth certificate if you like to have your child with you in the UK.
If they are applying outside the UK, they need to secure a biometric residence permit as part of their application. If you are applying for your family, they will need your Global Web Form or your Unique Application Number when their fingerprints and photos were taken during the application.
Applying For a Family Visa
To get a family visa, you must be a partner or a primary relative of a British citizen or someone who has been living and working in the UK legally. If you plan to visit temporarily, you must be a family member of a UK resident.
For the Home Office to approve your visa, you must prove that your relationship with your family is genuine. Usually, the documentary requirements include marriage and birth certificates or photographic evidence for unmarried partners. The Home Office may also require your UK resident family member for a letter of sponsorship which includes the information regarding your relationship.
Requirements for a Family Visa
There are various types of family visas that you can apply for if you want to join your family in the UK.
Spouse or Partner Visa (Unmarried or Civil)
This visa may last for up to 2 years but can be extended when applied with IRL. To prove your relationship, you have to prepare copies of previous conversations, photos, tickets of traveling together, and a joint account bank statement. Home Office may also request more documents to prove the relationship.
Ancestry Visa
You may stay in the UK for up to 5 years and continue with IRL if you are a grandchild of a British citizen. To be eligible, you must be a Commonwealth citizen, planning to work in the UK, and able to prove that you are a grandchild of a British citizen by birth.
To apply for an ancestry visa, you must prepare your valid passport, bank statements to prove that you can support your stay in the UK, tuberculosis screening result, birth certificates including your parent’s and grandparent’s, and job offers from a UK-based company to prove that you will have a job once you arrive in the UK.
Dependent Visa
To apply for this, you must have entered the UK under a skilled worker visa or a tier 1 visa to bring your partner and child with you to the UK. If you are applying for this visa, you need to have enough funds to show that you can support your family once they arrive in the UK.
The documentary requirements that are needed to prepare are the passports of applicants, photos for UK visas, original birth certificates, tuberculosis screening results, and the UK resident’s proof of income.
