Since 1 January 2024, most international students starting a course in the UK have not been able to bring a partner or children with them on a Student visa. The restriction was announced by the Home Office in May 2023 and confirmed in a formal Statement of Changes that July, as part of a broader push to cut net migration. It is one of the most consequential rule changes for prospective students in years, because for many people the decision to study in the UK is inseparable from the decision to keep their family together. Because immigration rules are revised often and can change with limited notice, treat this article as an explanation of how the policy works and why it exists — not a substitute for checking the live rules on gov.uk or with your university's international office before you apply.
What the rule actually says
The core restriction is narrower and more specific than "students can't bring family" — it depends on the type of course and when it started. Under the current rules, your partner and children ("dependants") can only qualify to join you on a Student visa if you are one of the following:
- A government-sponsored student on a course lasting more than 6 months, where a central government department or equivalent scholarship covers all your fees and living costs; or
- A full-time student on a postgraduate-level course (RQF level 7 or above) lasting 9 months or longer — but only if that course started on or after 1 January 2024 and is either a PhD/other doctorate (RQF level 8) or a research-based higher degree.
That second condition is where most people get caught out. Before the change, any taught master's degree counted as a qualifying postgraduate course, since a master's is classified at RQF level 7. Since 1 January 2024, a taught master's — the kind most international students enrol in, with lectures, seminars, and exams rather than an independent research project — no longer qualifies. Only postgraduate programs the Home Office classifies as "research-based" do. The Immigration Rules define a research-based degree as one where "a research component (including a requirement to produce original work) that is larger than any accompanying taught component when measured by student effort" — in practice, most standard MSc/MA/MBA programs do not meet this bar, while research master's degrees and MRes-style programs may. Your university confirms which category your course falls into on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS); some universities, such as Cambridge, note this directly on the CAS record.
If you started your course before 1 January 2024, the old rules still apply to you, including at renewal — the government did not apply the restriction retroactively to students already partway through a qualifying course.
Timeline of the change
- 23 May 2023 — Then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman announced in a written statement to Parliament that the government would remove the right for most international students to bring dependants, except those on postgraduate research programs.
- 17 July 2023 — The government published the formal Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules, which set out the legal detail of the new dependant restrictions and adjustments to the Graduate Route.
- 1 January 2024 — The new rules took effect for any course starting on or after this date. Students who accepted an offer before 17 July 2023 3pm but deferred their start date to after 1 January 2024 are still subject to the new rules — deferring does not preserve eligibility under the old system.
The financial requirements that still apply to eligible dependants
For the narrower group of students who remain eligible to bring family, dependants still have to clear separate financial-maintenance thresholds on top of the student's own funds:
- £845 per month (for up to 9 months) if you're studying in London
- £680 per month (for up to 9 months) if you're studying outside London
This money must be held for at least 28 consecutive days, ending within 31 days of the visa application date — the same "28-day rule" that applies to the main applicant's own funds. Dependants generally don't need to show this money separately if they've already held a valid UK visa for 12 months, or if they and the student are from a country covered by the "differential evidence requirement" and are applying together.
On top of the visa application itself, each dependant currently pays a £558 visa fee, plus the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is charged per year of visa length. These are Home Office figures published on gov.uk and are subject to change, so confirm the current fee schedule before budgeting for a family move.
How much the restriction has actually reduced numbers
The scale of the drop is larger than many prospective applicants expect. According to Home Office data cited by UK immigration law commentary, in the year ending December 2025 the UK granted 426,471 sponsored study visas in total — 406,824 to main applicants and only 19,647 to dependants. That's a fall of roughly 87% in dependant grants compared with the peak in the year ending June 2023, just before the policy changed. Framed as a ratio, the shift is stark: in the year ending September 2023 there were roughly 6 dependants for every 20 main student applicants; by the year ending March 2025, that ratio had fallen to about 1 dependant for every 20 main applicants. Whatever your personal circumstances, it's worth understanding that the "narrow exception" for research-based postgraduate study now covers a genuinely small share of the international student population — most taught-degree students, at both undergraduate and master's level, simply do not qualify anymore.
The Graduate Route: what it does and doesn't offer families
The Graduate Route (sometimes called the Graduate Visa) lets eligible graduates stay in the UK to work, or look for work, after finishing a UK degree, without needing employer sponsorship. As of the sources reviewed, undergraduate and taught master's graduates can stay for 2 years, and PhD/doctoral graduates for 3 years. Applying costs £937 per applicant plus the Immigration Health Surcharge (charged at roughly £1,035 per year of permission granted) — a meaningful cost on top of whatever a student has already spent on their degree.
Crucially for families, the Graduate Route generally does not allow new dependants to join — if your dependant did not hold a Student dependant visa during your studies, they typically cannot apply to join you once you switch to the Graduate Route. The main exception is a child born in the UK during your Student or Graduate leave, who can be added via a separate application. If your dependant already held valid Student dependant status, they can usually extend it in line with your Graduate Route grant.
The Graduate Route itself isn't static either: a 2025 UK government immigration white paper proposed shortening the standard Graduate Route period from 2 years to 18 months for applications made on or after 1 January 2027, while keeping the 3-year period for PhD graduates. As of the sources reviewed, this change had been announced but details were still being finalised — another reason to check gov.uk directly for whatever your actual application timeline will be, rather than planning around older or currently-proposed figures.
Why the government made the change
UK ministers framed the restriction as necessary to bring down record levels of net migration while preserving the country's ability to attract students who contribute to universities and the wider economy. The change sat alongside the government's stated commitment, under its International Education Strategy, to still grow international student numbers to 600,000 a year by 2030 — the argument was that student numbers could keep growing without a parallel rise in dependant numbers.
Critics — including higher-education unions and migration researchers — pushed back on different grounds. Some argued the policy was unnecessarily punitive toward students who bring real economic and academic value, including graduate students with families who often make long-term contributions to their fields. Migration researchers pointed out that dependants were a small share of overall net migration figures relative to the disruption caused, and that the practical effect fell unevenly: some students, particularly postgraduates weighing a family move, chose other study destinations instead of the UK once the rule took effect.
Why it matters for university finances and local economies
International students pay significantly higher tuition than domestic students at UK universities, and that revenue underwrites research and teaching budgets more broadly. International students and their families also spend on housing, services, and daily life in the cities where they study. A policy that makes the UK less attractive to some prospective students — particularly postgraduates with families — has knock-on effects for university budgets and for local economies in cities that host large international student populations. Combined with the wider 2025 white paper measures — including tighter student sponsor compliance requirements — universities have had to adjust recruitment and support planning around a more restrictive and still-evolving system.
What to check before you apply
Because dependant rules, financial thresholds, and Graduate Route terms are all subject to change — and have changed with limited transition time before — don't rely on any single article, including this one, for your application. Before committing to a UK program:
- Check the current dependant visa rules directly on the UK government's official Student visa pages for your specific course type and level, and confirm whether your course is classified as "research-based" on your CAS.
- Confirm with your prospective university's international student or visa compliance office, which will have the latest guidance and can tell you definitively how your course is classified.
- If bringing family is a deciding factor, get this confirmed in writing before you commit to an offer or pay a deposit — the rules changed with only a few months' notice in 2023, and the Graduate Route is set to change again from January 2027.
- Budget separately for dependant visa fees, the Immigration Health Surcharge, and the maintenance funds dependants must show, since these are calculated per person, not per family.
The UK is still a major study destination
Despite the tighter dependant rules, the UK remains one of the most popular destinations for international students, home to globally ranked universities such as the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London, along with strong research and specialist institutions like Durham University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Funding routes like the Marshall Scholarship, the Commonwealth Scholarships, and Commonwealth Shared Scholarships can help offset the cost of studying there, particularly for postgraduate and research students who remain eligible to bring dependants under current rules.
If you're weighing the UK against other destinations, browsing universities on TheUniFinder and using the scholarship finder can help you compare options with your specific circumstances — including family plans — in mind.
FAQ
Does the restriction apply to all master's students? No — it applies to taught master's students starting on or after 1 January 2024. Research-based master's degrees (where original research makes up more of the workload than taught components) can still qualify, as can PhDs and other doctorates. Students who started before 1 January 2024 remain under the old rules, including at extension.
Can I bring my dependants later if I'm on the Graduate Route? Generally no. New dependants typically cannot join a Graduate Route visa holder unless they already held Student dependant status during your degree, or your child was born in the UK during your Student or Graduate leave.
How much does a dependant visa cost in total? As of the sources reviewed, each dependant pays a £558 application fee plus the Immigration Health Surcharge, and must separately show £845/month (London) or £680/month (outside London) in savings for up to 9 months. Confirm current fees on gov.uk, as these figures change.
Is the UK still worth considering if I have a family? It depends on your course type. If you qualify for a PhD or research-based postgraduate program, or a fully government-funded scholarship, the dependant route is still open. If you're planning a taught master's, you should assume you cannot bring family under the Student route and plan accordingly — including looking at other visa categories or destinations if a family move is non-negotiable.
Will the rules change again? Possibly. The Graduate Route is set to shorten from 2 years to 18 months for applications made on or after 1 January 2027 (PhD graduates keep 3 years), following a 2025 government white paper. Always check gov.uk for the latest position rather than relying on any fixed date in this article.