UK Skilled Worker Visa Dependent Application from Bangladesh: Bringing Your Family

For most Bangladeshi professionals, the Skilled Worker visa is not just a personal career move — it is a family decision. The question of whether a spouse and children can come immediately, or whether they must wait, shapes everything from the salary negotiation with the employer to the financial planning for the first year in the UK.

The good news is that most dependants of Skilled Worker visa holders can apply simultaneously with the main applicant. The complications are in the maintenance funds calculation, the documentation required from Bangladesh for each family member, and the additional costs — which can double or triple the total application outlay.

Who Can Apply as a Dependant

Spouse or civil partner: Must be in a genuine, subsisting relationship with the main applicant. Both parties must be aged 18 or over. If unmarried, the couple must have been cohabiting in a relationship akin to marriage for at least two years.

Unmarried partners: Eligible if the two-year cohabitation requirement is met. Evidence includes joint tenancy agreements, shared utility bills, and bank statements showing a shared financial life. For Bangladeshi applicants, this evidence base can be harder to establish if the couple has been living separately due to family or social circumstances — address this proactively in your application.

Children under 18: Eligible as dependants regardless of whether both parents are applying. If only one parent is applying, you need to demonstrate that the other parent — who remains in Bangladesh — consents to the child's departure. A notarised consent letter from the non-migrating parent is typically required.

Children aged 18–21: May be eligible in limited circumstances if they are still financially dependent and were living with the main applicant as part of their household at the time of application. This route is more scrutinised and the evidence requirements are higher.

Additional Costs for Dependants

Each dependant requires a separate visa application with its own fees:

Visa application fee: For each dependant (up to three years): £769. Same as the main applicant.

Immigration Health Surcharge: £1,035 per year per dependant. On a three-year visa, each adult dependant pays £3,105 and each child pays £3,105. There is no reduced rate for children.

Exception for Health and Care Workers: If the main applicant holds a Health and Care Worker visa, all dependants are exempt from the IHS. For a family of three on a three-year visa, this exemption saves approximately £9,000 in upfront costs.

Example total cost for a family of three (main applicant plus spouse plus one child):

• Visa fees: £769 × 3 = £2,307
• IHS (standard route): £3,105 × 3 = £9,315
• Total visa and IHS costs alone: approximately £11,622

This does not include TB tests for each family member, IELTS or PTE for the spouse if required, translation costs for Bangladeshi documents, or VFS appointment fees.

Maintenance Funds: How Much You Need to Show

Unless the employer certifies maintenance on the main applicant's CoS (an A-rated sponsor can do this, which removes the requirement entirely), every applicant — including dependants — must show sufficient savings.

The minimum fund requirement:

• Main applicant: £1,270
• Spouse or partner: £285
• First child: £315
• Each additional child: £200

For a family of four (main applicant, spouse, two children), the minimum is £1,270 + £285 + £315 + £200 = £2,070.

These funds must have been held in a UKVI-approved Bangladeshi bank account for 28 consecutive days. The bank statement must be dated within 31 days of the online application submission. This means the 28-day window must align with your submission date — plan this carefully if the main applicant and dependants are applying simultaneously with statements from a shared account.

Maintain a buffer above the minimum. Exchange rate fluctuations between BDT and GBP mean that an account balance that meets the requirement on day one may fall marginally short if the exchange rate shifts. Holding an additional £200 to £300 equivalent provides safety margin.

Documents Required for Each Dependant from Bangladesh

For the spouse:

• Valid passport
• Marriage certificate (original, in English or with certified translation)
• Birth certificate (if requested)
• Evidence of genuine relationship (photographs, communication records, shared financial history)
• TB test certificate from an approved clinic if staying more than six months (mandatory — dependants face the same TB screening requirement as the main applicant)

For children:

• Valid passport or travel document
• Birth certificate showing relationship to the main applicant
• TB test certificate if over five years old (or chest X-ray result from IOM)
• If only one parent is applying: notarised consent letter from the non-migrating parent

Marriage certificate authentication: If your nikah nama (marriage certificate) is in Arabic or Bengali, a certified English translation is required. The certificate itself should ideally be attested through the standard authentication chain — Notary Public, Ministry of Foreign Affairs e-Apostille. UKVI has in the past questioned marriage certificates that lack official attestation.

Timing Dependant Applications

Dependants can apply simultaneously with the main applicant or apply separately after the main applicant has arrived in the UK. Applying simultaneously means the family travels together, which is generally preferable but requires having all dependent documents ready in parallel with the main application.

If some documents for dependants are delayed — for example, a child's TB test result is pending a sputum culture — it may be worth the main applicant submitting first to secure the start date, and the dependants applying shortly after.

Dependants who apply separately after the main applicant has arrived in the UK use the same application process but apply as Dependant Visa applicants rather than simultaneously. The maintenance fund requirement remains the same.

Right to Work and Study for Dependants

Spouses and partners of Skilled Worker visa holders can work in the UK without restriction — in any role, at any hours, for any employer. They do not need their own Sponsor Licence or their own points-based visa.

Children can attend state schools free of charge. However, for healthcare families under the standard Skilled Worker route (not the Health and Care sub-route), the IHS is required, which covers NHS treatment — it does not cover NHS dental treatment or optometry, which must be paid for.

Preparing the Full Family Application

The dependant application involves the same document preparation chain in Bangladesh as the main application — TB test at IOM, financial evidence, marriage certificate authentication — but multiplied across each family member. The total preparation time is the same; the document volume increases substantially.

The UK Skilled Worker Visa Guide for Bangladeshi Professionals includes a complete section on dependant applications, with maintenance fund calculation worksheets, the IOM Dhaka fee schedule for children's TB tests, and a checklist of Bangladesh-side documents required for each family member.

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