Students With Families

If you are bringing dependants to the UK, it is your responsibility to ensure the following:

1. You have enough money, upfront, to support your family in the UK (you should not rely on part time work to fund your living costs/studies, your primary focus should be on your full time study).
2. You source and finance suitable family accommodation in the UK (if you cannot arrange this before you arrive, it may be necessary for you to travel to the UK alone so as to enrol onto your studies and send for your family members later and after you have made suitable arrangements). Please note that there is NO emergency accommodation available at Swansea University. Students that arrive without accommodation will need to seek hotel accommodation while they secure appropriate accommodation themselves.
3. You must live no more than a maximum of 50 miles from the University campus.
4. You apply for school places on time and adhere to UK school admissions and attendance processes. You may also need to organise additional childcare, so as not to impact on your engagement with your full time studies.

A  Student’s dependants (known as family members) can be:

• your husband, wife or civil partner
• your unmarried partner
• your child under 18 years old - including if they were born in the UK during your stay

Please note that a child will not be granted a dependant visa unless both parents are going to be living in the UK for the full duration of the Student visa. Applications for children to stay in the UK with one parent will fall for refusal (unless they are part of a single parent family and the UKVI will expect significant evidence around this). The exception to this is where one parent is applying for leave and the other is already in the UK with their own immigration.

This is per Appendix ST of the Immigration Rules (relationship requirements of a dependant child), which states:

Each of the applicant’s parents must either be applying at the same time as the applicant or have permission to be in the UK (other than as a visitor) unless:

1. (a) the parent with permission as a Student or as a partner of a Student is the sole surviving parent; or
2. (b) the parent with permission as a Student or as a partner of a Student has sole responsibility for the child’s upbringing; or
3. (c) the decision maker is satisfied that there are serious and compelling reasons to grant the child entry clearance or permission to stay with the parent who has permission on the Student route or as a dependant partner of a Student.

Dependants of international students studying in the UK are typically permitted to remain in the UK for the same period of time as the student themselves.

Your dependants may take up employment as long as your visa is for 12 months or more. They can usually work for unrestricted hours but check their visa, once it is with you, to verify that there are no restrictions.

Your dependants can undertake study whilst in the UK.

Child dependants will be eligible to attend free state schools, which is a legal requirement for all children between the ages of 5 and 16. The school term starts in the first week of September and so, for September start courses, you should be making your visa applications as early as possible (you can do this 3 months before your Swansea University course start date) and coming to the UK as soon as you can (one month before your Swansea University course starts). If you are coming at a time outside of the main September intake, you should be prepared for delays before your child can start school. They may have to wait until the next vacation or school year before they can join.

It is not possible to enrol your children at school on a Visitor visa and you should be prepared to show that your children have the correct immigration to allow them to be enrolled.

All applications for school entry need to be made via the Swansea Council Schools Admissions Team and they have provided a lot of information for parents. This can be found on the Swansea Council website.

Please also see our comprehensive Guide for Families which has information about, visas, schooling and living in the UK.

It is important to note that if your adult dependants undertake a University postgraduate course in some science or engineering fields, they may be required to get permission under the Academic Technology Approval Scheme before they can enrol. You can find more information on ATAS on the relevant information tab at the bottom of our Extending your visa page

Your dependants may also be required to register with UK Police. Please check the University information about Police Registration to see whether this is necessary and the process around it.

Swansea University has a detailed policy regarding children on-campus. If you will require to bring children to campus for any reason please review this policy. If you have any questions please contact your personal tutor at The College and we shall be happy to support you. 

Children On-Campus Policy