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Join Your Partner or Child in the UK Under the Points-Based System
A PBS Family Member Visa allows the spouse, partner, or child of a Points-Based System migrant to join or remain with them in the UK. This visa is available to dependants of Skilled Worker and other qualifying PBS Family Member Visa holders and enables families to live together lawfully in the UK. To qualify, the main migrant must hold valid PBS leave, and dependants must meet specific relationship, maintenance, and intention requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration. The length of stay granted to family members is linked to the main migrant’s visa, and extensions depend on continued eligibility.
Our UK immigration solicitors advise families on eligibility, prepare dependant visa applications, and assist with extensions, refusals, and long-term settlement planning. We provide clear, compliant advice with remote case handling and fixed legal fees.
Speak to a UK Spouse Visa expert at 020 3384 4389 for immediate, personalised assistance.
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Ready to Join Your Partner in the UK? Get Help Today!
No more confusion or wasted time. Tell us about your case, and we’ll provide an expert-backed, realistic plan to secure your UK visa.
A partner or child of a points-based system migrant may qualify for this visa category and enter and remain in the UK with their family member. The applicant must be the spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, partner of the same sex, or child of a PBS Family Member Visa or a skilled migrant (under the age of 18 at the time of filing).
PBS Family Member Visa or a Skilled Migrant Visa allows dependents of Points-Based System (PBS) migrants in the UK to join or stay with them. It’s ideal for spouses, partners, or children under 18 of those holding a valid PBS Family Member Visa, providing a pathway to live, work, and study in the UK while maintaining family unity.
Family Member of a PBS Migrant Visa – Quick Facts
What is the Family Member of a PBS Migrant Visa?
It is a UK dependant visa that allows the partner or child of a Points-Based System migrant, such as a Skilled Worker, to live in the UK with them.
Who usually searches for this visa?
People whose spouse, partner, or parent already holds a Skilled Worker or PBS Family Member Visa and who want to join them in the UK as a dependant.
Who can apply under this visa?
Spouses, civil partners, unmarried or same-sex partners, and children under 18 of a qualifying PBS migrant may be eligible.
Does this visa depend on the main migrant’s status?
Yes. Your visa is directly linked to the main migrant’s permission to stay. If their visa ends, your dependant visa normally ends as well.
You are usually granted leave for the same length of time as the main PBS migrant, with the option to extend if they extend.
Yes. Most adult dependants can work and study in the UK without restrictions.
In most cases, maintenance funds must be shown unless the sponsor certifies maintenance under the PBS rules.
In many cases, dependants may qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain after completing the required residence period alongside the main migrant.
Expert Guidance
You don’t need to go through the stress alone. Our immigration lawyers are here to simplify the process and give you the best chance of success.
Benefits
Why Choose Us for a PBS Family Member Visa
Dependant visas under the Points-Based System are closely tied to the main migrant’s status, and small errors can affect the whole family’s stay in the UK. Our immigration solicitors understand how UK Visas and Immigration assess dependency, maintenance funds, and ongoing eligibility.
We confirm whether this is the correct visa for you before you apply and check relationship evidence, financial requirements, and timing against the main migrant’s visa. This helps prevent refusals caused by incorrect visa selection or missing documentation. Our team prepares dependent applications, extensions, and settlement cases with clear advice and compliant evidence. Services are provided remotely with transparent, fixed legal fees and straightforward communication throughout.
97.37%
Success Rate
37,573
Applications Approved
93.7%
Immigration Appeal Win Rate
4.9/5
Average Rating
From Consultation to Visa Approval
Our immigration specialists streamline your application process by clearly identifying which evidence and strategies will strengthen your case.
By aligning your unique circumstances with Home Office requirements, we help you focus on high-impact preparations while addressing any potential weaknesses in your application.
Maximising Your Approval Chances
Our goal is to maximise the chances of your visa being approved the first time. By carefully reviewing your circumstances, identifying potential weaknesses, and preparing strong supporting evidence, we significantly reduce the risk of refusals. Every application is checked by senior immigration solicitors who apply their expertise to make your case as clear, accurate, and persuasive as possible. This attention to detail is what improves success rates and helps our clients move forward with confidence.
Success Rate Optimisation
We carefully analyse every detail of your application to maximise the chances of approval. By addressing weaknesses, strengthening supporting evidence, and ensuring full compliance with Home Office rules, we optimise your case for success. This thorough approach significantly improves approval rates and gives you confidence throughout the process.
Risk Mitigation Strategies
We identify potential risks in your application early and put safeguards in place to address them. By preparing strong evidence, clarifying complex points, and anticipating Home Office concerns, we minimise the chance of delays or refusals.
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Evidence-based case preparation
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Home Office compliance checks
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Success rate optimisation
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Risk mitigation strategies
From Consultation to Visa Approval
Our immigration specialists streamline your application process by clearly identifying which evidence and strategies will strengthen your case.
By aligning your unique circumstances with Home Office requirements, we help you focus on high-impact preparations while addressing any potential weaknesses in your application.
Maximising Your Approval Chances
Our goal is to maximise the chances of your visa being approved the first time. By carefully reviewing your circumstances, identifying potential weaknesses, and preparing strong supporting evidence, we significantly reduce the risk of refusals. Every application is checked by senior immigration solicitors who apply their expertise to make your case as clear, accurate, and persuasive as possible. This attention to detail is what improves success rates and helps our clients move forward with confidence.
Success Rate Optimisation
We carefully analyse every detail of your application to maximise the chances of approval. By addressing weaknesses, strengthening supporting evidence, and ensuring full compliance with Home Office rules, we optimise your case for success. This thorough approach significantly improves approval rates and gives you confidence throughout the process.
Risk Mitigation Strategies
We identify potential risks in your application early and put safeguards in place to address them. By preparing strong evidence, clarifying complex points, and anticipating Home Office concerns, we minimise the chance of delays or refusals.
Work With Trusted, SRA-Regulated UK Immigration Experts
Your immigration journey is too important to risk on unqualified or unregulated help. Every case we handle is prepared by SRA-regulated solicitors who apply structured legal reasoning, precise documentation checks and full compliance with Home Office and UKVI rules.
Our accreditations are your assurance that you are working with a reputable, experienced and highly trained legal team. We combine decades of immigration expertise with strict professional standards to give you clarity, confidence and complete peace of mind — no matter which visa or application route you are pursuing.
We Can Help You With PBS Family Member Visa
- Make a new application, apply for your dependents to join you, wish to extend your visa, become settled, or challenge an unfair decision.
- UK Immigration Solicitors can provide you with expert advice, guidance, and legal representation to meet your needs.
- Unsure about whether your plans would meet the requirements or whether you are likely to face any challenges.
- We can assess your individual circumstances and confirm what your options are through a free case assessment.
- UK Immigration Solicitors can ensure that your chances of success are maximised by handling your entire application remotely.
- We provide a fully digital service, and you never have to visit our offices for 9/10 immigration cases.
- We are an award-winning law firm that specialises in all types of UK immigration cases, and we offer a transparent, fixed-fee service to handle your entire case.
Who is eligible for the PBS Family Member Visa or a Skilled Migrant Visa?
UK Visas & Immigration requires the following to grant you a Family Member of a PBS Family Member Visa:
- You are over 18 years of age.
- You have a spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, or same-sex partner who is a PBS Family Member Visa or a skilled migrant, or who is being granted PBS leave at the same time as a PBS migrant, or who gained British citizenship after obtaining PBS leave.
- Having lived in a relationship similar to marriage or civil partnership for at least two years if you are the unmarried or same-sex partner of a PBS Family Member Visa migrant.
- In the UK, you intend to live together with the PBS migrant throughout his or her stay.
- You do not intend to stay in the UK longer than the period of leave granted to PBS migrants.
- Unless the PBS Family Member migrant is a Tier 1 Investor migrant, you must have maintenance funds.
- You have not been granted entry clearance or leave as a visitor, short-term student, temporary admission, or temporary release before applying for leave to remain.
- You have to provide a criminal record certificate from the relevant authority of any country where you have resided for 12 months or more in the past 10 years, while over 18, and applying for entry as a partner of a Tier 1 Investor or Tier 1 Entrepreneur.
UK Visas and Immigration must be satisfied that the child of a PBS migrant has the following characteristics:
- You are the child of a PBS migrant, a PBS migrant receiving leave (including a visa for ILR) at the same time, or the child of a PBS migrant who has ILR under the rules for Tier 1, 2, or 5.
- You are under the age of 18 on the date of application, unless you are applying for leave to remain and were last granted leave as the child of a PBS migrant or the child of a migrant granted leave under a different category of the rules who has since been granted leave as a PBS migrant or who is applying for leave as a PBS migrant at the same time.
- No marriage or civil union, no independent family unit, no independent lifestyle.
- You do not intend to stay in the UK beyond any period of leave granted to the PBS migrant.
- You have both of your parents lawfully present in the UK, or they are both in the process of obtaining a visa or leave to remain together, unless.
- Your sole surviving parent is a PBS migrant.
- You have and will have sole responsibility for your upbringing as a PBS migrant.
- In addition, considerations related to your family or other circumstances make it desirable not to deny the application, and suitable arrangements have been made for your care in the UK.
- Maintaining funds is a requirement for PBS migrants (unless they are Tier 1 Investor migrants).
Other Considerations for PBS Family Member Visa Applicants
PBS Family Member immigrants will usually be allowed to stay in the country until the migrant’s leave expires. Unlike the PBS migrant, you will be granted three years of leave. If necessary, you can apply for further leave to make sure your stay meets the qualifying period.
As long as their existing PBS leave is valid, dependents of main migrants can remain in the UK.
In order to apply for indefinite leave to remain, partners of PBS migrants granted leave must satisfy a 180-day residency requirement as of 11 January 2018. By examining absences on a rolling basis, the Home Office will no longer consider absences in separate 12-month periods.
As a PBS Family Member Visa migrant, children over 18 who have not previously been granted leave are not eligible for this category. Likewise, other relatives, such as parents or grandparents, are not eligible for consideration in this category.
Can I Extend a PBS Family Member Visa
Before your initial grant of leave as a Family Member of a PBS Migrant expires, you will need to apply to UK Visas and Immigration to extend your stay.
The requirements for further leave to remain in the UK as a family member of a PBS migrant are broadly the same as those that apply to initial applications in the family member of PBS migrant’s category. However, you will need to make sure that your application satisfies the relationship, intention and maintenance (if applicable) requirements again.
What Can I Do About a PBS Family Member Visa Refusal?
We can advise you on the merits of making a fresh application or challenging the decision if your entry clearance, leave to remain or settlement application has been refused.Â
Our immigration barristers can provide representation at Judicial Review hearings if the decision to reject your application was unlawful, unreasonable, or procedurally improper.
How can UK Immigration Solicitors help me?
In addition to offering immigration services, our immigration lawyers assist individuals from around the world to obtain a PBS Family Member Visa for the UK.
In order to obtain a PBS Family Member Visa, our immigration lawyers can be of assistance to you in assessing the merits of the application, overcoming challenges, assisting in preparing the application or representing you in challenging a decision to refuse an application.
Having a proactive approach to understanding and meeting the needs of our clients is something we take pride in. Our team is committed to providing clients with clear and reliable immigration advice within a professional and friendly environment.
By now, you would have realised that when it comes to PBS Family Member Visa, we are the go-to experts.
Family Member of a PBS Migrant Visa
At UK Immigration Solicitors, we are passionate about all things immigration. As a multi-award-winning nationwide law firm, we are proud to offer a truly global service. We have assisted clients from more than 120 countries over the last 10 years. We are proud to innovate and lead the immigration law industry.
Back in 2012, after carefully listening to the frustrations of clients who could not find reliable immigration advice online, we pioneered the provision of legal representation for immigration cases online. This was a revolutionary transition and since our innovations, there have been a multitude of online immigration service providers.
UK Immigration Solicitors are immensely proud of our reputation and our ability to deliver a truly global, comprehensive service to our clients without the need for them to step foot outside of the comfort of their own homes in most cases.Â
PBS Migrant Visa FAQs
Yes. Dependants can usually apply at the same time as the main applicant or join them later, provided eligibility requirements are met.
In many cases, yes, if you already hold a valid visa that allows switching. Visitor visas and short-term visas usually do not allow switching.
If the main migrant’s PBS Family Member Visa is curtailed or ends, dependant visas are normally affected and may also be curtailed.
Generally no. Children must usually be under 18 at the time of application unless they were previously granted leave as a dependant.
No English language test is normally required for PBS Family Member dependants.
Yes. Dependants are normally permitted to travel in and out of the UK while their visa remains valid.
Depending on the reason for refusal, you may be able to submit a fresh application or challenge the decision through administrative or legal routes.
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