Joining family in the UK — a child coming to a parent, a parent coming to a British child, or an older relative who needs care? We complete your forms, translate and organise your documents, and book your VFS appointment, so your family's application is accurate and ready to submit.
A UK family visa lets a close relative join family who live in the UK. This page covers three plain routes: a child coming to live with a parent who is in the UK; a parent coming to look after a child who is British or settled in the UK; and an older relative who needs day-to-day care, applying as an adult dependent relative.
These three routes are not the same — each has its own money test, its own evidence and even a different outcome (the adult dependent relative route gives permanent settlement straight away, not after 5 years). Before anything else, check one thing: a child of a British parent may already be British and may not need a visa at all.
This page explains the 2026 money rules, the documents, the real cost in baht, the new digital eVisa, and exactly what we prepare for you.
Parent route uses an "enough money to live on" test, not £29,000. Children take no English test. TB test needed for stays over 6 months. You now get a digital eVisa — no passport sticker.
For a Thai-British family this is the single most important check, and it can save a large fee. If your child has a parent who is a British citizen, the child is often British already — usually "British by descent" — and can simply travel on a British passport, with no visa needed.
As a rough guide: a child born abroad to a parent who is British "otherwise than by descent" (for example, a parent who was born in the UK) is usually British by descent automatically. If the child is not automatically British, it may still be possible to register the child as a British citizen using form MN1, rather than applying for a visa.
Whether any of this applies depends on where the child was born and the parent's exact status, so confirm it on gov.uk before you start. Applying for a family visa for a child who is already British wastes time and a large fee. We help you check the child's status first, but the nationality decision is made by the Home Office.
The three routes look similar but work very differently. Read the one that matches your family — the money test, the evidence and even the outcome change between them.
Route 1 — a child joining a parent in the UK: the child comes to live with a parent who already lives in the UK lawfully (usually on a partner visa or settled here). Money is judged by the parent's situation; the child pays the lower £776/year NHS fee and takes no English test.
If the other parent stays in Thailand, you must usually show sole responsibility or that parent's consent (see below).
Route 2 — a parent of a child in the UK: a parent comes to look after a child who is British or settled in the UK and lives here, where the parent is not in a relationship with the child's other UK parent (otherwise the partner route fits).
This route does NOT use the £29,000 income test — it uses an "adequate maintenance" test, meaning you must show enough money to support the family without claiming public funds, judged against your income and housing costs. It leads to settlement, usually after a number of years on the route.
Route 3 — an adult dependent relative (ADR): an older relative (often a parent or grandparent) who needs long-term, day-to-day personal care that cannot reasonably be arranged in Thailand joins a relative settled in the UK.
This route is different in two big ways: the fee is £3,635 per person for the 8 April 2026 cycle, and if it succeeds the relative gets permanent settlement (indefinite leave to remain) straight away — it is not a 5-year route, and there is no NHS health fee. The trade-off is that the rules are very strict (see the dedicated section below).
This is where families most often get the wrong figure, so read carefully. A partner or spouse needs a £29,000 a year income (or savings instead).
But the parent-of-a-child route does NOT use £29,000 — it uses the "adequate maintenance" test, which has no fixed number: the caseworker checks that your income, after housing costs, is at least what a UK family of the same size could receive in basic benefits, so you can support the family without public funds. The adult dependent relative route has its own separate test about care and support.
The checker below uses the partner-route £29,000 figure; if your family is on the parent or adult-dependent-relative route, treat it as a rough guide only and confirm your exact route's test on gov.uk. It is a tool to help you prepare — the Home Office makes the final decision.
We want you to know the truth before you spend £3,635: this is one of the hardest UK routes to qualify for, and many applications are refused. To succeed you must show all of the following.
First, the relative needs long-term, day-to-day personal care (help with everyday tasks like washing, dressing, cooking) because of age, illness or disability. Second — and this is what trips most families up — that the required level of care is not available and not affordable in Thailand, and that there is no one in Thailand who can reasonably provide it.
If suitable paid care exists in Thailand, even at a cost, that usually leads to a refusal. Third, the UK relative must be able to support, house and care for them without public funds. If it is granted, the reward is large: immediate permanent settlement and no NHS health fee.
If the adult dependent relative route succeeds, the relative gets permanent settlement straight away — not after 5 years — and pays no NHS health fee.
We help you build the evidence — medical letters, proof of the care needed, written quotes and refusals showing care cannot be arranged in Thailand, and the UK relative's finances — but we cannot promise the outcome and we never assess your chances. Only the Home Office decides.
When a child is joining only one parent in the UK while the other parent stays in Thailand, the application usually needs to show one of two things: that the UK parent has "sole responsibility" for the child (they make the real day-to-day decisions about the child's life — school, health, money, where the child lives), or that the parent in Thailand gives clear written consent for the child to live in the UK.
Helpful evidence includes:
If there are also "serious and compelling" reasons the child should be in the UK (for example where the other parent cannot care for the child), say so and evidence it. We help you gather, translate and organise this so it is complete and consistent.
Children take no English language test — they are exempt. An adult applicant on a parent or partner route must meet an English requirement (a basic level at entry, with higher levels later); an adult dependent relative does not take an English test.
Separately, a TB (tuberculosis) test is required for any UK stay of more than 6 months, and these family routes are over 6 months, so adults and children who need it must do it before applying. In Thailand the only UK-approved provider is IOM Bangkok (the Migration Health Assessment Centre on Silom Road); the chest X-ray is done at Bangkok Christian Hospital.
The certificate is valid for 6 months. Children under 11 usually have no X-ray (a different check applies). A certificate from any clinic that is not on the gov.uk approved list will be rejected, so always use the approved provider.
This is a 2026 change worth knowing. Successful applicants no longer get a sticker (called a "vignette") placed in the passport. Instead your family member receives a digital visa — an eVisa.
After the decision you get an email explaining how to set up a free UKVI account on gov.uk, where you sign in to view the eVisa and generate a "share code" to prove status to an employer, landlord or carer. The passport is returned without anything stuck inside it, so do not expect a printed visa.
No sticker in the passport — your permission lives online and you prove it with a share code from your phone.
What to do: keep the decision email safe, set up the UKVI account, and check the eVisa is correct before travelling. We explain this step to every family we help.
Tick off your pack below — it saves on this device and prints. Items that need a certified translation are tagged. Your exact list depends on the route, so we tailor it for your family.
Costs depend on the route. A parent or child route uses the family-visa application fee plus the NHS health fee (IHS) — £1,035 per year for an adult, £776 per year for a child. The adult dependent relative route instead has a single £3,635 fee per person (8 April 2026 cycle) and no NHS fee, because the relative is settled from day one.
The calculator below also covers optional certified translation and our service fee — in pounds and live baht. Add an extra child or relative to see the total for your whole family, and always confirm the current government fee for your route on gov.uk.
A family or settlement visa from Thailand is usually decided in up to 12 weeks (around 3 months), counted from your biometrics appointment at VFS, so start gathering documents well ahead. A faster paid priority service is sometimes available for out-of-country family routes (aiming for around 30 working days), subject to availability through VFS Global.
The application is made online and your documents and fingerprints (biometrics) are given at a VFS centre — in Thailand, Bangkok (Belle Grand Rama 9) or Chiang Mai (Huay Kaew Road). Use the planner below to work out when to begin.
Unlike a visitor visa, family routes based on family or private life often carry a right of appeal. A refusal on a parent-of-a-child or partner application usually has a right of appeal to an independent tribunal (the First-tier Tribunal), with a strict deadline — typically 28 days from getting the decision when you are outside the UK. The deadline is short, so act quickly.
A family-visa appeal deadline is short — usually just 28 days from the decision when you are outside the UK. Act quickly.
You must declare every previous UK and other-country visa refusal on the application; leaving one out, or giving false information, can lead to a re-entry ban of up to 10 years. We are not solicitors and we do not run appeals or give regulated advice — but we can prepare and translate documents, and we will point you to gov.uk and to a registered (IAA) adviser where an appeal is involved.
For Thai families the most common reasons are: money evidence that does not clearly meet the route's test (wrong payslips or bank statements, or using the £29,000 figure on a route that actually uses the "adequate maintenance" test); weak proof of sole responsibility or a missing consent letter for a child; an adult-dependent-relative application without enough proof that the needed care cannot be arranged in Thailand; and undeclared past refusals.
We prepare, translate, organise and check your whole pack against the published gov.uk rules for your exact route first. This is document preparation — it improves completeness and accuracy; it is not a guarantee of the outcome, and we never assess your chances. Only the Home Office decides.
Our service fee is separate from the government fee and the UK NHS health fee (IHS) above.
Last reviewed: June 2026. This page is general information based on public gov.uk sources, not regulated immigration advice, and we never assess your chances of success.
Fees and rules change — always confirm the current figures and rules for your exact route on gov.uk before you apply.
Tell us about your family and we'll come back with a clear plan and a price — no obligation.
Your details are kept private (PDPA / UK-GDPR). General information, not regulated immigration advice.
