VisaAdult relatives seeking a dependant pass in Uganda must show support
A current-rule guide to the other-relatives category, the USD 1,000 base fee and the distinction between dependency and employment.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Establish dependency and the sponsor’s ability to provide support
Adults applying to join relatives in Uganda through the other-relatives dependant-pass category need to establish actual dependency and the sponsor’s ability to support them. This current-rule guide concerns that category, rather than the separate spouse or under-18 child checklist. The Immigration Control Regulations define a dependant by inability to maintain oneself because of age, disability or another incapacity, while also including a spouse.
Regulation 4 requires the decision-maker to be satisfied that the applicant sponsoring the dependant can provide adequate accommodation and sufficient income. The continuing conditions include the sponsor’s lawful residence, the relationship of dependency and adequate support. For example, an adult parent’s relationship to a resident does not by itself answer how the parent will be maintained. Ask which evidence of dependency, accommodation and income is needed for the particular household.
Use the other-relatives checklist and complete the biometric stage
Immigration’s Dependant Pass page identifies the sponsor’s work permit or other status, the dependant’s current immigration status in Uganda, a sponsor’s covering letter explaining the relationship and reason for the application, and relationship evidence where applicable. It also asks for a recent photograph and the dependant’s passport biodata copy with at least six months’ validity. Documents attached should be in English.
Apply through the online immigration portal and follow the payment and approval-letter instructions. The final published step is biometrics at an immigration office or border, bringing the passport, uploaded documents, payment receipts and approval letter. Confirm the receiving location before travelling; uploading is not the whole process.
Budget for the correct family category
The 2021 Fees Regulations, available through the Judiciary’s Uganda Legal Information Institute, list USD 1,000 for the other dependant-pass category, USD 350 for a spouse and USD 200 for a child. These match the amounts on Immigration’s service page. An adult relative should therefore avoid budgeting from the spouse or child rate merely because everyone belongs to one family.
The service page states that the fees are non-refundable and payments carry a bank charge, without quantifying that charge. The published base fee is consequently not a complete payment quotation. The fee schedule’s dependant-pass rows do not themselves establish a standard grant length or a promise of approval following payment.
Check the actual grant period and preserve existing permission
The Ministry of Finance’s Doing Business entry, last reviewed on 18 August 2026, links the immigration application system but expressly says the detailed requirements, fees, processing time, duration and legal basis are still being confirmed for its listing. That incomplete directory should not be treated as a different published fee or as evidence that the fuller Immigration checklist has ceased to apply.
The public resources examined here do not give an individual processing deadline or establish that filing automatically extends a person’s existing permission. If the relative is already in Uganda, ask Immigration what action is required before that permission expires. Separately ask which expiry date will govern the dependant pass when the sponsor’s permission ends earlier than the period the family wants. A receipt, an expected decision date and an issued pass are different records with different purposes.
Do not use dependency as a substitute for employment permission
The Internal Affairs Ministry’s statistical abstract for financial year 2023/24, dated February 2025, expressly explains that a dependant pass does not authorise formal employment. Its dependant-pass discussion also describes enforcement against family-business shareholders seeking this category. That operational account is a reason to disclose the relative’s intended activities, rather than describing a proposed worker simply as a supported family member.
The report records other-relative grants involving elderly parents and relatives receiving medical care. Those examples show how the category was used; they do not guarantee eligibility for every parent or establish a right for someone planning to work. If the person will take a job or participate in the family business, obtain Immigration’s assessment of the appropriate permission before starting. This guide does not resolve the treatment of every passive shareholding or unpaid activity, and no direct official clarification was obtained.
