Earnings Criteria

Points can be awarded based on the gross earnings before tax over a total period of up to 12 months out of the 15 months immediately prior to your application. The earnings can be for any 12 month period out of the last 15 months. This applies if you are in salaried or non-salaried employment. Again, this refers to the gross amount rather than the net amount, that is, the amount before deductions such as tax or national insurance. Total part-time earnings over a period of up to 12 months in the 15 months prior to your application will be included as part of your total earnings. If you held several jobs over this period we will sum the earnings for each job. Earnings do not have to be with a single employer.

Only work related earnings of an applicant are taken into account when points are awarded. Passive income is not included in an applicant's total gross earnings amount. Examples of passive income include dividends from investments, rental property income, interest on savings, or funds received from a trust or through an inheritance.

Dividends from a company, where the applicant works for the company, founded the company, or is actively involved in the company's daily management may be included. Similarly, rental property income may be included if the applicant's chosen field of skill involves the active management of rental properties.

In order to reflect differences in income levels across the world, the income level required to score points varies depending on where you live. Therefore the country you have been residing and working in over this period, rather than your nationality, determines the income band. For example, for a given skill set, earnings in the United States of America (USA) will be much higher than incomes in Ethiopia. Therefore, the Home Office allows applicants earning their income in Ethiopia the allocation of the same number of points for a lower amount than an applicant earning their income in the USA. Similarly, a Chinese national residing and earning their income in the USA would be required to demonstrate the same earning power as an American national with similar skills in the USA. Such an applicant cannot be compared to a Chinese national still earning their income in China. A Canadian national earning their income in South Africa would only be required to demonstrate an income amount that takes into consideration the local earnings level of South Africa.

If you are living and working in a country but having your income paid into a bank account in another country your income will be considered against the country code where you are living and working.

In addition to country of earning, there are three different levels of earnings for each country. Applicants are awarded points according to which level of earnings they reach. Five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, or 45 points may be awarded depending on the level of earnings reached.

If you have lived and worked in more than one country during the past 15 months we will normally assess your income over a 12-month period against the country where you have spent the longest period, on a pro-rata basis. For example we consider a period of up to 12 months in the last 15, so that if you have spent 8 of the months in the United Kingdom and 4 in Nigeria, we will take your earned income in the United Kingdom, divide it by eight and multiply it by 12 to give an annual income figure. You will then be allocated points appropriate to that figure.

Applicants that are seconded overseas, but continue to receive their earnings in the original country of employment will be considered against their original country of employment.

Earnings are converted to UK pound sterling amounts using the currency conversion rate at the time the application is being considered by the Home Office. However, if we are able to demonstrate on your behalf that the currency rate has altered since the time of earning then the Home Office will consider historical currency conversion data provided.

If you have been unable to earn an income for the last 12 to 15 months due to undertaking full-time study, we will use your earnings for a 12 month period in the 15 months immediately prior to you becoming a full-time student. We will do this for both current full-time students or for recent students who have finished a full-time course within the previous 12 months.

Earnings that have not been declared to the appropriate authorities will not be accepted when calculating the gross earnings amount.

We will not be able to consider any allowances paid to you that are not declared on your pay slips. If the company you work for pay part of your income in dividends then you should provide evidence that this has been declared as earnings. This should be in the form of either personal tax returns or the corporate tax voucher from the company.

There are nine income bands. Convert your earnings into Pounds Sterling (£) in order to calculate how many points you can claim.

UK experience criteria

You can claim five points if you have previous experience of living in the UK if either:

You have successfully scored points under the previous earnings category and your earnings were in the UK; or
You have studied and graduated at Bachelors degree level or higher in full-time higher education in the UK, or at a UK-based overseas educational institution, for at least one full academic year or three continuous terms making up one full year. This educational experience must have been gained during the last five years and you must have been legally entitled to study in the UK during that time.

You can only score a total of five points in this category. You can not score five points for UK earnings and five points for UK qualifications.

The qualification used in to gain points in this section does not need to be used to claim points in the qualifications points scoring area.

Band A countries

Andorra; Aruba; Australia; Austria; Belgium; Bermuda; Canada; Cayman Islands; Channel Islands; Denmark; Finland; France; French Polynesia; Germany; Gibraltar; Guam; Hong Kong (Province of China); Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Japan; Kuwait; Liechtenstein; Luxembourg; Monaco; Netherlands; Norway; Qatar; San Marino; Singapore; Sweden; Switzerland; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States of America; Vatican.

5 pts	10 pts	15 pts	20 pts	25 pts
16,000+	18,000+	20,000+	23,000+	26,000+
30 pts	35 pts	40 pts	45 pts
29,000+	32,000+	35,000+	40,000+

Band B countries

American Samoa; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Bahamas; Bahrain; Barbados; Botswana; Brunei Darussalam; Chile; Costa Rica; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Estonia; Faroe Islands; Greece; Greenland; Grenada; Hungary; Israel; Korea (South); Latvia; Lebanon; Libya; Macao, (Province of China); Malaysia; Malta; Mauritius; Mexico; Netherlands Antilles; New Caledonia; New Zealand; Northern Mariana Islands; Oman; Palau; Panama; Poland; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Saudi Arabia; Seychelles; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Spain; St Kitts and Nevis; St Lucia; Taiwan (Province of China); Trinidad and Tobago; Uruguay; Venezuela; Virgin Islands.

5 pts	10 pts	15 pts	20 pts	25 pts
7,000+	8,000+	9,000+	10,000+	11,500+
30 pts	35 pts	40 pts	45 pts
12,500+	14,000+	15,300+	17,500+

Band C countries

Albania; Algeria; Belarus; Belize; Bolivia; Bosnia & Herzegovina; Brazil; Bulgaria; Cape Verde; China (Peoples Republic of); Colombia; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Fiji; Gabon; Guatemala; Honduras; Iran; Jamaica; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Lithuania; Macedonia; Maldives; Marshall Islands; Micronesia; Morocco; Namibia; Nauru; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Romania; Russian Federation; Samoa; South Africa; St Vincent & The Grenadines; Suriname; Swaziland; Syrian Arab Republic; Thailand; Tonga; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Vanuatu; West Bank and Gaza.

5 pts	10 pts	15 pts	20 pts	25 pts
5,000+	5,600+	6,300+	7,200+	8,100+
30 pts	35 pts	40 pts	45 pts
9,100+	10,000+	11,000+	12,500+

Band D countries

Angola; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bangladesh; Benin; Bhutan; Cameroon; Comoros; Congo (Republic of); Cote d'Ivoire; Cuba; Djibouti; Equatorial Guinea; Gambia; Georgia; Guinea; Guyana; Haiti; India; Indonesia; Iraq; Kenya; Kiribati; Lesotho; Mauritania; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Myanmar; Nicaragua; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Senegal; Serbia; Solomon Islands; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Timor L?Este (East Timor); Ukraine; Uzbekistan; Vietnam; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe.

5 pts	10 pts	15 pts	20 pts	25 pts
3,000+	3,400+	3,800+	4,300+	4,900+
30 pts	35 pts	40 pts	45 pts
5,500+	6,000+	6,600+	7,500+

Band E countries

Afghanistan; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cambodia; Central African Republic; Congo, (Democratic Republic of); Chad; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Ghana; Guinea-Bissau; Korea (North); Kygyz Republic; Lao; Liberia; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mayotte; Mozambique; Nepal; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; Sao Tome and Principe; Sierra Leone; Somalia; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Togo; Uganda.