Earnings and Maintenance
Previous earnings criteria
Points can be awarded based on the gross earnings before tax and other deductions 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. A number of other scenarios are acceptable, if you do not qualify based on your most recent earnings. These scenarios are covered below.
This applies if you are in salaried, self-employed or contractor 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, 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. Examples of income that cannot be included are 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 are actually working. The country you have been residing and working in determines the income band.
For example, for a given skill set, earnings in Australia will be much higher than incomes in Egypt. Therefore, the Home Office allows applicants earning their income in Egypt the allocation of the same number of points for a lower amount than an applicant earning their income in Australia.
Similarly, an Indian national residing and earning their income in the UK would be required to demonstrate the same earning power as a UK national with similar skills.
If you have lived and worked in more than one country during the period you want to claim points for, earnings can be assessed on a pro-rata basis. For example, if you have spent 8 of the months in the United Kingdom and 4 in India, take your earned income in the United Kingdom, divide it by eight and multiply it by 12 to give an annual income figure.
Earnings are converted to UK pound sterling amounts using the currency conversion rate at the time of earning the income.
The following table lists the earnings brackets, and the points allocated to each bracket.
|
Previous earnings |
Points |
|
£40,000 or more |
45 |
|
£35,000 - £39,999 |
40 |
|
£32,000 - £34,999 |
35 |
|
£29,000 - £31,999 |
30 |
| £26,000 - £28,999 | 25 |
| £23,000 - £25,999 | 20 |
| £20,000 - £22,999 | 15 |
| £18,000 - £19,999 | 10 |
| £16,000 - £17,999 | 5 |
To find out how many points you score, find the country you derived your earnings from in one of the tables below, and then multiply your gross earnings by the multiplier for that country. The table above then determines the points score for that amount.
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. |
| Multiplier: 1 |
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. |
| Multiplier: 2.3 |
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. |
| Multiplier: 3.2 |
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. |
| Multiplier: 5.3 |
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. |
| Multiplier: 11.4 |
Your chosen period for earnings
The period of earnings used for Tier 1 (General) visas will usually be the 12 months immediately prior to the submission of the application. There are other acceptable periods, as listed below.
- You may select any continuous 12 month period that falls within the 15 months immediately prior to the submission of the application.
- If you have been unable to earn an income due to undertaking full-time study, use your earnings for a 12 month period in the 15 months immediately prior to you becoming a full-time student. This applies to both current full-time students and for recent students who have finished a full-time course within the previous 12 months.
- If you have been unable to earn an income continuously due to a period of maternity or adoption leave that falls within the last 15 months, then you may exclude the period of maternity or adoption leave, and make up for this period by claiming earnings further back, up to a period of 15 months plus the amount of time you were on maternity or adoption leave.
Note that if you already hold either a HSMP or Tier 1 (General) visa, point 2. above is not acceptable.
Maintenance
The maintenance requirement applies to all categories of a UK Tier 1 visa without exception. A candidate migrating to the UK must be able to support themselves financially and must be able to support any dependants who might accompany them. Like the English Language requirement, this criterion has a pass mark of 10 which must be satisfied in order for an application to proceed.
The total amount of funds that need to be evidenced as being at the disposal of the applicant to satisfy this requirement is £2,800. The first dependant will require 2/3 of this sum with any further dependants requiring 1/3 of the sum each.
