HSMP points for earnings are awared for your total earnings. You can use your earnings from a continuous 12 month period, as long as this period falls in the 15 months prior to your application being submitted.
The gross amount, before deductions such as National Insurance contributions and tax is considered for HSMP earnings points, rather than the net amount.
Applicants who receive their income as a salary, as well as contractors and self-employed business people can apply for HSMP. Salaries, allowances, as well as dividends from a company that you are actively involved in can be used for HSMP points. Similarly, you may have earned your income as a full-time employee, or a part-time employee. If you have more than one job, you can claim points for the total amount that you have earned for all the jobs that you hold, as long as you do not try to claim earnings for a period greater than 12 months.
Income for non-work related interests cannot be used to qualify for HSMP. Rental property income cannot be used. Similarly, investment dividends, bank interest in your savings account, and trust funds cannot be used.
The income required to achieve adequate points to qualify depends on the country you have worked in. For example, an applicant working in Canada will need to earn considerably more to qualify in comparison to an applicant working in India. The UK Border Agency will allocate the same number of points to an applicant working in India for a considerably lower salary. The HSMP calculator will automatically determine if you qualify. Simply enter your earnings in the UK currency equivalent, and the country that you worked in, and the calculator will do the rest.
Applicants that have worked in a number of countries can claim points on a pro-rata basis. The earnings from the country that you have worked in for the longer period will be used for points purposes. For example, if you have worked in Australia for 10 months, and then you worked for a further 2 months in Pakistan, divide your Australian earnings by 10, and then multiply the result by 12 to determine the earnings you will be able to claim for HSMP points.
Appicants who have taken part in full time studies in the 12 months prior to making an application for HSMP can either use earnings from 12 of the last 15 months, or they can use earnings from 12 of the 15 months before they started their full-time studies.
Use the HSMP points calculator now to determine if your earnings qualify.
UK Experience Points
Five additional points can be claimed if you have claimed earnings that you made in the UK.
Similarly, five additional points can be claimed if you have earned a Bachelors degree, or a higher degree in the UK or overseas at an institution that is UK-based. The condition is that you have earned this degree during the last 5 years, and if you earned the degree in the UK, you need to have studied in the UK for at least one year.
You can only score a total of five points in this category.
