Tier 1 Documents

Supporting evidence

Photographs and passports

You must send two recent passport photographs of yourself and any dependants for whom you are including applications. All the photographs must have the name of the person in the picture written on the back.

All the photographs should:

• measure 45mm x 35mm; and
• be in colour; and
• be taken against a white background; and
• be clear and of good quality; and
• not be framed or backed; and
• not be digitally altered, for example, you cannot use Photoshop to change anything in the image; and
• be full face, without sunglasses, hat or head covering unless you wear this for religious reasons.

The photograph you send will be used on your visa (known as vignette) which is fixed in your passport.

You must send your original passport or travel document and the original passport or travel document of all dependants.

Qualifications

You must send proof of your qualifications. This must be an original document, issued by the awarding institution on the official headed paper of the institution.

If you have been awarded a qualification

If you have been awarded a qualification, you must provide the original certificate of award.

The original certificate of award must be on the institution’s official paper clearly showing:

• your name;
• the title of the award;
• the date of the award; and
• the name of the awarding institution.

We will not accept original provisional certificates. The original certificate of award must always be provided unless you are awaiting graduation or you no longer have the certificate and the institution that issued the certificate is unable to issue a replacement.

Previous earnings

How many documents you should send

It is essential that earnings are corroborated by more than one source, so you must send at least two of the following from different sources as proof of your earnings:

• payslips;
• personal bank statements;
• letter from your employer;
• official tax document;
• dividend vouchers;
• letter from your managing agent or accountant;
• invoice explanations or payment summaries;
• company or business accounts.

You must send at least two different types of supporting document for each source of earnings claimed. Each piece of supporting evidence must be from a separate source and support all the other evidence so that together they clearly prove the earnings claimed.

Employees who receive a salary

A salaried employee could provide a combination of personal bank statements covering the full 12-month earnings period and either:

• payslips for the full 12-month earnings period; or
• a letter from your employer.

(We consider that payslips and letters from an employer are from the same source and you should therefore not provide a combination of these two types of document.)

Earnings	Points available
£40,000 +	45 points
£35,000 - £39,999	40 points
£32,000 - £34,999	35 points
£29,000 - £31,999	30 points
£26,000 - £28,999	25 points
£23,000 - £25,999	20 points
£20,000 - £22,999	15 points
£18,000 - £19,999	10 points
£16,000 - £17,999	5 points

We will not make any uplift calculations on overseas earnings for extension applications. The applicant must clearly show on the application form which of the earnings were made in the United Kingdom and which were earned overseas. We will add the pounds sterling value of these overseas earnings to any United Kingdom earnings. We will then consider the total figure against the points-scoring table above.

Annex A - Previous Earnings Uplift Conversion Rates

Conversion Rate – 5.3 Angola; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bangladesh; Benin; Bhutan; Burma (Union of Myanmar); Cameroon; Comoros; Congo (Republic of); Cote d’Ivoire; Cuba; Djibouti; Equatorial Guinea; Gambia; Georgia; Guinea; Guyana; Haiti; India; Indonesia; Iraq; Kenya; Kiribati;

Payslips

What the payslips must show

These should be either formal payslips or on company headed paper. If payslips are on unheaded paper or you receive all pay slips online, you must authenticate the evidence by asking the employer to sign and stamp a printout.

If you send payslips, they must cover the whole period claimed (for example, if payslips are produced monthly, you must provide the payslip for each month of the period claimed).

What the bank statements must show

Bank statements you send must be on official bank stationery, and must show each of the payments that you are claiming. If you wish to send electronic bank statements from an online account you should also send a supporting letter from the bank on company headed paper confirming that the documents are authentic.

United Kingdom experience

Proof of your previous earnings made in the United Kingdom

There are no specific documentary requirements for claims for earnings made in the United Kingdom because the necessary documentation will have been sent to prove your earnings to score points in the attributes area.

English language

Proof your degree was taught in English

Where the degree was taken in another country we will always assess it using the points based calculator on our website. The calculator contains information from UK NARIC on whether overseas qualifications are equivalent to United Kingdom Bachelors level or higher.

Applicants can claim points when the points based calculator confirms that the degree:

meets or exceeds the equivalent level to

• United Kingdom Bachelors degree and was taught to a competent standard of

• English equivalent to level C1 on the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR).

Checking qualifications

An applicant should check his/her 191. degree by referring to the points based calculator on our website at: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/pointscalculator

Where the points based calculator is unable to confirm these details, points will not be awarded for the qualification in question.

Where the applicant is unable to find details of their qualification on the points based calculator, UK NARIC will not be able to verify whether a qualification satisfies the English Language requirement. In these circumstances, applicants should either present an alternative qualification from the points based calculator if they possess one, or select an alternative means of satisfying the English Language requirement.

If you have been awarded a qualification

If you have been awarded a qualification, you must send the original certificate of award.

The original certificate of award must be on the institution’s official paper clearly showing:

• your name;
• the title of the award;
• the date of the award; and
• the name of the awarding institution.

We will not accept original provisional certificates. The original certificate of award must always be sent unless you are awaiting graduation or you no longer have the certificate and the institution that issued the certificate is unable to issue a replacement.

Maintenance (funds)

What the documents must show

If you are applying from within the United Kingdom, the balance must show that you have had at least £800 in your account at all times over the three-month period.

If you are applying from outside the United Kingdom, the balance must show that you have had at least £2,800 in your account at all times over the three-month period.

Evidence must be in the form of cash funds. Other accounts or financial instruments for example, shares, bonds and pension funds, regardless of notice are not acceptable.

If you wish to rely on a joint account as evidence of available funds, you must be named on the account along with one or more other named individual.

For applications submitted outside of the United Kingdom, all evidence must be dated no more than seven days before the application is submitted.

For applications submitted in the United Kingdom, all evidence must be dated no more than one month before the application is submitted.

The documents are:

Personal bank or building society statements covering the three-month period immediately before the application

The personal bank or building society statements should clearly show:

• your name;
• the account number;
• the date of the statement;
• the financial institution’s name and logo;
• transactions covering the three-month period;
• that there is enough funds present in the account; and
• that there has been enough money present in the account for the past three months.

If you wish to send electronic bank statements from an online account these must contain all of the details listed above. In addition, you will need to send a supporting letter from your bank, on headed paper, confirming that the statements are genuine. Alternatively, electronic bank statements with the official stamp of the bank that issued the statements will be accepted. The stamp must appear on every page of the statement.

We will not accept statements which simply show the balance in the account on a particular day as these documents do not show that you hold enough funds for the full period required.

Letter from bank confirming funds and that they have been in bank for at least three months

The letter from a bank or building society should state:

• your name;
• the account number;
• the date of the letter;
• the financial institution’s name and logo;
• the funds held in your account; and
• that enough funds have been in the bank for at least three months.

We will not accept letters which simply show the balance in the account on a particular day as these documents do not show that you hold enough funds for the full period required.

Dependants

The evidence provided can relate specifically to the dependant or it can also include evidence for the main applicant which has not been used as evidence of funds on the main applicant’s own application or that of other dependants.

Dependants must send one or a combination of the following:

Personal bank or building society statements covering the previous three-month period

The personal bank or building society statements should clearly show:

• the name of the main applicant and/or the family member making the application, or (for children only) the name of their other parent who is also legally present in the United Kingdom;
• the account number;
• the date of the statement;
• the financial institution’s name and logo;
• transactions covering the three-month period;
• that there are enough funds present in the account for the past three months.

If you wish to send electronic bank statements from an online account these must contain all of the details listed above. You must also send a supporting letter from your bank, on company headed paper, confirming the authenticity of the statements provided.

Statements which only show the balance in the account on a particular day are not enough.

Letter from bank confirming funds and that they have been in bank for at least the previous three months

The letter from a bank or building society should state:

• the name of the main applicant and/or the family member making the application, or (for children only) the name of their other parent who is also legally present in the United Kingdom;
• the account number;
• the date of the letter;
• the financial institution’s name and logo;
• the funds held in the your account; and
• that the funds have been in bank for at least three months and are at least the amount needed.

We will not accept letters which simply show the balance in the account on a particular day as these documents do not show that you hold enough funds for the full period required.