Global Talent Visa Earnings Requirement For Extension And ILR

To qualify for an extension or ILR on the Global Talent visa route, you must have earned money in the UK during your most recent period of permission, and your earnings must be directly related to your endorsed field (or the field linked to a recognised prize, if applicable).

There is no minimum income threshold, but your earnings must be properly evidenced—for example, through payslips, bank statements, or accountant letters. Only income earned within the UK counts, and if your evidence is unclear, the Home Office should contact you before refusing your application.

1. Overview of Global Talent Visa Earnings Requirement in the UK

The Global Talent visa is an appealing route for individuals who wish to expand their careers in a wide range of fields to explore what the UK has to offer them, in terms of employment, research, further education or training. It can also be one of the quickest routes to reach Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), with 'exceptionally talented' applicants in arts and culture or digital technology, or both 'exceptionally talented' and 'promising' candidates in science, engineering, humanities and medicine, or under the UKRI requiring only three years of continuous residence.

One confusing requirement for ILR appears to be that the applicant must have earned money in the UK during their last period of permission in their field. This requirement appears both for applications for extensions of a Global Talent visa, and settlement on the Global Talent route. This article aims to clarify this confusion by addressing some of the most frequent questions we get from our clients.

2. What Is the Earnings Requirement for the Extension of My Global Talent Visa?

Under Appendix Global Talent GT 5.1:

'GT 5.1. An applicant who has, or last had, permission on the Global Talent route and is applying for an extension of permission must meet the following requirements:

This means that to be eligible for an extension of their visa, an applicant must have earned some money, during the time they held their last permission as a Global Talent migrant, and these earnings must be related to the field they were endorsed for.

For example, an applicant endorsed as an exceptionally talented singer would need to earn money performing as a singer, selling records, etc.

3. What Is the Earnings Requirement for Indefinite Leave to Remain on the Global Talent Route?

Under Appendix Global Talent GT 10.2, the earnings requirement for settlement applications is identical:

'GT 10.2. The applicant must have earned money in the UK during their last period of permission in the field in either:

An applicant who was granted their initial application using a Blue Planet prize (an environmental contribution prize listed in Appendix Prestigious Prizes) could, for example, demonstrate earnings from their employment as a researcher with an environmental policy think tank.

4. What Types of Earnings Are Accepted to Meet the Requirement?

In recognition of the broad range of fields that can be endorsed under the Global Talent visa route, no specific evidence is required to meet this requirement. However, the Home Office Guidance on the evidence applicants can send for an extension or settlement application contains a list of non-exhaustive examples of documents. These are divided into:

• Earnings as an employee / director of a limited company – This includes payslips showing your employer's name, a letter from your employer, bank / building society statements showing your salary being paid, HMRC documents (e.g. tax demands, refunds, P60s or P45s), dividend vouchers, and more.
• Earnings as a self-employed person – This includes a letter from a chartered accountant confirming earnings, or company/business financial accounts showing profits (meeting the statutory requirements).
• Earnings as a researcher – This includes details of funding provided by an institution (which should mention your name, the host institution, the title of your post and the details and amount of your funding), a contract of service / hosting agreement with an employer or institution in your field of work, or a letter from that employer / institution.

As this list is not exhaustive, a caseworker may choose to accept alternative evidence if they are satisfied that it is independent and demonstrates money earned in their expert field during the last period of permission. Nevertheless, it is safer to stick to the examples given, to avoid the risk of the evidence being refused.

For example, an architecture applicant may include evidence of their employment for an architecture firm for the first two years of their Global Talent permission, including payslips and a letter from their employer, and bank statements showing these salary payments. If they then started working freelance as a contractor for architecture firms, they may provide a letter from their accountant confirming their earnings during their period of self-employment. Both sources of earnings are acceptable.

5. Do My Earnings Need to be Directly Related to My Endorsement Field?

The Home Office Guidance is very clear that the earnings must be either in 'a field related to the subject matter of their prize' or 'the field in which they were previously endorsed'. This should be interpreted strictly as the specific field of expertise of your prize or your endorsement, as it appears in your letter of endorsement.

For example, earnings a stage actor has made working in a theatre bar part-time would not be considered to be sufficiently linked to their endorsement field of theatre. Even though it is in a theatre setting, it is not linked to the endorsement they received for stage acting.

Whether work in one of the other eligible fields of endorsement by that endorsing body may be accepted is not entirely clear from the guidance. It is therefore safer to stick to the field an applicant was endorsed for. If they have been endorsed as an exceptional talent in 'combined arts', for example, the applicant could justifiably show earnings in any of the eligible disciplines of the Arts Council, such as singing, contemporary dance and live poetry. However, if the applicant was endorsed in the field of 'music' and can only show money earned from a published graphic novel, the Home Office may not accept these earnings as sufficiently linked to their field of endorsement.

6. Is There a Minimum Level of Earnings?

No, there is no minimum level of earnings specified. This may be due to the variety of fields which the Global Talent visa endorses – it would appear unfair to expect an artist to earn as much as a Senior Data Analyst. As long as some earnings which are related to your field of endorsement / your prestigious prize can be demonstrated, the requirement should be met.

7. Do My Earnings Need to Have Been Made in the UK?

The Guidance clearly states that the money must have been earned 'in the UK'. Again, this should be interpreted narrowly as earnings in the UK territory.

This can raise the question of whether earnings from international tours of UK-based companies / bands / etc. can meet the earnings requirement. There is unfortunately no guidance in this regard. Yet, for initial Global Talent endorsement applicants are expected to demonstrate that they will make a contribution to the UK in their field of expertise.

The Home Office Guidance for arts and culture applicants, for example, details that letters of reference should 'say how you would contribute to cultural life in the UK.' There is a similar expectation across all of the endorsement bodies for applicants to show that they will truly make a contribution to the UK in their field of expertise. In the spirit of the Global Talent route, therefore, it would appear logical that an applicant's earnings should be a contribution to the UK's fields of arts and culture, digital technology, science, the UK economy, etc. and not just benefit these markets abroad.

8. When Must the Money Have Been Earned to Meet the Requirement?

The money must have been earned 'during their last permission to stay' on the Global Talent visa route. This means that it must have been earned while an applicant held their last Global Talent visa. A prior period of permission on, for example, a Skilled Worker visa will not be relevant for the purpose of meeting the earnings requirement, even if you were also working in the same field of expertise you were later endorsed for.

9. What Happens If My Earnings Evidence Is Not Accepted?

The guidance on the earnings requirement outlines the approach caseworkers must take if they are not satisfied that the evidence of earnings should be accepted:

'If the applicant provides a different form of evidence, you can choose to accept this if you are content that it is independent and demonstrates they have earned money in the UK in their expert field during their last permission. If you are not satisfied with the evidence provided, you must contact the applicant to give them the opportunity to provide a further acceptable form of evidence.'

As such, applicants are given the opportunity to provide alternative evidence of their earnings before any decision is made. It is suggested that applicants should have a careful read of the list of acceptable forms of evidence to see if they can obtain any of these. If they are still confused about the earnings requirements, it would be a good idea to seek legal advice on how they can meet the requirement, to maximise their chances of success.

10. Contact Our Immigration Barristers

For expert guidance on meeting the earnings requirement for your Global Talent visa extension or ILR application, contact our experienced immigration barristers at 0203 617 9173 or complete our enquiry form below.