How Our Eligibility Engine Works

Last reviewed 2026-05-20 by the VISA AI Editorial Team

VISA AI scores your fit against 110+ visa and PR pathways across 24 countries. We built this page so you can see exactly how those scores are produced — what we look at, where the data comes from, and where the limits are.

Rules from official sources

Every program's eligibility rules are encoded from the destination country's official immigration authority — IRCC, Home Office, BAMF, DHA, etc. See our Data Sources.

Deterministic scoring first

Hard thresholds (age, language, salary, qualification) are evaluated as pass/fail. AI is never used to fabricate eligibility on a program you don't meet.

AI for explanation, not eligibility

Our AI layer translates rule outcomes into plain English, surfaces gaps, and suggests the next 2–3 highest-leverage improvements. It does not change a fail to a pass.

Monthly review

Each program's rule set is reviewed against the official source at least monthly. Major policy shifts (e.g. UK SOL changes, Express Entry draws) trigger same-week updates.

The four scoring layers

1. Hard eligibility (pass/fail)

Each program has 4–12 hard rules: age bands, minimum language scores, minimum salary, qualification recognition, occupation eligibility. Fail any one and the program is marked ineligible — full stop.

2. Points calculation

For points-based programs (Canada CRS, Australia 189/190, UK Skilled Worker tradeable points, Germany Opportunity Card), we calculate your score using the destination country's official formula. The number we show you is the same number an official points calculator would produce.

3. Match quality (0–100)

For each eligible program we generate a fit score from 0–100 weighing: distance from minimum thresholds, recent invitation cut-offs (where published), shortage occupation status, and family-friendliness for dependants. A score of 85+ means you're well above the minimum bar; 60–84 means you qualify but are close to thresholds; below 60 we mark as borderline.

4. AI commentary

Once rules and points are computed, we pass the structured result (not your raw profile) to our AI layer using Google Gemini 2.5 Pro and OpenAI GPT-5. The AI's only job is to explain the result in plain English and surface the next 2–3 highest-leverage improvements you could make.

What we don't do

  • We don't predict approvals. Eligibility ≠ approval. Visa officers exercise discretion, and individual circumstances (refusal history, security checks, document quality) sit outside any algorithm.
  • We don't replace a licensed advisor. For complex cases — prior refusals, criminal record, investor routes, asylum — see a regulated immigration lawyer or consultant (RCIC, MARA, OISC).
  • We don't sell your data. Your assessment is stored against your account and is never shared with third parties without your explicit consent. See our Privacy Policy.

Corrections and feedback

If a rule appears outdated or a score looks wrong, write to [email protected]. We publish corrections in the page footer of any guide we update, with the date and a one-line note.

Open about our limits. VISA AI is a decision-support tool. It exists to help you shortlist pathways quickly — not to replace the judgement of a regulated immigration professional.