If you are an international student, as part of your student visa application to study in the UK , you will need to show funds on financial evidence/s unless you are from an exempt country. This article provides answers with latest information for your frequently asked questions so that you can prepare yourself properly at the planning stage of you higher study in the UK. You will find key information for UKVI financial requirements in all possible situations for all types of students including their dependents; you just need to choose the right one applicable and relevant to you.

Q: How much money I need to show to meet financial requirement for UK student visa application?

To apply for UK student visa you must have enough money to pay for your course and support yourself in the UK. The amount you need to show depends on your circumstances and what you’re applying for.

Students

• your course fees, which are set out on your confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS)
• the duration of your course
• whether you have already paid some course fee to your education provider
• your course of study or type of student permission you are applying for
• the campus location of your main study site of the education provider
• if you have paid any money to your education provider for accommodation
• your living arrangements, if you are aged under 18

Child students

• your course fees
• your boarding fees if you are boarding at the education provider
• the duration of your course
• who you will live with and where you are going to live

Financial requirements funds include course fees for 1st year or full course fees if the course is less than 1 year and living costs. If you have paid any money for course fees, it would be mentioned on you CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies) issued by your education provider, you can deduct this amount from the total money required and show balance of 1st year tuition fees + living funds as shown below:

Living funds requirements: students and child students

If you have paid a deposit for student accommodation to the education provider, then you can offset up to £1,334 from the living funds if the campus is inside London or up to £1,023 if the campus is outside London.

Living funds requirements for student dependents who apply for entry clearance visa or if they have been in the UK with permission for less than 12 months will require showing £845 per month each dependent for inside London and £680 per month each dependent for outside London.

Living funds requirements: each dependent

Q: What type of funds I can show as evidence of maintenance?

You can show you have enough money using:

• your own money in your personal or joint account
• your parent’s/legal guardian’s money in their personal account (you will need a permission letter with consent for use of this money by you & evidence of relationship)
• your partner’s/spouse’s money if your partner/spouse is present in the UK or applying for visa together with you
• a student loan from a government, government sponsored loan company, or a regulated student loans scheme
• an official financial or government sponsorship or grant

Q: What legal document I need to provide to prove relationship between me and my parent (s) or legal guardian (s)?

The legal documents you can use to prove relationship include:

• your birth certificate showing the name(s) of the parents(s) who has provided the bank statements (for Chinese and Pakistani students, UKVI will accept a document called a Household Register) or
• a certificate of adoption showing your name and the name(s) of the parent(s) who has provided the bank statements or
• a court document stating the name of the legal guardian(s) who is/are holding the funds and your name

There are no other exceptions and you cannot use any other type of legal document such as an affidavit to confirm the relationship.

Q: In what type of bank account I can show my maintenance funds if I a self-funded student?

If you’re not being financially sponsored or relying on a student loan,your funds can be held in any form of personal or building society account including a:

• current account
• deposit account
• savings account
• pension savings
• investment account

Funds must be in an account that allows you immediate access.

Funds must have been acquired legally and if you were in the UK you must not have earned them when working illegally.

As evidence of maintenance funds, you can provide:

• bank statements
• a letter from your bank or building society
• building society passbooks
• certificates of deposit

You can provide a download of electronic bank statements as long as it has this information. You do not need to have these stamped by the bank.

Q: Minimum how many days I must maintain the funds?

You must maintain the required amount of money for consecutive minimum of 28 days. In this 28 day period the funds must not go below the required amount. The 28 days is calculated by counting back from the date of the closing balance on the most recent financial evidence.

The financial evidence must not be older than more than 31 days on the submission date of your visa application.

Q: How the amount of funds will be calculated if my funds are held in foreign currency (not in GBP)?

If your money is held in a foreign currency (currency in your country or currency other than pound sterling) this will be converted into GBP (£) using the spot exchange rate on OANDA for the date of the application.

Q: Which financial evidence is not accepted by UKVI?

A: The following are not accepted as evidence to show you have the required amount of money for your visa application:

• any salary accounts, credit cards, overdrafts, shares or bonds, bitcoin savings, pensions
• bank statements from any relatives who are not your parents or legal guardians
• bank statements from friends
• bank statements in a company’s name
• employment contracts, payslips or evidence of any future pay or salary
• sponsor letters by a family member
• sponsor letters by any organisation, company or business that is not an official financial sponsor – this includes a church or local company

Q: Which financial institutions are not acceptable by UKVI?

UKVI will not consider funds if they are held by a financial institution where:

• bank accounts that don’t use electronic record keeping
• bank accounts that are not regulated by the financial regulatory body in the country in which the bank operates
• .
• the case worker is unable to make satisfactory verification checks

Q: What are the requirements of student loan letter?

You can use a loan letter as evidence of your money and meet UKVI financial requirements. The letter must confirm that the loan is a student loan provided by either the relevant government or a government sponsored Student Loan Company or an academic or educational loans scheme. The letter must be on loan provider’s letterhead stationery with name, address, contact details & logo and should confirm:

• your name (you cannot use a loan letter in a parent’s name)
• loan sanction date (the loan sanction date must be less than 6 months old on the date that you apply for visa)
• the amount of education loan approved
• that the loan is for you
• that there are no conditions placed on the release of the funds other than your study visa application being successful
• that the funds will be available to you directly before you travel to the UK, or paid directly to the University, before you begin your course

The loan provider may pay part or full tuition fees directly to the University if requested or required. In this case the loan letter must contain all the above information above and must confirm that they would pay part/full tuition fees directly to the university and the remaining amount of tuition fees (if any) and the amount of living costs would be paid directly to you prior to your travel to the UK.

Q: Who are Official Financial Sponsors? What evidence I require from Official Financial Sponsor to meet the financial requirements?

An Official Financial Sponsor for UK study can only be one of the following:

• UK government or your home government
• British Council or any international organisation
• A UK independent school
• An international company that has offices in more than one country and a website with clear contact details for all the overseas offices
• A university

If you are a sponsored student who is sponsored by an Official Financial Sponsor, you must submit a letter confirming the details of the funding as part of your Student visa application. The letter must confirm if they are covering all of your course fees and maintenance or part of these and which parts. If they will be covering part of the maintenance costs, you must provide additional documents (show evidence of having the rest of the money needed from another source, for example by also submitting your personal bank statements) to cover the rest of the required maintenance funds.

The official financial sponsorship letter should include:

• the date of the letter issued
• your name
• the name and contact details of the financial sponsor
• the duration of the sponsorship
• the amount of money you will receive per month or alternatively, if you are fully sponsored then confirmation that your financial sponsor will “cover all of your tuition fees and living costs”
• names of your family members if the scholarship covers them too
• unconditional consent for you to stay in and re-enter the country for an unlimited time if your financial sponsor is a government or an international scholarship agency (eg The British Council) and they fully sponsor you for all your tuition fees and living expenses

The letter should be on official letterhead paper of the Official Financial Sponsor. The letter does not have to be original, you can submit a scan copy or an electronic version (detailing the funds granted) that has been emailed to you.

If your official financial sponsor is your university, you do not need a letter if the details of your financial sponsorship are on your CAS.

If you studied in the UK in the past and had been sponsored by an official financial sponsor, you may need to provide a letter of consent from your past official financial sponsor, in addition to your new financial evidence. This consent letter is only required if:

• you were fully financially sponsored for both tuition fees and living expenses and
• your financial sponsor was a government or an international scholarship agency and
• you received money from this financial sponsor within the last 12 months prior to making your new Student visa application

The letter must specifically confirm that your previous financial sponsor gives you consent to remain in and re-enter the UK andthat this consent is for an unlimited time.

Q: Who do not need to show evidence of maintenance funds for student visa application?

A: You do not need to prove you have money to support yourself and submit any financial document if:

• you havebeen in the UK for at least 12 months on a student visa or on a visa that allows you to switch to student visa prior to the date of your Student visa extension/switching application. You must in the UK at the time of the new visa application to get this benefit
• you are applying as a student union sabbatical officer
• you are applying as a postgraduate doctor or dentist on a recognised foundation programme
• you are a British national overseas or froma ‘differential evidence requirement’country

FAQs answer source: GOV.UK, UKCISA

Disclaimer: This article has been written to provide guidelines only to prepare international students throughout the admission and visa application process – there has been no attempt or intention to provide any Immigration Advice. If you require immigration advice, you must seek this from an OISC (Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner) regulated adviser or company. To find an immigration adviser, please check here at GOV.UK.