Demonstrate your finances

Submitting financial documents to UKVI

When applying for your Student Visa, you may need to provide evidence that you meet the financial requirements. If finance documents are needed for your student visa application, the university will ask to see your financial documents before issuing your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS).

At the time you make your visa application, if you have held a valid visa for 12 months, you may be exempt from demonstrating any evidence of your finances. See the gov.uk information on finances for a student visa application. If this applies to you, you will not need to provide finance documents to the Visa Compliance team as part of your CAS request.

Additionally, if you are a national of a country listed under the differential evidence requirement, you are not required to submit financial documents as part of your visa application. However, please note that UKVI caseworkers may still request supporting documents when assessing applications under these arrangements. Details of the list of countries under the differential requirement, and how this works are found in the gov.uk information on finances.

For guidance on how to calculate the amount of money you need to demonstrate, please refer to our information on the financial requirements for your Student Visa application.

We have listed below, the different types of documents you can use as evidence of funds for your Student Visa application. For more detailed guidance, we recommend reading the UKVI Finance Caseworker Guidance.

Bank Statements

If you provide a bank statement with your Student Visa application, the bank account must belong to you or your parent(s)/legal guardian(s). If you use a joint account with multiple names, either you or your parent(s)/legal guardian(s) must be named on the account. You may also use your partner’s account, but only if your partner is applying for entry clearance or permission to stay at the same time as you, or has already been granted permission.

The funds in the relevant bank account(s) must be available for 28 consecutive days and must not fall below the required amount during this period. The bank statement must not be older than 31 days at the time you submit your visa application.

Example bank statement

The bank statement should:

• be on official stationary or an electronic record
• be printed or electronic (not hand-written)
• include the account holder or holders’ names
• include the account number
• include information about the bank, such as contact details or a branch code
• include the amount of money available/transactions
• include the date of statement
• include the currency

Using your parent(s)/legal guardian(s)' bank statement

If you are using a bank statement from your parent(s) or legal guardian(s), you will need to provide evidence of your relationship. This can be done with one of the following documents:

• Your birth certificate
• Your certificate of adoption
• A court document naming your legal guardian(s).

Please note, an affidavit is only evidence that someone has made a sworn statement regarding a claimed relationship, and not evidence of that relationship by themselves.

You will also need to include a letter from your parent(s) or legal guardian(s) confirming that you have their permission to use their funds for your studies. The letter should clearly state:

• the relationship between you and your parent(s) or legal guardian(s)
• that they have given consent for you to use their money to study in the UK

Please make sure that the names on the above documents match those on the bank statement.

Overseas bank statements

You can use an overseas bank account to show your funds, but you will need to convert the balance into pounds sterling (GBP) using the OANDA website, which is the same tool UKVI uses when reviewing visa applications.

If you are using a non-UK bank account, UKVI will carry out additional checks. These include confirming that the financial institution is properly regulated and that it uses electronic record-keeping systems.

Bank Letters

Instead of a bank statement, your bank can produce a letter to confirm you have the required amount of funds available. This letter must confirm that the funds have been held for a consecutive 28-day period and the letter must not be dated more than 31 days before you make your Student Visa application.

Example bank letter

The bank letter should:

• be on official stationary or an electronic record
• be printed or electronic (not hand-written)
• include your name or the name(s) of your parent(s)/legal guardian(s)
• include the account number
• include information about the bank (for example, the financial institution's name and logo and contact details)
• include the amount of money available
• include the date
• include the currency

Certificate of Deposit

A certificate of deposit (fixed deposit) can be used as evidence of proof of funds as long as the document meets the following requirements:

• the certificate of deposit must have been issued by a bank that confirms that an individual has deposited or invested a sum of money
• the funds have been held for the required 28 day period
• the applicant can access the funds at any time

Example Fixed Deposit cover letter

Loan Letters

If you have an educational loan to cover the cost of your studies, you can use this to meet the financial evidence requirements.

To be acceptable as evidence of funds, the loan must be in your name. Loans provided to your parent, parents, legal guardian or guardians cannot be used as evidence of a loan, even if the loan is for study purposes.

The student loan letter must confirm that the provider of the loan is one of the providers the UKVI accept and that it is regulated by the appropriate regulatory body for the student loans. More information about the requirements that the loan must meet are found in the gov.uk information about financial requirements.

If your  student loan is only covering some of your course fees or living costs, then you need to provide evidence that you have the rest of the funds required.

Example loan letter

To use your loan in a visa application, you need to  provide a letter from the loan provider which includes:

• Your name
• The date of the letter
• The name and logo of the institution providing the loan
• Confirmation that the money is available to you as a loan
• Confirmation that the loan is provided by a government, or through a government-sponsored student loan company educational loans scheme
• The letter needs to confirm that the financial institution that has issued the loan is regulated by the official regulatory body for the country the institution is in and where the money is held

Official Financial Sponsorship

If you have an official financial sponsor who is paying some or all of your tuition fees, and/or providing you with money to meet your living costs during your studies, you can use this as evidence of funds.

Example sponsorship letter

You will need to provide a letter from your financial sponsor which shows:

• Your name
• The name and contact details of your official financial sponsor
• The date of the letter
• The length of your financial sponsorship
• The amount of money the sponsor is giving you or a statement confirming that they will cover all of your fees and living costs

An official financial sponsor must be one of the following:

• a government
• the British Council or an international organisation
• an international company
• a university or a UK independent school
• US Government's Federal Student Aid - further details can be found here

If you have received full  financial  sponsorship from your government or  international  scholarship  agency for a course completed in the last 12 months, you need to provide written consent from the official sponsor for your new student visa application .

If anyone else is providing you with money for your studies, they cannot be considered an official financial sponsor and the money will need to be in your own bank account.

Please note that if the money from your sponsor only covers part of your tuition fees or living costs, you need to make sure that you have the remaining money in an eligible bank account.