You must ensure that your funds are not held in an institution that the UK Visas and Immigration Agency are unable to verify. You can find the Home Office and UK Visas and Immigration list of acceptable institutions on the UK government website.
The money will have to have been in the account for a minimum period of 28 consecutive days. During the 28 days leading up to the date the bank statement is generated, your balance must not have dropped below the right amount. If it has dropped below the right amount even for just one day, you will not meet the financial requirements and your student visa will be rejected. The last transaction date (on your bank statement) of that 28-day period must not be more than one month before the date of your application.
You can prove you have these funds available by providing one of the following documents:
- A personal bank or building society statement (a bank account in your parents' name is also acceptable provided you also supply your birth certificate and an original signed and dated letter from your parent(s) confirming they are your parent(s) and they consent to their money being used to fund your UK studies)
- An official letter from your bank
- An official letter from a regulated financial institution confirming when the funds will be released to you
- Letter of official financial sponsorship
- Letter of official government sponsorship - Please note that if you are sponsored and your sponsor is paying for your dependants to live in the UK also, the sponsor's letter must state the amount they are providing for the dependants.
You must provide professional translations of documents which are not written in English and are asked to submit one photocopy of each document as well as providing the original document.
If your parent(s) are sponsoring you:
If using your parent/guardians’ account you must also include your birth certificate and a letter from your parents.
The bank statement that you provide must show the following:
- your name or your parent's name(s),
- the account number;
- the date of the statement;
- the financial institution's name and logo; and the amount of money available.
Please see the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) website for more details about what your bank statements should contain.
UKVI - Guide to supporting documents
If you have any questions on this, please do not hesitate to get back to us.
Author: Zoe Papageorgiou
Recruitment Officer (International Conversion) | Directorate of Marketing and Student Recruitment, University of Salford.
