Financial Requirements for a Student Visa
Financial evidence is extremely important for your visa application, and it’s essential to get it right as it is a common reason for visa refusals.
Do I need to provide financial evidence?
If you are applying for or extending a student visa within the UK, and you have been living in the UK with a visa for 12 months or more, you do not need to prepare any financial evidence.
Also, nationals of some countries do not need to provide evidence of their money when they apply for a student visa, UKVI refers to this as the 'Differential evidence requirement'. You can find a list of countries on the UK Government website this applies to.
If this does not apply to you, e.g. you are making a visa application from overseas or you have lived in the UK for less than 12 months at the time you are making your visa application, then you will have to meet the general financial requirements as explained below.
How much you need to show
Your financial evidence must show that you have enough to cover:
- Your tuition fees for the first year of your course – or for the full course duration if it's a one-year course or shorter
and
- Living costs (or maintenance) of £1,136 per month for up to nine months. If you are eligible to have dependants on your student visa, then each dependant needs to show at least £680 per month for up to nine months. This means most student dependants need to have at least £6120.
If your visa is for a course of less than nine months, then you will only need living expenses for the length of the course. For any longer courses, you will just need to show that you have living expenses for the first nine months (£10,224).
Deductions
You are allowed to deduct any tuition fees you have already paid for your course from the total that you are required to show, for example:
Your tuition fees are £18,000 and living costs are £10,224. Before you complete your visa application, you pay £10,000 toward the tuition fee and receive a £3000 scholarship. Your CAS will reflect the following:
£18,000 + £10,224 = £28,224
£28,224 - £10,000 - £3000 = £15,224
You therefore need to show a minimum £15,224 held for 28 consecutive days
What type of evidence can I use?
Evidence of your money must meet very specific requirements and if it does not, your visa application is likely to be refused.
As evidence of your money, you can use any one or more of these forms of evidence as set out in Appendix Finance:
- personal bank statements
- letter from your bank, or a regulated financial institution
- certificate(s) of deposit letter from an official financial sponsor
- letter from a regulated financial institution confirming that you have a loan from the national government, the state or regional government, or a government-sponsored student loan company
- letter from a regulated financial institution confirming that you have a loan that is part of an academic or educational loans scheme