Financial evidence and bank statements (2024)

Most international students need to show the UKVI that they can afford to study in the UK. Find out how much you need to show:

28 day rule

The UKVI require the money to have been held for a period of at least 28 consecutive days, without dropping below the required amount at any time during that 28 day period. If it does drop below the required amount, the 28 days will restart from the date when the required amount of money is available again.

If you are a self-financing student, the most common way of showing the UKVI the money is available and has been for 28 days is through Bank Statements, Other Financial Statements or Certificates of Deposit.

Bank statements

There are strict guidelines about bank statements. The statement must be issued by a bank which the UKVI accept. This means the bank must be regulated by the official governing body which regulates the banking or financial industry in your country.

In addition to showing information about the account holder, the account number, currency in which the funds are held and relevant dates, the bank statement must also be dated within 31 days of your Visa application. Purely as an example, if your bank statement was dated 1 January, we and the UKVI must be able to see that you have held the required amount of money for at least 28 days immediately before that date. You could then use this bank statement for a visa application up to 31 January but no later.

You can provide a download of electronic bank statements as long as they show the required information. You no longer need to have these stamped by the bank.

The UKVI will check your financial evidence as part of your visa application and if they cannot confirm this is accurate and authentic, your visa application will be refused on financial grounds.

You can show more than one account in your own name if you have funds in several accounts, provided they meet the 28 day rule.

Statements can also be in different currencies.

You can also use a letter from the bank saying the total amount of money available to you which has been held for 28 days immediately before the date of the letter.

You can use a joint account if you are one of the people named on the account.

Other accounts

Other accounts or financial instruments such as shares, bonds, overdrafts, credit cards and line of credit are not acceptable, regardless of notice period.

Certificates of Deposit

These are mostly acceptable but they must show a similar level of detail to that which is required for a bank statement.

When dealing with a Certificate of Deposit, we and the UKVI must be able to see that the funds are in the form of cash and are immediately available to the account holder for withdrawal. Very few certificates of deposit have this type information printed on them so you must also get a letter from the financial institution issuing the certificate confirming this and the amount which has been held for a minimum of 28 days counting back from the date of the letter. Using Certificates of Deposit can be tricky so if you are in any doubt whether what you have meets the UKVI requirements, get in touch and we will advise you.

Documents

Further Information

Please do not send any documents until these are asked for by the Admissions Department or Immigration Team. When we ask for documents, unless we tell you otherwise, do not send original documents, send scans of them or very good quality photographs where all the details on the document can be seen. Keep original documents for your visa application.

If you have any questions about your financial evidence and cannot find the answers on our web pages, please contact [email protected]