Financial documents required for procuring student visa

In order to obtain a student visa, financial documents are most important. Failure to submit the necessary documents will affect your chances of getting a student visa. In this article, we will discuss about the list of specific financial documents required for procuring a student's visa and why those documents are required.

While issuing a student visa, all the foreign embassies have one common objective. This is to understand if a student can afford the cost of the education, which would include the tuition fee, cost of living, travel expenses, etc. Or would there be a possibility of the student becoming a potential immigrant? In other words, the immigration officials would want to know if the student will stay back in their country to seek employment after the completion of his/her course or will they return back to their home country? If the officials feel there is a chance that the student would stay back in their country, that student's visa is immediately rejected. The financial documents of the applicant are required so that the immigration officials can discern the student's financial status and understand whether the student's family can afford an expensive education and if they will return back to their home country after its completion. Generally, investments, assets and salary statements are indicators proving the financial capacity of student's family. In addition, the visa officer will also be interested in understanding the occupation of the sponsor/family.

Given below is a list of the most important financial documents that will help the student in the visa application process: 

1. Savings Bank Account Statement - required for the past 12 to 24 months.

2. Bank Fixed Deposits Certificates

3. Income Tax Documents for the past two financial years

4. If the sponsor owns a company/firm: Balance Sheets, Profit & Loss Accounts and Income Tax Documents for last two financial years

5. If a loan is used as the method of sponsorship; then a loan sanction letter

Other necessary documents include evidences such as:

1. Proof of investment in equity/shares, bonds and mutual funds

2. Insurance policies or premium receipts

3. Provident funds and post office savings proof

4. Certificates of investments in NSC & KVP.

The financial documents required for obtaining a visa will be different and will be specified in the immigration rules of the respective country. All applicants must go through the documents carefully when preparing to apply for a student visa.

For instance, countries such as United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, among others will require photocopies of most of the documents as per their guidelines, where as for the US Student Visa, it is safer to carry the originals of the relevant documents, including income tax documents and bank statements when appearing for the personal interview.