– Jan 2017
This guidance is based on frequently asked questions. It is not intended to be used on its own and you should always
refer to the guidance on the ISVAT web pages. The financial requirements for the Tier 4 visa are very strict and it is the
main area where LSE students receive a refusal for their visa application.
How much money do I need to have?
How long do I need to have held the money for?
You must be able to show the first year of your course fees as
stated on your CAS plus living costs of £1,265 per month up to
a maximum of nine months (£11,385). Established presence
no longer exists so there is not a lower level amount of living
costs for students who have already studied in the UK.
You must have held the money for a 28 consecutive day
period from the closing balance of your bank statements.
Your closing balance must be no older than 31 days from the
day you apply for your visa (the day you submit your online
application form or pay for your application). If your bank
statements are dated after the date you apply for your visa,
your visa application will be refused. You can calculate if you
have held the money for 28 days using timeanddate.com. You
should retain these funds in your bank throughout your
application.
Can I deduct any money for accommodation payments?
You can deduct a maximum of £1,265 from your living costs
for payments made towards LSE or University of London
owned halls of residence only.
If you pay more than £1265 for accommodation, the excess
cannot be used as evidence of funds for visa purposes.
If you are in private accommodation, no payments can be
used as evidence of funds for visa purposes. Some halls
allocated by Residential Services are privately owned. You
cannot deduct money for payments made for accommodation
in:




Lilian Knowles
Urbanest King’s Cross
Urbanest Westminster Bridge
Anson and Carleton Road
The accommodation payment must either be an official
receipt or it may be confirmed on your CAS:
 If you are a new student, accommodation fee
payments will not be shown on your CAS.
 If you are a continuing student it may be possible to
include payments made of up to £1265 on your CAS.
 If you require an official receipt as evidence of
additional payments email Residences Fees.
Will my tuition fees payments be shown on my CAS?
LSE are able to add any tuition fees payments you have made
to your CAS. However, if you have made a payment and it is
not showing on your CAS, you should wait until you receive an
updated CAS before submitting your application. If you state
on your application form that you have paid fees and it is not
reflected on your CAS, your application may be refused.
Whose bank accounts can I use in my application?
You can only use personal bank accounts belonging to:
 You; or
 Your parents; or
 A legal guardian as recognised by a court of law.
If you are using your parents’/legal guardian’s accounts, you
must also provide:
 A letter confirming their relationship to you and that they
are happy to sponsor your studies
 Your original birth certificate/court document confirming
they are your legal guardian.
A joint account will be accepted if you are named on the
statements.
Accounts belonging to anyone else, e.g. a brother or sister will
not be accepted and your application may be refused.
What type of accounts can I use as evidence of my funds?
The money must be held in cash funds that are instantly
accessible to you. You cannot use business accounts, shares,
bonds, overdrafts, credit cards or pensions as evidence of
funds, regardless of notice periods.
Any documents not in English or Welsh must be officially
translated.
UKVI does not accept documents from some financial
institutions in some countries. You can check the list here.
What happens if I have an LSE scholarship?
A scholarship awarded by the LSE, will be stated on your CAS.
It will be included in the course fees paid to date section of
your CAS. If the amount shown is greater than your course
fees, the difference can be used to show you living costs. For
example:
Course fees: £17,500
Course fees paid to date: £25,000
The £7,500 overpayment can be used as evidence of your
maintenance. This will be stated on your CAS. If your
scholarship does not cover the full amount of your tuition fees
and living costs, you must show the remaining amount in your
bank account.
Only students who are receiving an LSE scholarship can
benefit from an overpayment counting towards living costs.
All other students will be refunded any overpayment. You
will not be able to use this as evidence.
I have an Official Financial Sponsor. What evidence do I
need?
An official financial sponsor can be the UK government, your
home government, the British Council, an international
organisation/company or a university/independent school.
You will need to provide an original letter confirming your
sponsorship and the details of how much money is provided
towards your course fees and living costs.
I previously had an Official Financial Sponsor but they are no
longer sponsoring me. Do I need additional evidence?
Yes. If you had official financial sponsorship which ended
within the last 12 months, you will need to obtain a letter of
consent from that sponsor which states that they have no
objection to you applying for another UK visa. If your sponsor
will not give you permission, or if you apply without the letter,
your visa application is likely to be refused.
Can I use a loan as evidence of my funds?
You can only use a loan as evidence if it is provided by your
national government, state or regional government, a
government sponsored student loan company or be part of an
academic or educational loans scheme. For example, US
Federal Loans are an accepted form of loans.
If you intend to use a personal loan to fund your studies, you
must put the money into your bank account and hold it for the
required 28 consecutive day period before applying.
Can I use multiple accounts as evidence?
Yes, you can. UKVI will use the closing balance of the account
that favours you the most to calculate the 28 consecutive day
period.
You can use our maintenance and 28 day period calculator to
check if you have enough money in all of your accounts for the
required time.
Are Certificates of Deposit accepted?
UKVI will accept a Certificate of Deposit as evidence of your
funds. However, it must meet the following requirements:
 The certificate must have been issued within 31 days of the
date of application;
 At least 28 days must have passed between the date of
deposit and the date of issue of the certificate;
 There must be no wording which indicates the funds are
frozen or inaccessible.
UKCISA guidance – immigration on arrival in the UK
 UKVI Tier 4 Policy Guidance
 Maintenance and 28 day period calculator – right
hand link on the web page
For further immigration advice contact the ISVAT team online. If you have questions
about your CAS, contact the team who issued your CAS.
How much are your
tuition fees?
- Check the tuition fees shown
on your CAS statement;
-You need to show the tuition
fees for the first year of your
programme or the whole
programmes if it is 12 months
or less
Subtract any money
you have already
paid for tuition fees
Subtract any LSE
scholarships or bursaries
- Subtract the amount shown
in the Course Fee Paid to Date
Section
- Any scholarships or bursaries
awarded by LSE will be shown on
your CAS
- You can only subtract
payments, which are shown
on your CAS.
- If your scholarship/bursary covers
the whole tuition fees this will be
shown in the Course Fees Paid to
Date section of your CAS
- If you are relying on tuition
fee payments to meet the
requirements, you must wait
until your CAS is updated
How many months living
costs do I need to show?
- Check your course start and end date on
your CAS
- If your course includes part of a month,
you must round this up. For example 4
months + one week = 5 months living costs
- You only need to show a maximum of
nine months living costs
Subtract any money
already paid to LSE for
accommodation
Subtract any LSE
scholarships or bursaries
- You can only subtract money paid
for LSE or University of London
owned residences. Check our guide
to applying for Tier 4 if you are
unsure.
your living costs, it will be shown as
an overpayment of your tuition fees
on your CAS
- Tier 4 Doctorate Extension Scheme
students only need to show two months
living costs
- Accommodation payments will
not be shown on the CAS. You
must contact
[email protected] for an
official receipt
- Multiply this number of months by
£1,265
- You can only subtract a maximum
of £1,265 for accommodation
- If your scholarship /bursary covers
- You can calculate your
scholarship/bursary this way: total
scholarship minus tuition fees =
maintenance scholarship
How much
money you
will need for
your tuition
fees
How much
money you
will need for
your living
costs
Total
amount of
money you
are
required to
show for a
28
consecutive
day period
in your
bank
account
The UKVI does not accept statements from some financial
institutions. Check the list in Appendix P. If your bank is not
approved, you must obtain statements from a different bank.
Will the UKVI accept statements from
this bank?
You cannot use the following types of account as evidence: business
accounts, stocks, shares, investments, pensions, property deeds,
credit cards, overdrafts or lines of credit.
Are the bank statements from a
personal, cash account where the
funds can be instantly accessed?
Are the bank statements in
your own name?
Are the bank statements
in your parents’/legal
guardian’s name?
Do you have an original birth certificate / court
document PLUS an original letter confirming your
relationship and that you have permission to use the
funds from your parent/legal guardian statements?
name?
You must use your own or your
parents’/legal guardians’ bank
statements. If you use the statements of
another family member you will be
refused.
You must obtain these original
documents. A notarised birth
certificate will be accepted but not
an affidavit.
Is the bank statement an original document?
You must include original documents. LSE students have
been refused for including photocopies or scans.
Does the bank statement have all of the
following?
Account Number:
Bank’s Name:
Bank’s Logo:
What date do the statements say they were issued
on? Is this before the date of application (the
day you submitted and paid for your application)?
What are the start and end dates on your bank
statement. Is this more than 28 days?
Is the end date of your statement less than 31
days from the date you intend to apply?
What is the lowest amount of money during the
28 day period? Is this less than you need to show?
Are your bank statements in English?
Your bank statements must include all three of these details. A stamp is
not sufficient to replace a logo and LSE students have been refused for
submitting bank statements without the logo.
Online banking statements or internet print-outs must be stamped on
every page.
You must prepare and print your statements before you submit
your application. If your statements are printed after the date of
application, you are highly likely to be refused.
You must show that you have held the funds for a 28 consecutive
day period from the closing balance of the bank statement. If you
are using multiple accounts, the 28 day period starts from the
closing balance of the account which has the most money in.
Your bank statements must be no older than 31 days on the date
you make your application.
If the lowest amount of money in your account is below what you
are required to show, you will be refused. There is no flexibility
even if it is a small amount. If you are using an overseas account you
must check the lowest amount using www.oanda.com.
You will need to obtain an official translation which can be verified
by the UKVI. See our guide for more information on translations.
KEY:
Yes =
No =
Yes after amending =
This flow-chart is for guidance only. You should always double-check your documents against the Tier 4 Policy Guidance.
Referring to this flow-chart does not guarantee that your application will be successful.