This list describes in detail the types of documents you can present at the visa interview as proofs of finance:
- Liquid funds
- Non Liquid Funds
- Property
- Annual Income
Liquid Funds are those funds which are at your instant disposal.
1. Savings Accounts:
This is considered as good as cash in hand. If however there are insufficient funds in the account, you will most likely need to transfer money from a non-liquid source into your savings account to present at the visa interview. In this case, carry documents as proof of transactions.
In any case, be prepared to justify any significant deposits in your savings account with necessary documents.
Documents Required:
A fixed deposit is a long term deposit with a bank which yields a higher rate of interest. You can show either the principal amount or the current amount of a fixed deposit as a liquid asset. Current amount will be higher than principal amount due to accrued interest, but will require an official bank statement as proof.
The maturity amount of a fixed deposit cannot be considered as liquid funds unless the maturity date is before the time, when you will be needing the funds.
Documents Required:
A bank loan that has already been sanctioned can be shown as liquid funds. Maximum bank loan available in India = Rs. 20 Lakhs. (Some banks go upto Rs. 30 Lakhs as well)
Be ready to explain what was used as collateral to obtain the loan, if required.
We would strongly advise against showing a loan from a foreign bank as source of funds.
Documents Required:
Any monetary scholarship is also counted as liquid funds. These can be granted by various organizations, both from India and abroad. Make sure you are prepared to explain how you were eligible for the scholarship and your ties with the awarding organization.
Documents Required:
These are funds which are not available instantly, but can be made available in the near future if required.
1. Provident Funds:
There are several provident funds and it is beyond the scope of this document to discuss each one of those in detail.
Provident funds will pay you a certain amount of money at a given date. A percentage of this final amount is immediately available. Only this percentage can be shown as liquid funds. The rest is counted as non-liquid funds.
There are also public provident funds (PPF). Funds available through PPF can be shown as liquid funds.
Documents Required:
All policies are considered as non-liquid funds.
Documents Required:
NSC's are also considered as non-liquid funds.
Documents Required:
There are again several kinds of bonds and each of them will have specific conditions. Unless you dissolve these bonds and transfer them to savings accounts, they are counted as non-liquid funds.
Documents Required:
The value of these assets is constantly fluctuating and hence have to be shown as non-liquid assets. I would recommend you calculate the value of the shares approximately one week prior to the visa interview. You can do this yourself also and do not need to pay any professional to do it.
Documents Required:
These are also constantly fluctuating in value and to be shown as non-liquid assets.
Documents Required:
Any other investments not covered above or later can be counted as non-liquid assets only.
Documents Required: As per investment
Note that most of the above non-liquid assets can be dissolved into liquid funds. If you do so, make sure you carry the necessary proofs for the dissolution of these assets so that you can explain the influx of liquid funds in your savings account.
Property:
Property is not directly included in non-liquid assets since you will rarely be selling property to generate funds. While it is not compulsory to show property, it is highly recommended. There are two reasons:
Along with all the above assets, you will also need to show the annual income of your sponsors. This is generally required to prove that your sponsors can sustain themselves while providing money for your education.
The annual income may include income from one of your liquid assets such as FD interest, or pay-offs from other investments. In this case, make sure that their income excluding these sources is sufficient.
Documents Required:
1. Savings Accounts:
This is considered as good as cash in hand. If however there are insufficient funds in the account, you will most likely need to transfer money from a non-liquid source into your savings account to present at the visa interview. In this case, carry documents as proof of transactions.
In any case, be prepared to justify any significant deposits in your savings account with necessary documents.
Documents Required:
- Original passbook(s) with transactions of at least last 6 months
- Bank statement(s) (optional)
- Proof of significant transactions
- Get a printed transaction history of the past 6 months from the bank (Recommended)
- If you have Internet banking, print the bank statements over the past 6 months.
A fixed deposit is a long term deposit with a bank which yields a higher rate of interest. You can show either the principal amount or the current amount of a fixed deposit as a liquid asset. Current amount will be higher than principal amount due to accrued interest, but will require an official bank statement as proof.
The maturity amount of a fixed deposit cannot be considered as liquid funds unless the maturity date is before the time, when you will be needing the funds.
Documents Required:
- Original receipts
- Bank statements for current value
A bank loan that has already been sanctioned can be shown as liquid funds. Maximum bank loan available in India = Rs. 20 Lakhs. (Some banks go upto Rs. 30 Lakhs as well)
Be ready to explain what was used as collateral to obtain the loan, if required.
We would strongly advise against showing a loan from a foreign bank as source of funds.
Documents Required:
- Original loan sanction letter with the name of the university mentioned
Any monetary scholarship is also counted as liquid funds. These can be granted by various organizations, both from India and abroad. Make sure you are prepared to explain how you were eligible for the scholarship and your ties with the awarding organization.
Documents Required:
- Original scholarship letter
- Documents proving ties with the awarding organization (especially for caste specific trusts)
These are funds which are not available instantly, but can be made available in the near future if required.
1. Provident Funds:
There are several provident funds and it is beyond the scope of this document to discuss each one of those in detail.
Provident funds will pay you a certain amount of money at a given date. A percentage of this final amount is immediately available. Only this percentage can be shown as liquid funds. The rest is counted as non-liquid funds.
There are also public provident funds (PPF). Funds available through PPF can be shown as liquid funds.
Documents Required:
- Original passbooks
- Original statements (as applicable)
All policies are considered as non-liquid funds.
Documents Required:
- Original policy letter
NSC's are also considered as non-liquid funds.
Documents Required:
- Original certificates
There are again several kinds of bonds and each of them will have specific conditions. Unless you dissolve these bonds and transfer them to savings accounts, they are counted as non-liquid funds.
Documents Required:
- Original bond certificates
The value of these assets is constantly fluctuating and hence have to be shown as non-liquid assets. I would recommend you calculate the value of the shares approximately one week prior to the visa interview. You can do this yourself also and do not need to pay any professional to do it.
Documents Required:
- Original share certificates (if possible)
- DMAT account statement
These are also constantly fluctuating in value and to be shown as non-liquid assets.
Documents Required:
- Original mutual fund investment document
- Investment portfolio (if you are investing through an agency)
Any other investments not covered above or later can be counted as non-liquid assets only.
Documents Required: As per investment
Note that most of the above non-liquid assets can be dissolved into liquid funds. If you do so, make sure you carry the necessary proofs for the dissolution of these assets so that you can explain the influx of liquid funds in your savings account.
Property:
Property is not directly included in non-liquid assets since you will rarely be selling property to generate funds. While it is not compulsory to show property, it is highly recommended. There are two reasons:
- It shows strong ties to your home country.
- In case you are falling short of funds for the second year, you can show property as a collateral for loan.
- Original proof of ownership
- Evaluation certificate from a registered evaluator (optional, will cost money to obtain)
Along with all the above assets, you will also need to show the annual income of your sponsors. This is generally required to prove that your sponsors can sustain themselves while providing money for your education.
The annual income may include income from one of your liquid assets such as FD interest, or pay-offs from other investments. In this case, make sure that their income excluding these sources is sufficient.
Documents Required:
- Income Tax Returns of the past 3 years of each sponsor
- If IT Returns of the current year have not been filed, carry salary slips, bills, receipts or any other proof of income over the past year as applicable.