Knowing the expenses for abroad education and how to handle it with a proper pre-planning is a must. After all, you are going to travel all the way to the US, wouldn’t you want to be sure about your finances? The visa officers consider finances as one of the most important factors for issuing an F1 visa.
So, how to show funds for I-20 is one question that needs to be answered when finances are considered. I-20 proof of funds is therefore quite an essential part of your overall US student visa process. Keep reading as this blog will take you through the minute details of F-1 visa financial requirements along with answers on how to show funds for I-20!
Why Do You Need to Show Financial Proof for an F-1 Visa?
Before answering how to show funds for I-20, let us understand why proof of funds is even required. When you have your admissions and select a particular college to attend, you need to sort your finances out to see how you can survive the financial pressure that you will be exposed to. The visa officer asks for your proof of financial support for F-1 visa to ensure:
- You can cover your expenses while you study in the US.
- There isn’t immense financial pressure on your mind that would affect your education and you won’t start to find illegal ways to cope up with it.
- Your reason for going to the US is clear, i.e to study on your F1 visa and not any other alternative reasons.
Suggested: How to Plan Financially for Your US Student Visa?
How Much Funds are Required for an F-1 Visa?
So, how much money to show for I-20? The proof of funds for F-1 visa that needs to be shown is very much dependent on the program that you are choosing. When you justify your eligibility for studying in a particular university, there’s an amount that you need to show to the university officials and when proven an I-20 is generated.
Any amount equal to or exceeding the I-20 amount shown is fine, which covers the living and tuition fee for the first year of university. Also keep in mind that, proof of financial support for F-1 visa holds the key to getting hold of your F1 visa.
Recommended: What is the Difference between J1 and F1 Student Visa?
Financial Requirements for an F-1 Visa
Now coming to answering the most important question- “How much money to show for I-20?”
When showing the bank statement for US student visa, you need to show a minimum fund requirement of one year tuition fees along with one year living cost for international students in the USA. Other F-1 visa financial requirements include documents as I-20 proof of funds.
List of Financial Documents Required for an F-1 Visa
There can be many ways to prove that you are eligible to stay in the US while you are studying your course. The US visa Officer makes sure that you have funds that can be liquidated easily if required, and hence they prefer funds that are easily convertible to liquid funds in order to bear the expenses that would occur. Some of the financial documents for I-20 are:
- Personal or sponsor’s bank statements
- Provident funds
- Fixed deposit
- Scholarship proof
- Loan sanction letter
Suggested: What to do after receiving your I20?
Let us now move forward to understand each of these F-1 visa financial requirements briefly:
Personal or Sponsor’s Bank Statements
The bank statement of your account or your sponsor’s bank statement coupled with the “Affidavit of Support” can provide concrete evidence of you covering your expenses in the US.
Provident Funds
Provident Funds are the funds that are stored in an account by an employer and are provided to the employee as a lump sum after the tenure of their work comes to an end. Documents for provident funds can very well be shown as financial proof for F-1 visa.
Fixed Deposit
A fixed deposit is an account from which you can’t take out money on a regular basis and have to break the whole FD if you want to get the fund in it. It provides a higher interest rate to the investors than the savings account. This type of fund can be shown as proof of funds for F-1 visa because the deposit can be liquidated into cash easily and the value is going to be constant throughout.
Scholarship Proof
If you have attained any scholarship of some sort by the university itself or the government of your own home country, that can be shown as a proof of financial support for F-1 visa that will reduce the amount that needs to be shown in the visa interview and sometimes waive off your whole tuition fee.
Loan Sanction Letter
The most preferred mode of how to show funds for I-20 is in the form of a loan sanction letter. After taking a loan from any known national or international lender they give a loan sanction letter which can be shown to get your I-20 form and to clear the visa interview as well.
Suggested: How to Get Your F1 US Student Visa?
Which Proof of Funds is Not Preferred for an F-1 Visa?
The US doesn’t prefer some types of funds as I-20 proof of funds. These include:
Stocks/Bonds
Stocks are very unbalanced and one day it might increase or decrease depending on the market. This essentially means that you are dependent on a very unbalanced source of funds. For instance: One day you might have 45,000 USD in stocks and the other day it might go down and you are left with a lesser amount than you were with yesterday.
Real Estate
Real estate property is tough to be converted into liquid cash, and that makes it one of the most non-preferred proofs of funds.
Solvency Letter
Solvency letter is again just a dependency letter that either the student or their sponsor is earning that amount of money and hence the student can pay off the fee and afford the living expenses too.
Gold, Cars, Any property that you own
Gold, cars or any property that you own which has a high value might also not be preferred because the market for it is not fixed and has a floating value. Meaning the gold that you own today might be of high value but due to some reason the market value of it might fall and is also hard these assets are hard to liquidate into money.
Suggested: Showing Your Finances for an F1 Student Visa Interview!
What if the Funds are Not Enough?
If the required funds aren’t sufficient, the visa officer would reject your visa and there would be a statement given in which a section is stated, which has reasons as to why your visa might have been rejected. The visa officer would then pass you a slip and would ask you to reappear for the visa interview. You can only apply for another visa interview after 13 days of your previous unsuccessful visa interview. But, a point to be noted here is it becomes very hard to get a slot for a visa interview during the peak season because there would be many students applying for the same.
What To Do if an F-1 Visa is Rejected?
Your student visa can get rejected more than once. The reason for the rejection of your US study visa can either be the same as the previous one or it can even be a new reason. The student must confirm and verify the reason for rejection before applying for the next time. You can apply for a study visa up to 3 months before your date of arrival in the US.
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It should be noted that while you can reapply for student visas after having them rejected before, it is extremely important to ensure that all the previous kinks that lead to rejection of the visa application before have been ironed out. |
Even if your visa gets rejected, don’t lose hope and prepare better the next time you are giving the interview with your errors rectified and find a solution to your reason for rejection. All in all, if you have read this blog, and have honest F-1 visa financial requirements, you can be rest assured that you will rock your interview and will be flying to the US soon. You can even contact our Yocket Counsellors to know how to show funds for I-20.
Frequently Asked Questions about I-20 Proof of Funds
Ques. How do I get proof of funds for I-20?
Ans. Some of the financial documents to show proof of funds for I-20 are:
- Personal or sponsor’s bank statements
- Provident funds
- Fixed deposit
- Scholarship proof
- Loan sanction letter
Ques. How much funds should I show for I-20?
Ans. When showing the bank statement for US student visa, you need to show a minimum fund requirement of one year tuition fees along with one year living cost for international students in the USA.
Ques. How can I show FD as proof of funds for I-20?
Ans. A fixed deposit is an account from which you can’t take out money on a regular basis and have to break the whole FD if you want to get the fund in it. It provides a higher interest rate to the investors than the savings account. This type of fund can be shown as proof of funds for F-1 visa because the deposit can be liquidated into cash easily and the value is going to be constant throughout.
Ques. What is acceptable proof of funds?
Ans. Acceptable proof of funds are:
- Personal or sponsor’s bank statements
- Provident funds
- Fixed deposit
- Scholarship proof
- Loan sanction letter