UK not to accept financial statements from co-operatve banks for student visas
25 Oct 2011
The UK will not accept financial statements from about 1,900 Indian banks, mostly in the co-operative sector, for student visa purposes.
The UK home office has published a list of banks in India whose financial statements will not be accepted for student visa purposes. It also listed 85 banks operating in India whose statements will be accepted for purposes of student visas.
The financial statements that are needed to show evidence of possessing the necessary funds to pursue a course of study and live in the UK for the duration of the course, is part of the application for student visas under the points-based system.
The new guidelines on eligible banks for issue of financial statements are effective from 24 November.
The list of banks excluded from issuing financial statements for visa purposes include cooperative banks, scheduled urban cooperative banks and non-scheduled urban cooperative banks.
The visa officers will accept statements from student visa applicants only from "international banks, or national banks with a UK private banking presence, or regulated national/state banks that provide a core banking service".
"The change is to ensure that we can verify that student visa applicants hold the required maintenance funds to support themselves and pay for their course in the UK," the home office said in a statement.
While the new rules may help UK immigration authorities, the list of approved and non-approved Indian financial institutions for student visa purposes will affect banks' business in India as applicants may shift banks for the sake of obtaining UK visas.
