How can you prove your financial situation for a Canadian study permit?

Preparing for a financial demonstration is what you need to do after a long process of considering choosing the suitable courses and destinations as well as saving enough to prepare for your overseas study.

But how to most clearly and convincingly prove your strong financial situation to ensure quick approval for your Canada student visa? Let VIVAS help you to learn about it through this article “How can you prove your financial situation for a Canadian study permit?”.

1. Why do you need to prove your financial situation?

To study in Canada you must prove to the embassy that your trip to Canada is an investment in the future with a specific study path and sufficient financial resources to pay for both studying and living in Canada.

Besides tuition fees, living expenses cover a considerable part of the total cost of studying abroad, especially if you live in big Canadian cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, etc.

Therefore, the Government of Canada needs to make sure you can afford your study and living expenses to avoid cases of illegal work due to lack of money, mid-school leave, or illegal residency.

2. How much money do you need for a financial demonstration?

By law, Canadian international students are allowed to work 20 hours/week while studying or 40 hours/week on vacation. However, the income from part-time jobs is normally enough to cover the monthly living expenses.

Therefore, you still need to have other sources of finance to ensure your study costs or pay for living expenses in case you don’t have a part-time job.

2.1. Savings book – the sustainable way to prove your finance

As mentioned above, the cost of studying abroad consists of 2 main parts: tuition fees and living expenses. The amount of savings required will vary depending on the province you study, the program and school you choose, and your ability to manage money.

Savings books are understood to ensure the cost for the first 1 year when studying in Canada, the minimum amount fluctuates about 30,000 to 35,000 CAD (around VND 600,000,000) and the opening time of this book should be about 6 months before the time of submitting the application for a student visa.

2.2. Monthly income – The guarantee of a stable supply for the years of studying abroad

Financial sponsors for students studying in Canada need to have a stable income such as monthly salary, business activities or stock dividend investment … This income is only recognized when its origin is proven clear and legal under the laws of Vietnam or Canada.

There is no exact number requiring the minimum of the income your sponsor needs to earn, but it should be at least VND 50,000,000/month to be considered sufficient and stable. The higher this income is, the stronger your financial demonstration profile is proved.

The types of documents needed will vary according to your sponsor’s source of income:

• State employees or company employees: Need to provide a letter of employment showing position and salary or related documents to verify the total income.
• Business owners, business households: Need a Business License/Proof of Employment, showing salary and tax invoices valid for the last 6 months or tax receipts if they run their businesses without business licenses.
• Lease business: Provide rental contracts and monthly bills (if any).

In some cases, the above documents may not be reliable enough to prove financial support to study in Canada, the most common reason is the inconsistency between real income and taxable income of workers in Canada, Vietnam. This makes many family members have a good financial capacity, but it is not easy to prove themselves.

2.3. Fixed Assets – The consolidation for your financial demonstration

Owning high value fixed assets such as real estate (houses, land, apartments, rentals, resorts, etc.), cars, and other valuable fixed assets will be a plus point in the application for a student visa.

In addition to the three forms of income mentioned above, a student visa applicant also needs to provide a consent letter from the sponsor to pay for them during the entire studying in Canada.

The time to review a set of applications usually lasts from 1 to 3 months depending on many factors from the complete paperwork required and the number of pending applications at the same time.

3. Necessary documents for financial demonstration

There are 3 common sources to help you prove your finance including the savings book, monthly income and valuable assets of your sponsor.

First, you need to prepare general documents for your student visa application including:

• Certificates and transcripts
• Application for admission
• Admission fee
• Custodianship declaration for students under 18 years of age.

To demonstrate the ability to give students financial support, the sponsor needs to provide the following documents:

• Bank statement showing the current balance
• Documentary proof of income
• Certificate of ownership of other assets or sources of income (if any)

4. Other notes for financial demonstration

4.1. Proving the source of the money

When applying for a student visa, a large amount of money will of course be very impressive, but at the same time, they must show its source of legality and stableness.

All of them are to confirm with the Embassy about your family’s financial potential to support you during your study in Canada.

4.2. Prepare the documents as soon as possible

We always advise our students to prepare their application as soon as possible, so that will can have more time to plan their route and be more proactive. It would be great to apply for a student visa and get it approved the first time, but if you are unlucky, you still have time to reapply.

4.3. More than 6 months of preparation

Your financial proof will be more reliable when it is accumulated in a long and stable time. Normally, you should open a savings account about 6 months before the visa application submission, in some cases it can be 3 months in advance, but the credit level may not be guaranteed.

When you are confident that you understand the documents and financial proof procedures with the embassy,  you can completely apply for a student visa by yourself.

If you are still wondering or do not know how to prove your financial status to study in Canada, please contact VIVAS – EDUCATION & IMMIGRATION with a team of experienced legal counselors with a success rate of more than 95%.