Guidance

Financial evidence for sponsored or endorsed work routes

If you’re coming to the UK, you’ll need to prove you have enough money to support yourself and any dependants in the UK.

From:
Home Office
Published
1 December 2020
Last updated
22 August 2022 — See all updates

What you need to show depends on the route you’re applying on and your personal circumstances.

Overview of financial requirement

The financial requirement is that you show you have enough money for your living costs for yourself and dependants while you move to the UK.

If you’re applying from overseas, or if you’re applying in the UK but have been here less than 12 months with permission, you’ll need to show:

  • you have a certain amount of money
  • for sponsored work routes (excluding Youth Mobility Scheme), that your sponsor has agreed to provide support of at least the same amount
  • for the Start-up route, that your endorsing body confirms you’ve been awarded at least the same amount

You do not need to show funds it you have been living in the UK for 12 months or more with permission on the date of application.

Your dependants do not need to show funds if they have been living in the UK for 12 months or more with permission on the date of application.

How your finance requirement is worked out

For the following routes, you’ll need to show you have £1,270, or your sponsor agrees to support you financially or pay for your accommodation to at least the same amount:

Check your visa requirements to confirm what else you need to show.

Start-up visa

You’ll need to show either:

  • you have £1,270
  • your endorsing body confirms you have been awarded funds to at least the same amount

Read about applying for a Start-up visa.

Innovator visa

You’ll need to show you have £1,270.

Read about applying for an Innovator visa.

High Potential Individual visa

You’ll need to show you have £1,270.

Read about applying for a High Potential Individual visa.

Representative of an Overseas Business visa

There is no set level of funds you need to show. You must show that you have enough money to support yourself and pay for your accommodation in the UK. This means that after accommodation, you must have at least the same amount of income or funds as you would if you were receiving income support.

You’ll need to provide evidence that you can support yourself and any dependants for example using bank statements or payslips (usually for the last 3 months).

Read about applying for a Representative of an Overseas Business visa.

Youth Mobility Scheme visa

You’ll need to show you have £2,530. You must not have children under 18 living with you or financially dependent on you.

Read about applying for a Youth Mobility Scheme visa.

Your partner and children

You’ll need to check if your visa allows you to bring your partner and children (‘dependants’) with you. Not all routes allow this.

If your visa allows you to bring your partner and children with you, you’ll need to show either:

  • your partner and children have enough money to support themselves
  • the sponsor or endorsing body agree to support them financially or pay for their accommodation to at least the same amount

You’ll need to show you have:

  • £285 for your partner
  • £315 for your first dependent child
  • £200 for any other dependent child

You’ll need to show this amount of money in addition to the funds you need as the main applicant.

Types of funds you can rely on

You can show you have enough money using:

  • a certificate of sponsorship (for some routes the sponsor must be A-rated to do this)
  • a letter of endorsement if you’re on the Start-up or Innovator routes
  • your own money
  • your partner’s money if your partner is in the UK with permission or applying at the same time
  • your parent’s money if you’re a child dependant

What evidence is not accepted?

The following are examples of what is not accepted as evidence to show you have the required amount of money:

  • overdrafts
  • bitcoin savings
  • stocks and shares
  • pensions
  • bank accounts that are not regulated by the financial regulatory body in the country you’re applying from
  • bank accounts that don’t use electronic record keeping

Control of the funds

You, or the account holder (such as your parents or partner), must have control of the funds you are relying on.

You must show the funds have been held for 28 days, unless you are relying on your sponsor or endorsing body.

The bank statement(s) or evidence you use to show the funds have been held for 28 days must be from the 31 days before you submit your application. The 28 days is calculated from the date of the last transaction in the last dated bank statement.

Evidence you need to provide

If your sponsor is financially supporting you

Your sponsor will confirm that they have agreed to financially support you on the certificate of sponsorship you submit in your application.

If your endorsing body confirms you have funding

You must show an endorsement letter from the endorsing body confirming you have been awarded enough funds.

If you’re using your own money

If you’re not being financially sponsored, your funds can be held in any form of personal or building society account including a:

  • current account
  • deposit account
  • savings account
  • pension savings
  • investment account

Cash must be in an account that allows you immediate access.

Funds must have been acquired legally and if you were in the UK you must not have earned them when working illegally.

If you’re using your own money, or that of a parent or partner you’ll need to show you have the required amount of money in an account. You can provide:

  • bank statements
  • building society passbooks
  • certificates of deposit
  • a letter from your bank or building society

Your bank statement should show information like:

  • the date it was issued
  • your name (or the account holders name if it is your parent or partner)
  • the name of the bank or building society
  • balance on the account

You can provide a download of electronic bank statements if it has this information. You do not need to have these stamped by the bank.

We may do verification checks with your bank. If we’re unable to verify the funds your application may be refused.

Your bank must be regulated by the appropriate regulatory body for the country in which it is operating.

Money in other currencies

If your money is held in a foreign currency this will be converted into pound sterling (£) using the spot exchange rate on OANDA for the date of the application.

Updates to this page

Published 1 December 2020
Last updated 22 August 2022 + show all updates

  1. Added the Scale-up worker visa to the list of requirements.

  2. Added the requirement for the High Potential Individual visa.

  3. Replaced the intra-company visas with Global Business Mobility visas.

  4. Updated to reflect the introduction of the International Sportsperson visa and the Temporary Work – Creative Worker visa.

  5. First published.

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