Consulates of many states with a visa regime for citizens of Russia ask visa applicants for bank statements confirming that they have a certain amount of money in their personal possession. For what purposes is this requirement established? How is the corresponding certificate drawn up, what are the criteria for recognizing it as a legally significant document?
What is a certificate for applying for a visa from a bank?
A certificate for a visa from a bank is a document that is issued on the official letterhead of a financial institution and confirms that a person has a certain amount of money in the form of a deposit or on a regular account. The bank account, from which the relevant certificate can be issued, can also be a card account, as well as a submitted commercial settlement account - if the applicant for the visa is an individual entrepreneur or founder of a business company.
Why do I need a certificate from the bank when applying for a visa?
A certificate for a visa from the bank is necessary, first of all, so that the applicant for entry can confirm the solvency of the state in which he intends to go, his solvency. This aspect is of the greatest importance from the point of view of considering the probability of a person’s immigration to the country (if the visa, of course, does not imply the subsequent receipt of a residence permit by the guest).
What documents can supplement the help?
A bank statement for a visa is certainly not the only document that can confirm a person’s solvency. It can be supplemented or replaced, for example, by an extract from the state register of ownership of real estate or, for example, by the assets of an enterprise.
Many consulates of countries, especially those in which strict requirements are established for guests from abroad, require the employer to supplement the document in question. This source is intended to reflect the fact of employment, as well as the level of human wages. Actually, the relevant document in some cases is even more important for consulates than a certificate for a visa from a bank.
Of course, the size of the deposit that a person owns plays a role. We will study this aspect in more detail.
How large should a certificate deposit be?
It is worth noting that the size of the deposit, which is desirable from the point of view of a positive assessment of the solvency of the applicant for a visa, varies depending on the immigration policy of a particular state. For example, a bank statement for a Schengen visa should reflect the size of the deposit, which allows for the dynamics of human costs in Europe to be about 30-50 euros per day - in relation to the duration of the trip. In countries with relatively low prices - for example, in those that relate to Eastern Europe, the requirements for the amount of tourist capital are usually lower, in Western European countries - higher.
What does a bank certificate for applying for a visa look like?
What might a bank statement for a Schengen visa look like? A sample of the relevant document is in the picture below.
It is consistent with the standard certificate for a tourist visa. It reflects the basic data that are necessary for the consulate to assess the solvency of a person about to enter Schengen area.
What might this document look like for consulates of states outside Europe? A sample certificate from a bank for a visa to the USA, Canada, or, for example, to Japan, can, in principle, look the same as the European one.It contains all the main details that may be of interest to the consulates of these states.
What is the validity period of a bank visa application?
The next most important aspect is the period of bank reference for a visa, that is, the period during which the consulate of a country is ready to consider it as a legally significant document. In this case, again, we are talking about the conditions determined by the immigration policy of a particular state.
So, a bank statement for a Schengen visa is usually assessed as a legally significant source if it is issued no earlier than 1 month before the documents are submitted to the consulate. But there are countries that in some cases may permit the applicant to submit a certificate ordered earlier from the bank much earlier.
Does the prescription of opening a deposit matter?
For many states, another aspect is of greater importance - the limitation period for a person to place a deposit in a bank or, for example, to place the main part of its amount. But it is worth noting that not every bank certificate for obtaining a visa requires an indication of a specific date for the deposit or, for example, opening an account.
This nuance, as a rule, is of the greatest importance for states that are least active in issuing visas to Russian citizens. It is important for their consulates to trace the real solvency of a person. It happens that a visa applicant temporarily places on deposit not his own, but borrowed money or provided by a friend or relative. Obviously, consulates are aware of this approach. But the fact that the funds were credited to the account for a sufficiently long time - for example, a year before applying for a visa, may indicate that a person did not carry out such an operation - to place capital not belonging to him.
Thus, for the consulate it may often be important not how much a bank certificate for a visa is valid, but how long a person has opened an appropriate account or placed money on it. Note that in practice, European states, when it comes to issuing a tourist visa, may not attach particular importance to this nuance. Bank reference for Visas to Spain France, Greece should only reflect the necessary amount of capital - within the limits indicated above, if the guest from Russia is a tourist.
But if, for example, a person seeks to travel to the USA, Canada or Japan - the requirements for his solvency may be higher. In this case, the prescription of the deposit may be of greater importance. Also, for many consulates, the bank in which the certificate in question is issued is important. We will study this aspect in more detail.
Does the bank matter for issuing a certificate to the consulate?
Which bank statement is issued, usually matters when applying for a relatively short-term, tourist visa, but a longer one, for example, a work or business one. In this case, consulates may pay attention to the status and sustainability of the financial institution.
The bank issuing the certificate must have high ratings, preferably good reporting performance. For many consulates, an extremely positive criterion in assessing the solvency of a borrower may be the presence of a deposit in a large foreign financial institution. Especially if it is a bank located in the state where the Russian is going to go. In this case, the likelihood that the certificate for a visa from the bank will reflect the presence on the account of borrowed or temporarily provided funds will be low, and the consulate may well be much more loyal to the applicant for the visa.
Hidden migration factor
True, there is one more important nuance: the fact that a person has large deposits in the bank of the state to which he intends to go can be evaluated just as a factor in the tourist’s desire to immigrate. Therefore, a certificate proving the possession by a citizen of the Russian Federation of significant capital abroad should be presented only if it is really appropriate and desirable from the point of view of the migration policy of a particular state.
How many bank references can I provide?
Another notable nuance is the number of banks from which the certificate for the consulate was obtained. As a rule, the immigration policy of various states does not provide for the provision of large preferences for visa applicants who have shown that there is a deposit at several credit and financial organizations. But in practice, their presentation may be useful from the point of view of assessing the sustainability of a citizen's savings. Deposits in the Russian Federation, as in many states, are insured - but for a limited amount. And if we are talking about the placement of funds in a significant amount - it may make sense to distribute them among several banks and request a visa certificate in each of them.
At the same time, it must be understood that the requirements for the relevant documents separately will be the same as we have considered above. Each certificate from the bank for a visa should be as fresh as possible, reflect, if possible, the fact that the account has been registered for a long time, be issued by a large bank with a high rating.
Visa Help
We will study how the document in question is drawn up. In order to get a certificate for a visa, you need to apply directly to the office of the financial institution in which the deposit is opened. Many banks have approved special forms of the certificates in question, as well as the procedure for issuing them, so the required documents can be provided immediately upon the citizen’s appeal.
But in some financial institutions, you need to fill out an application for the issuance of the relevant certificate in advance. This may be due to the fact that this document undergoes a lengthy certification process, assuming, for example, that the director of a credit and financial organization should put a signature on it. He can work in another office and even a city, and in order to get his signature, it will take time.
The issuance of such a document as a certificate for a visa from the bank can be either a completely free procedure, or involving the commission of a deposit or paid by the client at the time of ordering the document at the box office.
Help content
The reference in question should reflect the basic information about the citizen’s bank account, include the signature of the employee who issued the document, as well as the seal of the bank’s branch. Note that in some consulates there are no such requirements for information: sometimes even a normal check from an ATM, if the account is a card, or extracts from a personal online account of a client of a financial institution is enough. In this case, the bank office is optional.
In what language should the certificate be issued?
The most important aspect of processing such a document as a certificate for a visa from the bank is the language in which it is drawn up. In many cases, the immigration policy of states with a visa regime for Russian citizens provides for the possibility of providing the relevant certificate in Russian. But in some cases it needs to be translated, or, if possible, initially compiled in English or another language that is desirable for a particular consulate.
Therefore, it is highly advisable to know in advance whether it is possible to send a certificate in Russian to the migration office of a particular state, or whether it should be translated.Moreover, the transfer must be carried out by a well-known, and in some cases, directly recommended by the consulate, organization that provides services in this area. The firm must have the authority to give the document legal force: perhaps in this case it will require a special license.
Summary
So, we have studied what it is intended for and how a bank statement for a visa is issued. The validity period of this source is determined on the basis of the standards adopted by the consulate of a particular state, but, as a rule, it is assumed that the document will be completed no earlier than 1 month before the applicant for the visa submits documents to the migration office of the country to which he intends to travel.
The reference in question should reflect the fact that a person has a deposit or other account with an amount sufficient to live in the host state during the period of stay in it, which, most likely, will correspond to the validity of the visa. In some cases, it is important not how long the certificate was issued, but when the deposit was opened, the details of which are given in the document or when the main amount of funds was placed on it.
Many consulates welcome the preparation of the document in question by a bank located abroad, in particular, in the state where a Russian citizen is going to go. In this case, the probability of assessing its solvency as corresponding to a high level increases.
The document under consideration should contain all the necessary information, as well as duly certified by the bank employees. If the migration standards of a particular state require the provision of the certificate in question in English or another language convenient for the consulate, the document should be translated from Russian, using the services of competent companies.
