The financial requirement for a UK Standard Visitor visa is the rule that you must have enough money to cover your trip, known in the Immigration Rules as maintenance and accommodation. It applies to everyone applying as a Standard Visitor, whether for tourism, a family visit, or business, and to any dependants travelling with them. There is no fixed amount and no minimum bank balance; the funds must be enough to cover the reasonable costs of the specific visit without working or using public funds. Meeting the financial requirement on its own does not secure the visa, because it sits inside the wider genuine visitor requirement, which also asks you to show you will leave the UK at the end of your stay.
Key overviews
- There is no minimum bank balance for a UK visitor visa. The funds you need are judged against the reasonable cost of your specific trip, not a fixed figure, under Appendix V: Visitor.
- The funds must cover the whole visit without working or public funds. This includes travel, accommodation, daily costs, and your planned activities, plus any dependants travelling with you.
- A third party can fund your visit. A UK-based relative or friend can provide support where they have a genuine relationship with you, enough money to support themselves and you, and are not in breach of immigration law.
- Funds held over time evidence the requirement most clearly. Money recently deposited can still count where you can show where it came from.
- The financial requirement sits within the genuine visitor requirement. You must also show you intend a genuine, time-limited visit and will leave at the end of it.
- As of April 2026, the Standard Visitor visa fee is £135 for a visit of up to six months, up from £127.
How much money do you need for a UK visitor visa?
There is no fixed amount of money you need for a UK visitor visa, and no minimum bank balance. The requirement, known as maintenance and accommodation, is that you have enough money to maintain and accommodate yourself adequately for the whole of your visit. This can be met from your own income, your savings, or support from a third party, and it is judged in proportion to the cost of your particular trip. The requirement is set out in Appendix V: Visitor, paragraph V 4.2(e) of the Immigration Rules.
Because the test is proportional, the same balance can be sufficient for one trip and thin for another. A short visit staying with family carries a lower cost than a long stay in paid accommodation, so the funds expected differ accordingly. Focus on showing that your available funds comfortably exceed the realistic cost of your specific visit.
This is why the common question, “what bank balance do I need for a UK visit visa”, has no single answer. The figure that matters is the cost of your trip set against the money genuinely available to you, after your ongoing commitments at home such as rent, a mortgage, or dependants you support.
For the wider route overview and eligibility, see our UK Standard Visitor visa page, and to confirm whether you need a visa at all, see our UK visa nationals list.
What counts as sufficient funds under Appendix V?
Sufficient funds means money genuinely available to you that is enough to cover all the reasonable costs of your visit without working or using public funds. This can be met through your own income and savings, through accessible funds held in your account, or through a third party who funds the trip on your behalf. The requirement is set out in Appendix V: Visitor, paragraphs V 4.2(e) and V 4.3.
Reasonable costs cover the whole trip:
- return or onward travel
- accommodation for the full visit
- daily living costs and your planned activities
- the costs of any dependants travelling with you
Two rules apply to the money itself. The funds must be held in a financial institution permitted under Appendix Finance, and they must be genuinely yours to spend on the visit. Your income or savings, after your ongoing financial commitments at home, must be enough to meet the likely cost of the trip and represent reasonable expenditure given your overall circumstances. Funds that are consistent with your declared income meet the requirement; funds that cannot be explained or do not match your circumstances may lead to refusal.
To discuss a UK visitor visa application with an experienced immigration adviser, contact our team on 0208 757 5751 or use our contact form to get in touch.
How to show you are a genuine visitor who will leave
You must show that you genuinely intend to visit for a permitted purpose and that you will leave the UK at the end of your stay, the requirement known as the genuine visitor test. This can be evidenced through your ties to your home country, your travel history, and a clear, costed plan for the visit. The requirement is set out in Appendix V: Visitor, paragraph V 4.2.
You can strengthen the genuine visitor element by evidencing:
- your personal and economic ties to your country of residence, such as employment, property, or dependants
- a travel history showing previous compliance with UK and other countries’ immigration laws
- a clear, credible reason for the visit that fits your personal and financial circumstances
- a realistic length of stay supported by the funds you have shown
Strong ties at home support the case that you will return, and a first-time traveller can rely on those ties together with a clear trip plan in place of a travel record. A visitor must also not make the UK their main home through frequent or successive visits, under paragraph V 4.2(b). There is no fixed annual day limit, and a visit pattern that keeps a clear main home outside the UK supports the application. Where a previous visit application has been refused, our guide to UK visitor visa refusal reasons explains the in-scope options.
Can a UK sponsor or family member pay for your visit?
Yes. A third party can provide your maintenance and accommodation, including a family member, a friend, or anyone with whom you have a genuine personal or professional relationship. This is common where a settled relative in the UK invites a parent or sibling to visit and covers the cost. The rule is set out in Appendix V: Visitor, paragraph V 4.3.
A third party can support your visit where:
- they have a genuine relationship with you
- they have enough money to support themselves, their household, and you during the visit
- if they are in the UK, they are not in breach of UK immigration law at the date of decision or at your entry
Third-party support must be declared on the application form, and funds you cannot show are genuinely available to you do not count. A child applying as a visitor is not expected to have funds in their own name and can rely on funds from a parent or another third party. Where the relative inviting you is in the UK on a family route, our UK spouse visa guide explains the settled-status position that allows them to sponsor a visit.
How to evidence UK Visitor Visa funds
Evidence your funds with documents that show a consistent, credible picture of how the visit will be paid for. Bank statements covering the last three to six months are the usual starting point, because they show a steady pattern of income and balances rather than a single snapshot. The supporting-documents framework for visit applications is published by the Home Office.
Funds are evidenced most clearly through:
- personal bank or building society statements for the last three to six months
- evidence of income, such as payslips, or business accounts and tax records for the self-employed
- evidence of savings held over a period of time
- where a third party funds the trip, their bank statements, evidence of income, and a letter confirming the support and the relationship
Funds held over time and consistent with your declared income evidence the requirement well. Where part of the money comes from a recent deposit, such as the sale of an asset or a gift from a relative, evidence of its source supports the application. For the full supporting-document checklist beyond funds, including travel and accommodation evidence, see our visitor visa documents guide.
Example: a parent visiting a settled daughter
This example shows how the proportional funds test and third-party support work together on a typical family visit.
| Input | Detail |
|---|---|
| Visitor | Mother, resident in India, applying for a Standard Visitor visa |
| Visit | Three weeks, visiting her daughter |
| Daughter’s status | Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK |
| Accommodation | Provided by the daughter |
| Funding | Daughter, as third party |
| Evidence supplied | Provided |
|---|---|
| Daughter’s payslips and bank statements showing she can support herself, her household, and her mother | Yes |
| Evidence of the genuine relationship (birth certificate, communication, prior visits) | Yes |
| Mother’s ties to India (employment, home, return intention) | Yes |
Result: the proportional cost of a three-week family visit is modest, so the application turns on the genuine relationship and the daughter’s capacity to support the trip, both of which are evidenced.
Frequently asked questions
Funds must be genuinely available to spend on the visit. An unused credit card limit or overdraft facility is not treated as available cash and carries little weight on its own. Assets such as property cannot be spent directly on a trip, so they support the wider picture of your circumstances rather than meeting the funds requirement themselves, and accessible savings and regular income remain the strongest evidence.
There is no fixed rule, but three to six months of bank statements is the usual range. A longer period showing steady income and stable balances is more persuasive than a single recent statement, because it demonstrates that the funds are genuinely yours. Statements that reconcile with your declared income support the application most clearly.
It can, where the source of the deposit is not evidenced. Funds are best shown where they have been held over a period of time, so a large unexplained sum added shortly before applying is best accompanied by evidence of where it came from. A legitimate source, such as the sale of an asset or a documented gift, supports the application where the evidence is supplied.
Yes, where they are not in breach of UK immigration law and can show enough money to support themselves, their household, and you during the visit. A relative on a valid work or family visa can act as a third-party sponsor. Their support is set aside only where they are in breach of immigration law at the date of decision or at your entry.
No. Funds are one part of the genuine visitor requirement, which also asks you to show you intend a genuine, time-limited visit and will leave at the end of it. An applicant with strong funds but limited ties to their home country, or a visit pattern that resembles living in the UK, may still be refused.
As of April 2026, the Standard Visitor visa fee is £135 for a visit of up to six months, up from £127. Long-term visit visas valid for two, five, or 10 years cost more. The fee is separate from the funds you need to show for the visit, and it is not refunded if the application is refused.
How Whytecroft Ford can help
A UK visitor visa often turns on how the financial and genuine visitor elements are presented, rather than on the underlying facts of the trip. The funds test is proportional and unfamiliar, third-party support has its own conditions, and the same application must also show a clear intention to leave at the end of the visit. For a family inviting a parent or sibling to the UK, getting these elements to line up is where the application is won or lost.
Whytecroft Ford supports visitors and their UK sponsors in building a clear, consistent financial picture, framing third-party support correctly, and evidencing the ties that show a genuine, time-limited visit. The firm reviews the applicant’s funds and the sponsor’s finances before submission and aligns the documents with what the application form states. To speak to our team about a UK visitor visa, call 0208 757 5751 or use our contact form.
Sources
- Immigration Rules Appendix V: Visitor (GOV.UK)
- Visit: caseworker guidance (GOV.UK)
- Visit visa fees (GOV.UK)
Written and reviewed by Whytecroft Ford’s immigration team, authorised and regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, registration number F201900075. All guidance is researched against primary sources, including the Immigration Rules and Home Office guidance at GOV.UK. Reviewed every six months, or sooner following a relevant rule change. Last reviewed: 20 May 2026.
