Using bank letters to prove your money for a visa

11/26/2014

By Paulina Guerrero Gutiérrez
KCL Mexican Society President 2014-17

After the big success of our previous post on how to prove your money to the British government, we have had some comments from people that do not feel comfortable taking their bank statement to translate and that would prefer presenting a letter from their bank in their visa application. If you are requesting this in Mexico, this is called "carta de referencias bancarias".

As we said in our previous post, WE STRONGLY SUGGEST that you take the printed statement from your bank, or a printed electronic statement that has been signed and stamped by your bank. However, if you're still convinced that you prefer a letter, here is the format that I followed, which the immigration authorities accepted on my two visa applications. There will be some banks (like Inbursa in Mexico) which will be able to provide this in English already, so you won't have to translate anything. You have to make sure that this letter is in headed paper, and that it is signed and stamped by your bank. Otherwise, it will not be accepted and your application will be refused. Also, it is frequent for bank employees to have a poor level of English, so we suggest that you have at the ready a draft of the exact wording you want for your letter, or you will probably have to request it twice.

Hope you find this useful!

[HEADED PAPER]
Mexico City, November 25, 2014

Dear Sir or Madam,

I hereby provide you with the information we have on our files, regarding the account that is mentioned below.

Customer name:
R.F.C.:
Account number:
Interbank wire: [the CLABE for those that have Mexican accounts]
Opening date
Current Balance: MXP $#

I can confirm that the aforementioned account has maintained this balance without any operation in the last two months, and that those funds are available anytime, either by check or ATM.

Being this letter extended at the request of the account holder and without any further due, I put myself at your disposition if there are any further doubts.

Yours faithfully,
[Signature and Bank Stamp]

16 Comments

Julio Cesar Rodriguez

11/30/2014 06:27:54 am

Conacyt generally helps everybody but the better your thesis proposal the higher the perecentage they help you with. If they give you 25 or 30 percent it is stupid to think of going especially to an expensive city like London.
Sadly us Mexicans are a bit dumb in this regard and only think of London when the best universities in Britain are not in London and the cost of living is cheaper and more value for money elsewhere too. Proving all the time a huge amount of cash is ridiculous.
KCl is NOT a top university and is not in the top 30 in Britain. I mean who with a brain is interested in Mexicans teaching English ? Better to do something more useful thats more Mexican orientated.
Mexicans always go to the same universities and the fact that we need a mexican society of this and that place just shows who lame we can be. You have to be a real fool to not be able to travel on your own or survive anywhere in England. But if you have no personality or intelligence thats where you will end up. Its not a good reference for us.
I received my 100 percent scholarship from Conacyt based on the quality of my proposal and also because it was Mexican orientated and on a serious subject. I had to show no proof of funding and last week I received my visa in Mexico City for 3 and a half years.
Its for a PhD in International relations and Politics at Warwick University so the level of English required along with the subject level is obviously higher than anything English teaching related and most importantly related to Mexico which it should be.

KCL Mexican Society

12/1/2014 08:53:42 am

Even though everyone is entitled to their own opinion, we would like to clarify the following points:
• King’s College London is indeed a top university and one of the best in the UK, according to the most respected higher education rankings. We are 16th in the world and 5th in the UK according to the QS world university ranking; 40th in the world and 7th in the UK according to the Times Higher Education ranking; and 59 in the world and 7th in the UK according to the Shanghai ranking.
• The percentage of the scholarship granted by CONACyT depends on whether a person’s studies are in a priority or non-priority area, and whether they are Master or PhD studies. Most PhD students get full funding. However, even some fully funded students have to prove extra savings depending on the format followed by their scholarship letter. We have had cases in which students need to prove only £200 but are uncertain on the exact format to follow. Also, we have found that many students who enter CONACyT’s second application round prefer to obtain visas proving funds of their own, in order not to wait for their scholarship formalization, something which often jeopardizes scholars’ ability to arrive to their university on time.
• Given that the most common cause of visa refusal for authentic students, regardless of nationality, is having provided wrong financial evidence at the time of application, our posts on immigration advice have been read by people from 50 countries, most of whom have found them to be a clear and useful resource.
• The KCL Mexican society is not and has never been involved in teaching English. Its activities are usually academic, cultural or social, and our aims can be found in our home page.
• We strongly believe that peer-support and experience sharing is a mark of solidarity, networking and community building, rather than foolishness.

Andrea Zarate

4/6/2016 03:34:52 am

Thank you, this is useful for me :)

4/6/2016 10:33:14 pm

Glad we can help :)

Christian Esparza López

8/4/2016 06:16:05 pm

Hello, in case there's been movements in the account, but I have a minimum amount, enough to prove I have the required money, how should I ask for my "carta de referencias bancarias"?

8/8/2016 02:03:49 pm

I would replace the following paragraph:
I can confirm that the aforementioned account has maintained this balance without any operation in the last two months, and that those funds are available anytime, either by check or ATM.

With this alternative:
At the same time, we inform you that the lowest balance the account has held during the last 29 days was MXN$ on June 29, 2016, and that those funds are available anytime, either by check or ATM.

Pablo César López Custodio

9/2/2016 10:43:06 pm

Tengo una duda urgente: Reuní todo el dinero que requería, lo deposité en mi cuenta Santander y esperé un mes. Ahora que el mes se ha cumplido fui al banco para pedir la carta o que me sellaran mi estado de cuenta y resulta que Santander NUNCA sella nada ni está facultado para firmar o sellar cartas. No sé si deba ahora cambiar todo el dinero a una cuenta en otro banco y esperar otro mes (lo cual arruinaría muchos planes y ya no llegaría a tiempo a King's) o si debería presentar mi estado de cuenta que llega a mi casa, en papel membretado, con sello electrónico y con validez fiscal y anexo una traducción de perito certificado, pero sin sello del banco. ¿Podría este estado de cuenta ser aceptado como evidencia? Muchas gracias

KCL Mexican Society link

9/8/2016 05:32:45 pm

¡Hola! Vimos que te respondieron muchas personas en el Grupo de Becarios. Para futuras personas con estas dudas, compartiremos lo siguiente:
Hay varios bancos en los que los ejecutivos se rehúsan a hacer/firmar estas cartas. Sin embargo, están en la obligación de hacerlo. Las recomendaciones de otros becarios son:
A) Insistir en varias sucursales con varias personas. Primero verse muy amable e insistir. Hay becarios que literalmente han llorado con el ejecutivo o que les han llevado pastel.
B) Si esto falla, montarse en su macho y exigir los derechos como tarjetahabiente. Pedir hablar con un supervisor si es necesario.
C) Para aquéllos con cuentas de Bancomer, noten que varios estacionamientos tienen sellos del banco con fecha.

Nuestras sugerencias para evitar estar en esta situación son:
A) Cambiar los estados de cuenta desde un par de meses antes para que sean los que llegan impresos al domicilio, de tal forma que se pueda evitar tener que ir por el sello.
B) Abrir cuenta en Inbursa, que por mucho es el banco que facilita más generar este tipo de carta.

9/19/2016 01:43:06 am

Muchas gracias! Sí, hubieron muchas respuestas en el grupo de FB. Al final conseguí el sello y firma. La solución fue ir a mi pueblo natal. Muchas veces la gente de ciudades pequeñas es más accesible que la de grandes ciudades. Sí me dijeron que no sellaban nada, pero que sí me hacían el favor y sin tener que rogarles como lo hice en otros bancos de 2 ciudades mucho más grandes.

mecy

8/25/2017 07:39:51 pm

Hello,
I'm over 18 years old and i wish to use my sister's bank statement as a prove for upkeep for my short studies in Mexico which is less than 6 months.The embassy cancelled my visa process since I didn't show the proof that my sister is my legal guardian.is it possible for an adult a have a legal .How do i go about it ?I need to reapply .is it valid if my sister transfers the amount to my account ?

9/8/2017 03:59:40 pm

Hi Mecy.
We don't have that much experience helping people with Mexican student visas (as you can see on our blog, we mostly help Mexicans with UK student visas). However, if your sister transfers you the money, I'm sure you will have no problems, as long as you keep it in your account for 3 months. If you're under 25 years of age, you can make another application and this time include the proof that yous sister is your legal guardian.

The info on the Mexican Foreign Relations Office says the following as means of proving you have enough money:
"The economic requirement can be accredited by the applicant, or their parents or legal guardians as long as they are not over 25 years of age, or with a letter from the institution stating they have a scholarship. This can be proved with:
i. Original and copy of the documents that demonstrate they are employed, have a pension or a scholarship with a monthly income greater that 100 days of the current mimimun wage in Mexico City (after taxes). This income needs to have been met for the previous 3 months.
ii. Original and copy of investments or current account statements that show the applicant has held a balance of 1000 times the minimum wage of Mexico City, for the last 3 months.

https://www.gob.mx/sre/acciones-y-programas/visa-de-residente-temporal-estudiante

Edilberto

9/28/2017 02:39:36 pm

Hola, Despues de que me emitan la carta, puedo hacer uso de una parte del dinero? o necesita estar ahí por un tiempo determinado? gracias

9/29/2017 03:06:53 pm

Hola. En teoría, sí. Sí puedes usar el dinero después de tener la carta. Los requisitos no dicen que el dinero tiene que estar ahí después de que comprobaste que lo tenías. Sin embargo, en el caso de que te rechazaran la visa, tendrías que volverlo a juntar y esperar los días necesarios, así que es conveniente dejarlo ahí hasta que sepas que la visa te fue aprobada.

waleed bin waqar

1/26/2020 05:49:32 pm

can i show employer bank statement for tourist visa with employer letter?

Cynthia

7/3/2021 12:37:25 am

Hola! Muchas gracias por el dato.
A mi me piden de una universidad en Estados Unidos un “personal funding/bank statement”, que es simplemente un saldo bancario ? También me piden que este en inglés y la cantidad en dolares.
Después el “bank statement” , debo llevarlo con un perito traductor y qué el/ella agregue el equivalente a dólares o pido el equivalente en dólares en Inbursa directamente ?

Gracias!

BIN Sponsorship link

4/14/2025 04:37:11 pm

Thanks for compiling this; it's quite a useful manual. The visa application procedure may be somewhat taxing, hence blogs like these help to somewhat control things. One of those elements that may quickly trip individuals off is proving financial stability, particularly in cases when direction is not always apparent or constant.

Your explanation of the value of utilising an official bank letter instead of an ordinary statement was really good. That little change may have major effects, and it's exactly the kind of sensible advise pupils need.

Using bank letters to prove your money for a visa

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