1. What is the GBP rate that is used to calculate the Maintenance Funds?
I think the Guidance documents
say the rate for
maintenance funds is as per
OANDA on the date you apply.
Previous earnings are as per the OANDA
historical rate as of the date of the last payment deposited:
- cash savings in a account overseas (we convert the amount to pounds sterling using the rate which appears on the OANDA website, which you can finds on the right of this page, and the date on your bank statement), that have been in your account for at least three months before your application.
(Broken English is theirs.
)
2. The Tier 1 Guidance mentions that bank statements of upto 7 days earlier than the date of application are allowed. But I read on one of the forums that the statement should be preferably 1-day prior to the date of application. Is that correct? Since my bank statement is about 5 days old.
Seven days is sufficient. I think the official guidance says the bank statements should be at most
one month old, but the British High Commissions in India seem to demand that they be no older than seven days. I do suggest that you try to submit your application as soon as possible since anything could go wrong and you might have to wait another day or two before you can try to submit again.
(I applied with a letter from my bank indicating fixed deposits, and that letter was nine days old at the time I submitted my application at VFS Bangalore, and eleven days old by the time the British Deputy High Commission at Chennai received the application. My application was successful.)
See
guidance:
For applications made either in the United Kingdom or overseas, all evidence must be dated no more than one month before the application is submitted.
But when I asked VFS Global (visa processor for the BHC in India) about it towards the end of September last year, this is part of the response I received:
The applicant can submit bank statement and pay slips which he/she have already submitted at the time of approval with latest 3 months bank statement and pay slips. You must be able to demonstrate that you have funds to support yourself and any dependants. For the main applicant this is £2,800. These amounts must be held in your personal bank account for a minimum period of 3 months immediately preceding and dated no more than 7 days prior to the date you submit your application. The balance should not fall below the required minimum at any time during the 3 month period.
(Emphasis theirs.)
To find out the current regulations, you can ask VFS directly by sending e-mail to vfsuk {DOT} north|south|east|west {AT} vfs {DASH} uk {DASH} in {DOT} com. They're fairly proactive about responding to e-mail or phone queries. (It's not the final word, since they only preprocess applications and the actual decision is in the hands of the British High Commission, but it's better than nothing.)
