Student Visa Funds and Fees: UK, Canada and Germany, With the Arithmetic
Exact funds, hold periods, fees and processing times for UK, Canadian and German student visas, from official pages read 15 October 2026, with worked totals.
An offer from a university does not decide your visa. An immigration authority does, on different grounds: can you pay for the course and living costs, and is the money really yours. This guide gives the published figures for three destinations, shows how to total them for your own case, and covers the rules that trip people up.
All figures were read from official government or embassy pages on 15 October 2026. Rates change, and several of these changed in the last year. Treat the date as part of the number.
The figures side by side
| UK (Student visa) | Canada (study permit) | Germany (national visa) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Living-cost funds | £1,171 a month outside London, £1,529 in London, for up to 9 months | CAD 23,448 for a single applicant, outside Quebec, for applications on or after 1 September 2026 | EUR 11,904 for the first year, EUR 992 a month |
| Tuition | Shown on your CAS; you must cover the first year | First year, shown by a receipt or other proof | If fees apply, prove first-year payment or add that amount to the blocked account |
| Travel | Not stated on the page I read | Must be shown for the applicant | Not stated on the Nairobi or Accra pages |
| How funds are held | 28 days in a row, ending within 31 days of applying | Bank statements for the past 6 months, or a GIC, or other listed proof | Blocked account in Germany (or a sponsor’s obligation, or a scholarship letter) |
| Application fee | £558 (from outside the UK) | CAD 150 study permit, plus CAD 85 biometrics | EUR 75 |
| Other charge | Immigration health surcharge £776 a year | None stated on the pages read | Health insurance required |
| Stated processing time | Usually 3 weeks outside the UK | Not stated; use IRCC’s processing tool | About 1 to 2 months (Nairobi); Accra gives no fixed time |
| How early to apply | Up to 6 months before the course | Not stated on the pages read | Apply in good time |
Sources by column: UK, GOV.UK money needed, GOV.UK Student visa and GOV.UK health surcharge. Canada, IRCC financial support, IRCC guide 5269 and IRCC apply page. Germany, German Embassy Nairobi and German Embassy Accra.
Worked totals
The tuition figures below are made up for illustration. Replace them with the figure on your offer.
UK, course outside London. Living costs are £1,171 times 9 months, which is £10,539. Suppose the first-year tuition on your CAS is £14,000 and you have paid none of it. You need £14,000 plus £10,539, which is £24,539, held for 28 days. In London the living part is £1,529 times 9, or £13,761.
The timing rule changes when you must have the money. GOV.UK’s own example: apply on 1 January and the 28-day period must end on 1 December, so the end date can be no more than 31 days before you apply. If you apply on 1 August, the period can end no earlier than 1 July. Counting 28 days back from 1 July, the money must already be in the account by about 4 June.
On top of the funds, budget the £558 fee and £776 for each year of visa for the surcharge. That is at least £1,334 for a visa of a year or less. The surcharge is charged by visa length, so a visa of 12 to 18 months pays £776 plus £388, which is £1,164 for the surcharge alone.
Canada. Living costs are CAD 23,448. Suppose first-year tuition is CAD 18,000 (illustrative). Funds to show are CAD 41,448 plus your travel costs, which the page says you must also prove but does not price. Fees are CAD 150 and CAD 85, or CAD 235. IRCC says fees are not refunded whatever the decision, so a refusal means paying them again.
Quebec has its own amounts, set by Quebec’s immigration ministry, and the table above does not apply there.
Germany. EUR 992 times 12 is EUR 11,904. If your university charges tuition, the Nairobi page says to prove payment of first-year fees or add that amount to the blocked account. Add the EUR 75 fee. Both embassy pages list language proof, normally B2 in the language of instruction, so a language test result can set your timeline.
How funds are judged
The three systems ask the same questions in different ways.
Whose money is it? Canada’s page lets a supporter fund you, but requires a letter stating their employment, relationship to you, number of dependants and the amount, with ID or proof of business registration. Germany accepts a formal obligation letter from a sponsor living in Germany, though the Accra page notes this cannot cover tuition fees. The UK page tells loan and sponsorship recipients to provide evidence from the lender or sponsor.
Is it stable? The UK checks 28 consecutive days. Canada asks for six months of statements that show the source of income. Germany avoids the question: the blocked account bank issues the certificate.
Can you move it? IRCC notes that visa offices in countries with foreign exchange controls may require proof that you can export funds. If you are applying from a country with currency restrictions, ask your bank early how a transfer abroad is documented.
A scholarship letter helps most when it states what it covers. Canada says a tuition-only scholarship still needs proof of living costs and travel. Germany’s Nairobi page says a scholarship below EUR 992 a month needs a blocked account for the difference. See what fully funded actually covers for how to read an award letter.
Working while you study
Do not budget on student wages until you have read your own visa’s conditions.
- UK: GOV.UK says you may be able to work, depending on what you study and whether it is term time. It says you cannot be self-employed. I could not open a page with the exact weekly cap, so check your visa conditions and your university’s guidance.
- United States: F-1 students “may not work off-campus during the first academic year”, per USCIS. On-campus work is allowed under conditions that page does not list. Later off-campus options are tied to your field and need authorisation first.
- Canada and Germany: the pages I read do not state work limits, so I give none.
Documents with long lead times
The Germany pages are the most specific. The Nairobi page says to increase the blocked account to cover tuition, while the Accra page says a blocked account does not cover study fees, so ask your embassy which applies. Accra lists: passport valid at least 6 more months with two free pages, birth certificate, WAEC certificates, CV and signed motivation letter, university admission letter, language proof, proof of funds, and health insurance (travel insurance alone is not enough). Nairobi adds degree and transcript originals with certified translations, a gapless CV and two biometric photos. Accra says status enquiries are not answered in the first four weeks. After the embassy checks your file for completeness, you book an appointment where identity, fingerprints and photo are taken.
Canada asks for a letter of acceptance and a PAL or TAL (provincial or territorial attestation letter). IRCC says to give biometrics within 30 days of the letter and that processing starts after biometrics are received.
For the UK, the page tells you to check whether you need a tuberculosis test, and says English ability is needed. The page does not set out the details, so read the linked guidance.
Timeline from the earliest date you can apply
The UK allows applications from six months before the course. Work backwards:
| Months before course start | Task |
|---|---|
| 12 to 9 | Passport valid for the whole stay. Language test booked. Funds visible in the account. |
| 9 to 6 | Offer accepted. Tuition deposit paid if the university asks. CAS or acceptance letter requested. |
| 6 | UK earliest application date. Check that your 28-day funds window ends within 31 days of the day you submit. |
| 5 to 3 | Biometrics and appointment. Translations and certified copies. |
| 3 | Decision window, using the UK’s usual 3 weeks, Germany’s 1 to 2 months, and a buffer. |
The row labels are my planning suggestions, built from the stated rules above, not from any official timeline. Only the UK 6-month and 3-week figures and the Canada 30-day biometrics window are official.
If you are refused
Read the refusal reason before anything else. Canada’s guide says fees are not refunded, so a second application costs again. A refusal on funds is a document problem, and a refusal over inconsistent information is harder to fix. Ask your university about deferring to the next intake. I could not open an official page on appeal routes in these three countries, so I make no claim about them.
Never submit a document you cannot stand behind, and read everything an agent submits in your name. For how fake offers and fake guarantees work, see scholarship scam warning signs. For studying in another African country, see applying to university in another African country.