International Student Visa Financial Requirements 2026: What Changed and How to Recalculate Your Budget

What a consulate checks, and why the amounts differ

A student visa almost everywhere requires proof that you can support yourself. What is checked is not wealth but a confirmed sum held for a defined period — and each country sets the threshold its own way: one pegs it to the minimum wage, another to a social allowance, a third names a fixed figure in its own currency.

Comparing countries "by the euro amount" is therefore useless: the same number can cover different periods, different permitted sources and different rules about housing. Below are four destinations with the requirements current at publication and what sets them.

France: €877.50 a month from 1 August 2026

The minimum for a French student visa rose from €615 to €877.50 a month. The change was made by decree no. 2026-526 of 22 June 2026 and applies from 1 August 2026.

One feature matters: the new figure is pegged to 47% of the gross SMIC, the minimum wage. It will therefore move with it, without a fresh decree each time.

Funds may be evidenced by personal savings, a guarantor, a scholarship, or other documents the French authorities accept.

United Kingdom: £1,529 in London, £1,171 outside

For applications made on or after 11 November 2025, the Student route requires £1,529 a month in London and £1,171 a month outside London. The period the sum is counted over is capped at nine months.

The change came in through the Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules HC-1333, published on 14 October 2025.

These are the two figures to work from: the requirement varies only by whether your institution is in London, and does not grow with the length of the programme beyond the nine-month cap.

Italy: €10,179.85 a year

Italy states an annual sum: €10,179.85, or about €848.32 a month. Consulates apply it when issuing the type D study visa.

Two details cause refusals even when the amount is formally sufficient. First, a savings book or deposit account on its own does not count as proof. Second, bank guarantees, third-party sureties and cash are not accepted either.

Holders of Italian government scholarships are exempt from proving means — but where the scholarship is smaller than the stated sum, the difference still has to be evidenced.

Poland: counted in złoty, not euros

Poland is the one most often retold incorrectly, because its requirements are expressed in złoty and come in several parts.

For a national study visa you evidence living costs at PLN 701 a month per person (or PLN 528 for each family member if they travel with you), plus PLN 2,500 for the return journey where the country of return neither borders Poland nor belongs to the EU or EFTA. Accommodation is evidenced separately — by a lease or a decision granting a place in a hall of residence.

A temporary residence permit uses a different calculation: PLN 1,010 a month for a single-person household and PLN 823 per person in a family.

Funds may be held in złoty or in foreign currency, converted at the National Bank of Poland rate for the last working day before the application.

How to recalculate your budget

A short sequence that removes the most common mistake — preparing the right sum for the wrong period.

• Fix the date of application: requirements take effect on specific days, and an application is judged by the rules in force when it is made.
• Check what period the sum covers: a month, nine months or a year — this changes the total several times over.
• Check the permitted sources: a guarantor is accepted in some places and not others, and a deposit account may not qualify.
• Check whether housing is included in the required sum or evidenced separately.
• Ask the university: it may require more than the state does, and that requirement has to be met as well.

What this article does not claim

Financial thresholds invite forecasting — "they will keep rising", "probably up again next year". We do not do that: future government decisions are unknown, and someone who budgets against a forecast is risking real money.

What can be said reliably is that the French threshold is now tied to the minimum wage and will move with it. Everything else changes by decision rather than formula, and is checked before applying.

The figures and dates here come from official sources as of publication. Before applying, check with the country's consulate and your university's own requirements rather than with articles, this one included.