Studying in another country requires lots of funds. Aside from tuition fees, there are expenses for books, accommodation, bus fares, meals, phone plans, winter clothes, and any other living costs.
Canada Immigration requires a Proof of Fund for student visa application to ensure that aspiring international students can survive the cost of studying here. The minimum requirement for proof of fund is $10,000 CAD plus your one year tuition fee. Even if you are taking a 2-year program, you only have to show the $10,000 CAD plus your one year tuition fee. But of course if you have more, that would be better.
In my case, I don’t have that huge amount of money in my bank. My parents don’t have that money either. So how was I able to apply for a student visa?
You can use a sponsor in your application to fulfill the proof of funds requirement. You can ask anyone to sponsor your studies as long as you can provide a CONVINCING and VERY STRONG reason on why that person is sponsoring you. That’s why in most cases, sponsors used are usually within family or very close relatives. You have to put this reason in your Letter of Explanation. I am lucky I have a businessman cousin who was willing to provide documents as my sponsor.
Take note, proof of funds is just bank statements and certificates and all other supporting documents. No actual money will be taken out from your bank or your sponsor’s bank. There is no need to transfer a huge amount of money from a sponsor's account into your own account. Your sponsor just have to show that he/she has sufficient funds that can support your studies in Canada on top of his/her own personal expenses. Our deal with my cousin was just to use his bank account for show money purposes and he don’t have any responsibility towards my study. I will fund my own studies and living costs once I’m in Canada via personal loan plus my own savings.
Here are the list of documents that I attached in my application as Proof of Funds:
My scenario is not advisable because in reality, you would need actual and real money to pay tuition fees and living costs in Canada. But I took this risk anyway.
I research for banks in the Philippines that offers Personal Loan and found CitiBank. I don’t have an existing account with them but they still approved my personal loan that is 3 years to pay. At the time of my loan application, I still have a job and was able to show my Certificate of Employment and 3 months payslip plus BIR. I guess the amount that they will grant will depend on your salary. Interest is really high though. For loan details, you may directly reach out to a bank of your choice. They can explain this more to you.
This is a very risky type of loan since this is a personal loan without collateral, they require me to issue a monthly post-dated checks for 3 years. Three years means 36 months, so there are 36 post-dated checks that I have to sign. This is to ensure in their part that I will be able to pay them monthly for 3 years. In my part, I have to ensure I have sufficient funds in my bank monthly or else the check would bounce and this is a crime of estafa. We wouldn’t want that.
I have Php200,000 pesos in my savings account which I used to pay my monthly loan in the Philippines while I was starting up in Canada. I used my personal loan to pay my first semester tuition fee. My last pay in my previous company was able to pay half of my second semester tuition. I now only have to worry about saving for the remaining tuition fee, house rental and living costs, and ensuring enough money in my Philippine bank for my loan payment. I have written a separate post on how I sustain my tuition fee and living costs on my own.
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