If anyone is a student in your family who plans to study abroad, you might be required to submit an affidavit of support with their application.
What exactly is an affidavit of support, and for what purpose is it used? This article will provide you with answers as well as examples of how to draft the letter. Continue reading this article to learn more about the affidavit of support for a student visa.
An affidavit is a written commitment. It is an official document in which the sponsor (an affiant) declares facts and swears to their truthfulness. An affidavit of support is a legal declaration that the student has a certain sum of money in the bank and is ready to utilize it for educational purposes. It is one of the crucial documents, and the date must be expressly stated. It is frequently signed under oath and witnessed by an authority, such as a notary public.
Foreign immigration officials want to ensure that students coming to study there have the resources to sustain themselves while there. Parents and family members provide financial support for these students because they frequently haven't started their businesses or established independent sources of income. Sponsors are often the parents, husbands, or other family members who lend financial assistance to the student.
So, to verify that the student would get financial assistance from their family during the program they seek, a student visa application may ask for an affidavit of support. A letter on institutional letterhead or a form must be used to submit the affidavit of support. Parents or other family members will often need to produce documentation of the applicant's relationship and the declaration of support. Among other acceptable papers, a birth certificate or a marriage certificate might illustrate this in the case of a spouse.
Typically, the sponsor must be a single member of the family, not a group of relatives. You can name a single family member to serve as the applicant's sponsor or two persons, such as employed parents. The tiny print on student applications should be carefully studied, as some immigration authorities may specify that the sponsor must be a parent or spouse, and an aunt or an uncle does not satisfy this criterion. A sponsor must also demonstrate that they meet the minimal financial requirements for the student to acquire a visa, along with the evidence of the relationship and the affidavit. Each nation has its minimum standards for students from India, along with particular papers needed to demonstrate compliance. Many nations like to see bank statements from a sponsor or even an ITR-V to ensure the student has the money to live there.
An affidavit of support must be submitted with the application if a sponsor is required for the student to meet the financial requirements. To issue the Form I-20 to the student and educational institution, it is also necessary to meet the financial requirements adequately. An F1 visa is given to overseas students who wish to study at a college, university, high school, or vocational institute in the United States. Those who apply for an F1 visa will be contacted for an interview to confirm their information and determine whether they truly want to study in the US and return to India. Most significantly, they'll want to determine whether providing financial assistance for the student while studying in the US is feasible.
During the interview, the student will be questioned on how they will pay for their tuition and living costs in the US. The student should fully understand the facts in the support letter affidavit and the funds' source. If you live in the US and are applying to sponsor an overseas student, you must complete Form I-134.
Depending on the nation the student is applying to, different amounts of money are required for an affidavit of support. Each nation has its requirements, which may change based on how long the student is anticipated to remain. It may also vary between campuses in rural and urban areas within the same nation.
Affidavits of support must be written on your own if a form isn't given to you to fill out. Ideally, a professional letter on personal letterhead that has been typed should be used for this. An affidavit of support letter includes the following:
Please note that you must provide financial supporting documentation, such as bank deposits, sources of income, etc. The documentation must preferably be notarized since this is the finest choice.