funding requirements:
All international applicants requesting visa eligibility documents (I-20 or DS-2019) are required to demonstrate that they have adequate financial resources to cover the cost of their education while in the United States. Financial documentation is required as part of the application process in order for visa eligibility documents (I-20 or DS-2019) to the U.S. to be issued. International applicants should upload the following documentation directly to the online application. Note that this documentation may be submitted after you submit your graduate application.
funding sources:
If the student will provide funding from personal funds, a Bank Statement with sufficient funding for at least one year’s total cost* is required. Please refer to the PDF of the Declaration and Certification of Finances form for specific expense amounts.
If a family or other personal sponsor will provide funding, a Bank Statement with sufficient funding for at least one year’s total cost* is required. One of the following additional documents is also required: Declaration and Certification of Finances form verifying sponsorship for full length and cost of the program OR signed Letter of Sponsorship detailing amounts and length of sponsorship.
If an employer, government or organization will provide funding, a signed Letter of Sponsorship detailing amounts and length of sponsorship is required.
FUNDING documentation - bank statements:
You must obtain a bank statement from your bank (web printouts are acceptable for online banking) showing the bank's letterhead or logo, and bank stamp or bank signature.
The statement must show sufficient funding for one year’s costs* (or amount of sponsorship for one year),must be dated within one year of submission, andmust show funding in liquid accounts, such as savings, checking, money market accounts, or CDs.
Non-liquid funding such as stocks, bonds, auto/land deeds are not acceptable forms of financial support.
Solvency and opinion statements are not acceptable forms of financial support.
FUNDING DOCUMENTATION - declaration and certification of finance forms:
The sponsor must sign and print his/her name and relationship to the student, and the form must be dated within one year of submission.Signing this document verifies sponsorship for the full length and cost of the program.
The form is available in PDF format here.
FUNDING DOCUMENTATION - letters of sponsorship:
You must obtain an official letter of sponsorship from the sponsor that includes a signature or stamp showing the authenticity of the letter. The letter must detail amounts and length of sponsorship and be dated within one year of submission.
uploading funding documentation:
- You are required to upload a copy of your all proof of funding documentation if requesting an I-20 or DS-2019. English translations should be included if the documentation is not in English.
- Non-legible scans will not be accepted.
- Please do not mail or fax in a copy of this documentation which you have uploaded to your online application. Instead, use only the upload feature of our online application at this point. This saves you the time, effort, and expense of mailing financial documents to us during the initial processing and review of your application. It also avoids any delays resulting from the non-receipt of financial documents and assures you that your documents have been successfully submitted, since you can view them yourself online.
- Please obtain an electronic version of your proof of financial documentation (bank statements, declaration forms, letters of sponsorship) or scan a copy of the document you may already have and that is current, at the lowest resolution that results in a legible document (we recommend using under 200 dpi whenever possible.
- You may upload an institutional web-based bank statement if the financial institution has put your name on the statement.
- You must ensure that your name, the financial institution name, and other identifying marks are not missed during the scanning process and that your scanned copy is clearly legible and can print on letter size paper - 8.5 by 11 in (21.5 by 30 cm).
- Please be certain that your document is saved as a PDF file or Word document. Scanning in “gray scale” or black and white may produce the best results.
- If the scanned file is too large you may want to make a photocopy first (experiment with different settings until you find one that results in the smallest file size) then scan the photocopy.
The University of Illinois reserves the right to require official proof of funding documentation at any time during the SEVIS review process.
*Note that J-1 students will be required to show proof of funding (via bank statement) for the entire cost of the program (or the portion for which funds are being covered by personal or other individual sponsor funding).
