Student Visa Documents UK: What Needs a Certified Translation, From Bank Statements to Parental Consent

A student applying from Tashkent with her father's savings must show his bank statements, a birth certificate naming him and his written consent, each in English or with a certified translation. A student from Seoul applying with her own savings may not have to upload financial evidence at all. Same visa, same course, very different paperwork.

Two parts of the Immigration Rules explain the gap. Appendix Finance decides whose money counts and how it is proved. The "differential evidence requirement" in Appendix Student lets nationals of 60 listed countries, and holders of British National (Overseas), Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan passports, leave out financial and qualification evidence when applying from where they live or in the UK, unless UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) asks for it.

This guide takes each document in turn, then the 2025 and 2026 rule changes.

Which Student visa documents need a certified translation?

Any document you rely on that is not in English or Welsh. Paragraph 39B(f) of the Immigration Rules requires "the version in the original language and a full translation that can be independently verified", and the Home Office's Student caseworker guidance (version 14.0, August 2026) applies it to every supporting document.

Differential evidence removes documents from the upload, not from the rules: the caseworker can still ask for them, translated.

What does the Home Office expect from a Student visa translation?

The caseworker guidance says: "If a document is not in English or Welsh, the applicant must provide a fully certified translation from a professional translator or translation company that can be independently verified by the Home Office." It must include confirmation that it is accurate, the date, the full name and signature of the translator or a company official, and contact details.

Three consequences follow:

1. Use a professional. A translation by the student, or by a parent or friend who is not a professional translator, does not meet that wording.
2. Applying in the UK adds a step. Extending or switching is an application for leave to remain, so under 39B(f)(iv) the translation must also carry "certification by a qualified translator and details of the translator or translation company's credentials." Official Translations certificates meet this element as standard, with the company's credentials as a member of the Association of Translation Companies (ATC).
3. No notarisation or apostille. The UK has no sworn translators and no Home Office list of approved translators. See who can certify a translation in the UK.

How does the 28-day rule work when statements are translated?

The money must have been held for 28 consecutive days, counted back from the closing balance on your most recent statement, and that statement must be dated within 31 days before you apply (Appendix Finance, FIN 7.1 to 7.3). The evidence must cover all 28 days and show your name, the bank's name and the balance.

You need any outstanding course fees on your CAS plus living costs for up to nine months, unless you are applying in the UK after 12 months or more here with permission.

What the translation must get right:

• Every page in the 28 days, including pages with no transactions.
• The currency as printed. The Home Office converts at the OANDA spot rate on the application date (the FCDO consular rate for Syrian pounds, Mongolian tugrik and Iranian rials).
• Figures exactly as printed. On a decimal-comma statement "1.250.000,00" is one million two hundred and fifty thousand; separators must never be "tidied" into another number.
• Countable dates. An Iranian statement dated in the Solar Hijri calendar keeps its dates, with Gregorian equivalents in a translator's note.

GOV.UK excludes overdrafts, cryptocurrency, stocks and shares, pensions, and accounts at unregulated banks or banks without electronic records. It also warns: "We may verify the evidence with your bank. If we cannot verify the evidence, your application may be refused." See our bank statement translation guide.

What do you need if your parents' money pays?

Three things: the parent's statements, their written consent and proof that they are your parent. Appendix Finance lets a Student rely on an account "in the name of their parent, or their legal guardian" (FIN 5.1) and requires "proof of that relationship and written consent from the parent or legal guardian to use those funds" (FIN 5.3). The parent must control the account.

Proof is usually your birth certificate naming that parent; an adoption certificate or a court or government document naming a legal guardian does the same job.

Names cause most friction. A Cyrillic birth certificate may name the father Алиев Рустам Каримович while his bank prints ALIYEV RUSTAM. The translation should follow each passport's spelling, label the patronymic as such, and note any difference once. See birth certificate translation for UK use.

Do the qualifications on your CAS need translating?

Sometimes. Under ST 20.1 you must provide the qualifications or references your sponsor used to make the offer, unless you will study at degree level or above with a higher education provider with a track record of compliance, or you benefit from differential evidence. In practice it mainly affects courses below degree level.

The evidence is the certificate, the transcript or a printout from the awarding body's online checking service, showing your name, the award title, the awarding institution and the award date. A reference must show your name, the course or experience, dates and the referee's contact details.

Our academic transcript translation guide covers grading scales and course titles.

What does an applicant aged 16 or 17 need?

Written consent from both parents, one parent with sole responsibility, or a legal guardian (Appendix Children, CHI 5.1), giving their contact details and consenting to the application, your living and care arrangements in the UK and, from abroad, your travel and reception arrangements (CHI 5.2).

GOV.UK also asks for "a copy of your birth certificate (or another government issued document) that shows the names of your parents," and the Appendix Children guidance adds the death certificate where a parent has died. Each is accepted if it "is in English (or Welsh) or is accompanied by a verified translation."

Can you still bring a partner or children on a Student visa?

New dependants can join only two kinds of student: one on a government-sponsored full-time course of six months or longer, or one on a full-time postgraduate course of nine months or more at a higher education provider with a track record of compliance. If that postgraduate course started on or after 1 January 2024, it must be a PhD, another doctorate or a research-based higher degree, so most taught master's students now come alone. Existing dependants can usually stay on when the student moves to a further course, and a child born in the UK can be added.

Dependants need a marriage or civil partnership certificate, or evidence of a relationship akin to marriage for at least two years, and a birth certificate for each child, all translated in full. Each needs £845 a month in London or £680 elsewhere, for up to nine months. See the child dependant documents guide.

What changed for students in 2025 and 2026?

The visa brake does not apply to dual nationals who apply on another nationality's passport.

Why Student applications get refused or delayed over documents

• A statement that is too old: closing more than 31 days before the application.
• A broken 28 days: a missing page, or the balance dipping below the required sum for a single day.
• A missing link: parents' statements without their consent letter or your birth certificate.
• A translation that changes numbers: converted currency, or shifted separators.
• An unverifiable document: an inconclusive verification check means the document is discounted.
• A translation without a date or contact details, or one made by the applicant.

Checklist: Student visa translations

Questions people ask