UK Student Visa Maintenance Funds, Decoded for Pakistanis: The 30 November 2026 Increase, the £14,130 Arithmetic, and the Application-Date Trap
By the Kimi Travels Team | Updated November 2026
The Home Office is raising the money a Pakistani student must show for a UK visa — and the change lands on a hard date. Under Statement of Changes HC 584, laid on 3 September 2026, the monthly maintenance figures rise from 30 November 2026: London goes from £1,529 to £1,570 per month, and courses outside London from £1,171 to £1,203 per month. What decides which rate applies is not your CAS letter and not your course start — it is the day your application is submitted. Date slip ho gayi to naya rate lagega — let the date slip and the new rate applies.
The New Numbers, Line by Line
Maintenance covers living costs only; tuition fees on your CAS sit on top. The figures, held for up to nine months:
- Studying in London: £1,570 per month — a nine-month course means £14,130 (up from £13,761).
- Studying outside London: £1,203 per month — nine months means £10,827 (up from £10,539).
- London means the City of London plus the 32 boroughs — Brunel in Uxbridge is outside; Greenwich inside the borough boundary is inside.
- Tuition: one academic year of fees as printed on the CAS, added to the maintenance total.
The Application-Date Rule That Catches Families
Solicitors' commentary on HC 584 is unanimous on the mechanics: the date of application, not the CAS date or the course start date, decides which figures apply. File on 29 November 2026 and the old amounts stand; file on 30 November or later and the higher bar applies. The trap is procedural drift — a CAS that takes two more weeks to arrive, a biometric appointment that slips past the month-end, a bank statement that ages out. Our desk's rule for every January 2027 intake student: park the higher figure now, so a delayed submission never strands the file. The refusal data behind why clean money trails matter is mapped in our UK study visa refusal data guide.
How the Money Must Sit: The 28-Day Discipline
The amount is only half the test; the other half is shape. The funds must:
- Hold for 28 consecutive days, with the balance never dipping below the required figure — not even for one night.
- End within 31 days of the application date on the statement you upload.
- Sit in your name, or a parent or legal guardian's name — with a consent letter and proof of relationship for the second route.
- Show a source that survives questions: salary income, business revenue, documented property or investment sales. A sudden unexplained lump deposit is the classic refusal trigger.
The mechanics of readable statements are covered in our bank statement requirements guide, and the full four-country comparison — Germany's blocked account, Canada's GIC, Australia's AUD 29,710 — in our student proof-of-funds comparison.
What the Funds Do Not Cover
Maintenance is proof, not a budget: nobody hands this money to the university, and it is not a visa fee. On top of it sit the Immigration Health Surcharge, the visa fee itself, and the first weeks of actual deposit and rent. The fee landscape is mapped in our UK visa fees guide, and the digital status you now hold once granted — no passport sticker, a UKVI account with a share code — in our UK eVisa decoder.
Who Should Move Now
Three groups have a clock running. First, January 2027 intake students whose files naturally straddle late November — the boundary is theirs. Second, students reapplying after a refusal, where a second submission after 29 November inherits the higher bar automatically. Third, families still choosing between the UK and other destinations: the after-study rules shifted too — the Graduate visa now runs 18 months for most new applicants, as our UK Graduate visa 2027 decoder explains. And if the phone rings before decision day, prepare the way our credibility interview guide teaches — the funding question is always asked.
Where Kimi Travels Fits In
Arithmetic this unforgiving rewards a file built backwards from the calendar: the right amount, parked for the right 28 days, in the right name, submitted against the right date. Our desk runs that sequence for students every intake — statements checked line by line, dates stress-tested, and the WhatsApp line live through submission week. Kimi Travels builds student files that survive the balance check, not just the paperwork check.
A bank balance now decides which Pakistani students may board and which must stay behind, while Gaza's students hold admission letters to universities Israel has bombed to rubble, and Sudan's students queue for classrooms that Hemedti's RSF and Burhan's war have scattered into camps. We measure worth in pounds while occupation measures their futures in rubble. 'And how many a creature carries not its provision. Allah provides for it and for you.' (Qur'an 29:60). We ask Allah to provide for the young people of Palestine and Sudan a path no siege and no war can price out of reach.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much money do I need to show for a UK student visa after 30 November 2026?
£1,570 per month for courses in London and £1,203 per month outside, held for up to nine months — £14,130 or £10,827 in total, plus one academic year of tuition as shown on your CAS.
Does my course start date decide which rate applies?
No. The date you submit the application decides. Apply on 29 November 2026 and the old figures apply; apply from 30 November onwards and the new ones do.
My balance dipped for one day during the 28-day period. Does it still count?
No — the balance must stay at or above the required figure for 28 consecutive days, ending no more than 31 days before you apply. One bad day restarts the clock.
Can my father's bank account be used for my maintenance funds?
Yes, if he is a parent or legal guardian, with a letter of consent and proof of relationship. Funds in anyone else's name are not accepted.
I already have funds parked at the old rate. Should I top up?
If your application could cross 30 November 2026, yes — top up to the new figure now and let the 28-day window run clean, rather than gambling on submitting before the change.
Is the maintenance money paid to the university or the Home Office?
Neither. It is proof of living-cost capacity that stays in your or your sponsor's account, alongside the separate visa fee and Immigration Health Surcharge.
UK student visa ka poora funds plan — kitna, kis naam se, aur kis date tak? Kimi Travels checks every figure against the rule in force on your filing date. Plan My Student Funds File