How much money do I need to show for a UK visitor visa?

Is there a minimum amount for a UK visit visa?

No. The visitor rules say you must have enough money for the trip, but they do not give a number:

“(e) must have sufficient funds to cover all reasonable costs in relation to their visit without working or accessing public funds, including the cost of the return or onward journey”

Immigration Rules, Appendix V: Visitor, V 4.2(e)

The Home Office guide for its staff is clear about this:

“There is no set level of funds required for an applicant to show this.”

Visit guidance, for Home Office staff, Maintenance and accommodation

So be careful with anyone who tells you a fixed figure. An amount that is fine for one person can look wrong for another. It depends on the trip and on your life.

How does the officer decide if it is enough?

The guide tells the officer to start with the cost of your stay, and any money that keeps coming in while you are away:

“You should consider the likely cost of their stay and assess any sources of revenue that will continue to be available to the applicant whilst they are visiting the UK.”

Visit guidance, for Home Office staff, Maintenance and accommodation

Then they look at what you have to keep paying at home:

“You must also take into account any ongoing financial commitments the applicant has in their country of residence such as rent / mortgage payments and any dependants who they support financially, including those who are not travelling with them.”

Visit guidance, for Home Office staff, Maintenance and accommodation

What is left must cover the trip, and the trip must make sense for you:

“Their income or savings, minus their financial commitments, must be sufficient to meet the likely costs they will incur in the UK and be reasonable expenditure in light of their financial situation.”

Visit guidance, for Home Office staff, Maintenance and accommodation

How do I work out my own number?

You can do the same sum the officer does. Write it down before you apply:

• Add up the trip: flights, a place to stay, food, travel inside the UK and anything you plan to do.
• Take away anything someone else is paying for, such as a free room with family. Get a letter that says so.
• Add up your bills at home for the same time: rent, school fees, loans and money you send to family.
• Look at your income and savings. After your bills, is there enough left for the trip?
• Ask yourself: would a person on my income spend this much on this trip?

The last question matters. A short, simple trip on a steady income is easy to follow. A long, costly trip on a small income raises doubt, even if the money is in the bank.

Does more money always help?

Not always. Money that was put in just before you applied can make the officer look harder, not less. The guide tells officers to check where new money came from:

“Where an individual provides documents which show sufficient funds for their planned stay, but either all or most of these funds have not been held in their account for long, you may want to make further checks to establish the origin of this money.”

Visit guidance, for Home Office staff, Maintenance and accommodation

It is better to show a steady history that fits your job and your trip than a large sum with no clear source.

What about a Schengen visa?

Schengen works in a different way. Each country can set its own guide amount, and the officer must take it into account:

“In order to assess the means of subsistence, the reference amounts set by individual Member States must be taken into account.”

Handbook for the processing of visa applications and the modification of issued visas, Part II, point 6.6, the conditions of the intended stay

Those amounts change from country to country, so check the one for the country you will apply to. The handbook for officers also asks for recent bank statements:

“(a) recent bank account statements showing movements over a certain period (at least the last three months)”

Handbook for the processing of visa applications and the modification of issued visas, Point 5.2.2

Read next

• What should my bank statements show for a UK visit visa?
• Why are UK visitor visas refused?
• What do the reasons on a Schengen visa refusal form mean?

Sources

• Immigration Rules, Appendix V: Visitor, Home Office. Read on 18 October 2026.
• Visit guidance, for Home Office staff, Home Office, dated 8 October 2026. Read on 18 October 2026.
• Handbook for the processing of visa applications and the modification of issued visas, European Commission, dated 26 June 2024. Read on 18 October 2026.