How many months of bank statements does UKVI need?

Six months for most work and family visas; 28 consecutive days for Student visa maintenance funds; 3 months for Visitor visas as a typical guideline. The 28-day window for student maintenance must end no more than 31 days before the application date.

Can I submit screenshots from my banking app?

Generally no. UKVI prefers official PDFs downloaded from your bank's online banking, which carry the bank's letterhead, your name, account number and full transaction list. Screenshots can be rejected as easy to fabricate.

Do I need to redact account numbers?

No. UKVI needs to verify the account belongs to the named applicant. Redacting full account numbers makes statements unverifiable. You may redact unrelated transactions only if they're irrelevant to maintenance funds, but for most applications the cleanest approach is to submit unredacted statements.

Bank Statement Format for UK Visa: What UKVI Accepts

TL;DR

UK visas need bank statements in PDF format, downloaded directly from your bank, covering 6 months for work/family routes and 28 consecutive days for Student maintenance. Statements must show your name, account number, branch address, and an unbroken transaction history. Screenshots, mobile app exports without bank letterhead, and PDFs older than the application window get rejected.

What format does UKVI require?

PDF is the only universally-accepted format for bank statements. The PDF must:

Show the bank's letterhead (name, logo) on every page
Show your full name matching your passport
Show your account number, sort code and branch address
Cover the required period without gaps
Be downloaded from official online banking — not a screenshot, not a manual export

JPG and PNG screenshots are not accepted as primary financial evidence. Some applicants try to merge screenshots into a PDF; this is also rejected because the source format isn't authoritative.

How many months / days?

Route	Period required	Notes
Skilled Worker (maintenance)	Last 28 days	£1,270 minimum; consecutive days ending ≤31 days before application
Spouse / Family (income)	6 months	Matches the 6 months of payslips
Spouse / Family (savings)	6 months	£88,500+ if relying solely on savings
Student (maintenance)	28 consecutive days	£1,334/m London or £1,023/m elsewhere × 9 months
Visitor	3-6 months	Guideline — depends on length of stay claimed

For the Student visa specifically, the 28-day window must end no more than 31 days before you apply. Apply outside this window and the maintenance evidence is rejected even if balance was sufficient.

What does UKVI check?

That the account holder's name matches the applicant (or sponsor for Spouse / Family income)
That the balance met the threshold throughout the period
That transactions look genuine (no large unexplained credits the day before the snapshot)
That statement dates are within the application window
That the statement is unaltered — hashes, font inconsistencies, and date typos all flag for fraud review

Common reasons bank statements get rejected

Missing pages — submitting a 5-month range when 6 are required
Wrong period — statement is from earlier in the year, not the most recent 6 months
Mobile-app screenshots without bank letterhead
Joint accounts without written explanation of who funds what
Recent large credit with no source documentation (UKVI suspects "borrowed funds" used to inflate balance for the application then returned)
Statement marked "duplicate" when downloaded from internet banking — this is fine but caseworkers occasionally flag it; include a covering note
Foreign-language statements without certified English translation

Practical guidance

Download statements as PDF directly from your bank's online banking — most UK banks (Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, NatWest, Santander, Halifax, Monzo, Wise, Revolut) offer this.
For app-only banks (Monzo, Wise, Revolut, Starling), use the in-app "request statement" feature; it generates a properly-formatted PDF.
Save each month as a separate file, then merge with our free Bundler — preserving the official format on each page.
If your bundle exceeds the 6 MB UKVCAS limit, use the Compressor — but use the structural pass setting to keep statements text-readable; the raster fallback would lose fine print.

What about cash, savings or non-UK accounts?

Cash funds held in person are never accepted — must be in a bank account
Savings accounts (ISAs, fixed-term deposits) are accepted if statements show the same metadata — name, account number, balance over period
Non-UK accounts are accepted if held by the applicant, with certified translation if not in English; some accounts in sanctioned jurisdictions are not accepted
Investment accounts (stocks, crypto, bonds) generally aren't accepted as maintenance funds — UKVI requires liquid cash or near-cash

For the Spouse / Family £88,500 savings route, the funds must have been continuously held for 6 months — moving them between accounts during the period requires separate documentation showing the transfer chain.