“I don´t have any solution”

Syed Nazeer Ali and Raju Kakarlapudi lost their right to stay in Sweden because their accounts showed that they didn’t spend enough money.

“The rules are clear” says Anita Engström at the Migration Board.

The expert for student visa application at the Migration Board Anita Engström says:

“The rules are clear and can be found on the webpage. We just check that the requirements are provided.”

Syed and Raju had followed every rule in order to start their studies at Lund University in 2010 (read the story here). They presented a bank account statement showing enough money to survive two years in Sweden, according to the law, 7.300 SEK multiplied by 20 months. After one year they were required to extend their stay, showing this time at least 73.000 at the bank account. But the Migration board was not satisfied with a closing balance of the bank account. It requested a three month statement of the period before the application. The problems with that: Raju and Syed had not shown activity on their account during the year. Their visa extension got denied.

Anita Engström acknowledges that some issues need to be discussed when it comes to student visa.

“I will look into both cases and their special circumstances to bring them into future discussions that we have at the Migration Board. I don´t have any solution for the problem at the moment.”

What international students should do for now is to follow the requirements and keep the account maintained.

“The student has a responsibility, too. If they had provided 146.000 SEK at the beginning of the Master, he should still have 73.000 SEK after one year. Sponsors are not accepted,” says Anita Engström.

In order to proof that the money is truly owned by the student, he should spent a certain amount (approximately 7.300 SEK) of it each month and don’t keep the amount steady, as Syed did.

Read also: Saving money can be fatal for international students