There's no single magic number embassies look for — despite what forums and WhatsApp groups will confidently tell you. We've seen applications approved with ₹80,000 in the bank and applications refused with ₹18 lakh. What matters is whether your balance is proportionate to your trip cost, consistent with your income, and stable over time. Officers aren't hunting for wealth; they're hunting for coherence.
The working math, destination by destination
For Schengen and UK visitor visas, a sensible working rule is your full trip cost — flights, hotels, and roughly €80–100 per day of expenses — plus a living buffer that shows the trip won't empty your account. For a ten-day European trip, that usually lands between ₹2.5 and ₹4 lakh across your accounts. For Southeast Asian e-Visas, the bar is far lower: Thailand and Vietnam rarely question a balance above ₹50,000–₹1 lakh.
The US B-2 is the outlier: there's no fixed threshold at all, because the officer is assessing overall financial stability relative to your declared income rather than a specific figure. A salaried applicant with modest but consistent savings is in better shape than someone with a large balance and no visible income source — the second profile raises exactly the questions you don't want raised.
The patterns that get applications refused
- A large lump-sum deposit two or three weeks before applying — officers are trained to spot borrowed 'show money'
- Salary credits that don't match the employment letter or salary slips
- A closing balance that's healthy but a transaction history full of bounced payments
- Round-tripping: money moving in from a relative and back out days later
If your own finances are thin, don't manufacture a balance — use a sponsor. A parent, spouse, or employer can fund the trip on most visa types, provided the file says so explicitly: a sponsorship letter, proof of relationship, and the sponsor's own bank statements and income proof attached to your application. A transparent sponsored file beats an inflated personal one every single time.
One last habit worth building: start moving your travel savings into a single account three to six months before you apply. Consolidated, gradually-built funds in one statement read far better than the same amount scattered across four accounts with last-minute transfers between them.