How Long Your Money Has to Sit: Proof of Funds Seasoning and the Six Months Before You Apply

Imagine you are a software developer in Bengaluru. You have the language score, the degree check and the work history for Canada. The last piece is money. Your father sells a small plot of land in your home town and sends you the proceeds. You feel grateful and ready. You plan to apply next month.

Then a friend who moved to Toronto asks one question. "How long has that money been in your account?"

You realise you do not know why it matters. To you, the money is real and it is yours. To a visa officer, a large deposit that arrived last month is a question mark. Who sent it? Is it a loan? Will it go back after the visa?

The short answer: Proof-of-funds money generally has to sit in your account for at least 28 consecutive days on the shortest routes, and for three to six months on routes that read your statement history. UKVI publishes a 28 consecutive day holding period for Skilled Worker and Student maintenance funds. IRCC publishes no single day count for Express Entry, so six months of history is the safe planning assumption. These are planning ranges checked in August 2026. Reconfirm the rule on the issuing authority's page before you move a single transfer.

Why timing matters more than the amount

Think of your bank statement as a security camera. The officer does not only look at the room today. They rewind the tape and watch who came in.

If your statement window is six months and you file in March, the officer reads September to February. A property sale in November, a bonus in December or a gift from a parent in January all appear on the tape as unexplained credits. Each one can trigger a source-of-funds request that adds weeks.

Money that landed before September is just an opening balance. Nobody asks about it.

That is the whole seasoning problem. The gap between a clean file and a queried one is often four to eight weeks of timing on a transfer you controlled. This is general information, and a licensed or registered adviser should confirm how it applies to you.

What seasoning means to an officer

The guidance asks for funds that are available, unencumbered and traceable. It exists to stop a loan taken out for the application week, a balance borrowed from a relative and returned later, and money with no provable origin. Two separate rules hide inside the word "seasoning".

The holding period is how long the money must stay without a break. UKVI's 28 consecutive days is the clearest example. It tells you when you can file.

The statement window is how much history you hand over. Six months is a common ask on settlement, student and blocked-account routes. It tells you which past transactions the officer sees. Most avoidable trouble comes from planning for the first and forgetting the second.

Does this apply to you?

It does if your route tests savings, not salary: Express Entry with no Canadian job offer, a UK Student or Skilled Worker application where the sponsor does not certify maintenance, a German Job Seeker visa or Chancenkarte funded through a blocked account, a New Zealand or Irish study route, or any consulate that asks for six months of bank statements.

It applies most if the money arrived recently: flat sale proceeds, a bonus, a maturing fixed deposit, an inheritance, a business payout, or a transfer from family.

It matters less if your route waives the funds test. IRCC waives Express Entry settlement funds for candidates with a valid job offer and authorisation to work in Canada. Canadian Experience Class applicants already working in Canada are generally exempt. A UK sponsor can certify maintenance on the certificate of sponsorship, which removes the cash test. Employer-sponsored routes such as the Netherlands highly skilled migrant scheme test the salary, not your savings. Read our guide to what actually counts as proof of funds alongside this one.

The windows, by route

This table is a planning aid, checked in August 2026. Reconfirm every row on the named authority's page in the month you file.

Work backwards from your filing month

Planning this is like baking bread. You do not start when the guests arrive. You count back from dinner time.

Step one: name the month. Not a season. If you want a complete Express Entry file in March 2027, March 2027 is your anchor.

Step two: open the window. Subtract six months. For a March 2027 filing, the window opens in September 2026. Anything that lands from then on is inside the frame.

Step three: set the money-in-place date. Aim to have the full amount in the account before the window opens, so it shows as an opening balance. For March 2027, that is August 2026. If that is too early, the next best option is early inside the window with full documents attached. That gives you a query you can answer, not one you cannot.

Step four: back up the source event. Add time for the buyer's financing, the conveyancing, registration and the bank's clearance of a large credit. For an August 2026 money-in-place date, a property sale needs to be agreed in roughly March to May 2026 in most markets. A gift needs its deed signed, and the giver's statements collected, at the time of the transfer.

Step five: leave a currency margin. If the threshold is in the destination currency and your money is in naira, rupees, pesos, taka or dirhams, conversion happens on the assessment date. Keep a visible margin of roughly ten to fifteen per cent above the figure.

Did the money move last month? Push the filing month so the credit falls outside the window, or file inside it with the documents ready. Your other deadlines decide which.

When waiting costs more than it saves

Age points. IRCC's Comprehensive Ranking System gives age points that step down as you get older. The Australian points test gives its top age points to a band that ends on a birthday. Pushing from March to September is free if your birthday is in November. It is costly if it is in July. Our guide to the age points cliff and when to apply shows where the bands sit.

Fee and threshold changes. IRCC republishes its settlement-funds table by family size against the low income cut-off every year. UKVI revises fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge through published regulations. A file pushed past a revision date can cost more and need a bigger balance. Language tests, police certificates and medical exams also expire, so a long delay can mean a paid retake.

A source-of-funds request usually costs weeks. If your documents are complete, filing inside the window is often the better trade. If the money came from a relative with no deed and no trail, wait.

The free eligibility check asks 6 questions (age, education, experience, English, target countries) and gives you a quick read on your options in 2 minutes.

Timing a sale, a bonus or a family gift

A bonus or severance payment is the easiest to explain. It still stands out against eleven months of normal credits, so attach the payslip and an employer letter.

A property sale. Officers rarely object to a property sale. They object to one with no paperwork. Keep the sale deed or agreement, the buyer's payment evidence, the registration document and any capital gains filing in one folder from day one. On most routes, property equity does not count until it is sold and the proceeds sit in a bank account. Confirm this in your route's guidance. Our guide to what to do with property back home helps you decide whether to sell at all.

A family transfer. This is the riskiest source, and the most common one for applicants from South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Africa and the Gulf. Several routes accept a gift when it is documented as a gift. You need a signed gift deed saying there is no expectation of repayment, proof of the relationship, the giver's own bank statements showing where their money came from, and the transfer record.

Collect it all at the moment of transfer. A gift deed is like a receipt: it is worth most on the day of purchase, not a year later when an officer asks. A gift that arrives four weeks before filing has both problems at once.

Consolidate early into one account in your own legal name, then leave it alone. Four accounts mean four sets of statements and four chances for a mismatch. Banks can hold large inbound transfers for days or weeks. Our guide to transferring money and remittances abroad covers how.

What seasoning cannot fix

Borrowed money stays borrowed. A loan that has sat in your account for eight months is still a debt. Declaring it as savings risks a misrepresentation finding. IRCC publishes a five year bar for misrepresentation. Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand each publish their own exclusion periods for false or misleading information, so check the length on the authority's page.

Unexplained money stays unexplained. Time does not create a paper trail.

Locked money stays locked. A retirement fund you cannot draw, or a five-year fixed deposit with a heavy break penalty, does not become cash with age. Cryptocurrency generally has to be sold on a regulated exchange, withdrawn to your own bank account, then seasoned. Start early.

One dip can reset the clock. A standing order or bank fee that takes you under the line for one day can restart a holding period. Move standing instructions to another account.

Common mistakes

1. Planning for the holding period and forgetting the statement window. Twenty-eight days is when you may file. Six months is what the officer reads.
2. Moving the money the month before filing.
3. Sitting exactly on the threshold, then falling under it when the exchange rate moves.
4. Forgetting the family multiplier. Settlement-funds figures rise with each person who comes with you.
5. Paying an agent to "show funds" in your account. That buys a refusal and possibly a ban.

Agents to avoid on this topic

Stop at once if anyone offers to park money in your account for a fee, offers a "funds certificate" from a bank you do not use, asks you to pay into a personal account, or guarantees a visa. No adviser decides your file, so no adviser can sell a guarantee.

Check anyone you pay against the regulator. In Canada, use the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants register and the provincial law societies. In Australia, use the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority register. In the United Kingdom, use the statutory regulator of immigration advice (it has been renamed in recent years, so search GOV.UK for the current register) and the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Our guide to avoiding immigration scams lists the checks in order.

What to do this week

1. Name your target filing month and write it down.
2. Subtract six months to find when your statement window opens.
3. List every credit above one month of your salary in that window, and the document that explains it.
4. Confirm the current threshold for your route and family size on the authority's page.
5. Decide whether to file inside the window or push the filing month.

For the figures by country, read how much money you need to migrate, together with what actually counts as proof of funds.

Frequently asked questions

How long does money need to be in an account for proof of funds?

At least 28 consecutive days on UKVI's Skilled Worker and Student routes. Routes that read statement history, such as Express Entry, are safer planned at three to six months. Both are planning ranges checked in August 2026.

Does a large deposit automatically cause a refusal?

No. It causes a question. A sale deed, payslip or gift deed with the giver's statements usually closes it. Refusals happen when there is no answer.

What happens if my balance dips below the threshold for one day?

Where the route has a holding period, a dip generally restarts the count. Standing orders and bank charges are the usual cause, so keep a margin.

I already moved the money last month. What are my options?

File inside the window with documents ready, or wait until the deposit is more than six months old. An age band that drops on your birthday, an expiring test or a fee revision can make waiting the costlier choice.

Do blocked-account countries have a seasoning rule?

The mechanism is different. For Germany's Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte), the test is the blocking confirmation, though missions often ask for recent statements and can question the origin of the money. Start weeks ahead and check with the German mission for your country.

Does the threshold figure change while I am saving?

Yes. IRCC republishes settlement funds every year, German blocked-account benchmarks are reviewed periodically, and UKVI revises figures through rule changes. Exchange rates move too. Re-check in the month you file.

The bottom line

Remember the developer in Bengaluru. The money was never the problem. The calendar was. Get the money in before the window opens, and nobody asks. Get it in later, and the papers must be ready on the day you file.

Take the free eligibility check for a quick read on your options.