How to obtain a Bank Statement if the owner of the account is not in Nepal?

Photo by: Robert Bye -Unsplash

 This is a somewhat unique case, but it can happen to students whose sponsors are abroad, and own bank accounts in Nepal. And, students need to show the bank statement of their sponsors for visa purposes of different countries.

Ideally, a bank statement is only provided to the respective account owner, by the bank, after showing valid ID card and affixing his/her authorised signature to the application form, due to the sensitive nature of the document.

But now, as many Nepali nationals are abroad for the purpose of foreign employment; if a student wishes to show someone residing and working abroad as his/her sponsor, they need to show their bank statement of either their foreign bank or their bank in Nepali if applicable.

It is possible to get the bank statement no matter where you are via email by filling out the bank statement request form, downloading it from bank's official website and sending it to bank's email in the case of many Nepali banks. It could take a few days to receive the statement through this method. Machhapuchchhre Bank Limited had taken almost 5 days to send the document through email request.

However, if you need the statement more urgently and if you want to visit the bank yourself and receive the statement on behalf of your sponsor, you can do the following.

I am sharing my experience of a similar case here. This approach might not work in all banks because each bank has their own set of policies that govern them. You need to understand with your sponsor's bank about their requirements.

In order to obtain the bank statement in the aforementioned case, you need to request your sponsor who's abroad to write an application (either in English or in Nepali) and send it to the bank's email, either customer service email or branch manager's email of a specific branch. Also request your sponsor to include their account number, authorised signature and define your relationship with him/her. In addition, the application should include your citizenship card number so the bank will be sure that you are the authorised recipient of the document.

It is better to visit the bank before the application is sent by your sponsor and ask the bank if they require any other details and have your sponsor send the application fulfilling the requirement laid out by their bank.

I had obtained the bank statement following the above-mentioned procedure at Machhapuchchhre Bank Limited's head office Lazimpat, Kathmandu. However, Machhapuchchhre Bank had told me that if the email is received from the bank owner's authorised email registered in Machhapuchchhre Bank's system, the signature of the account owner may not be needed. But if the owner does not have his email registered in MBL's system, the owner's signature is a must with the email application. It does not hurt in any case though, to affix a signature of the account owner.

 I hope this blogpost will be helpful if you are in a similar situation and are wondering what to do.

Bank Statement and Bank Balance Certificate for abroad study purposes

A bank statement by definition is the summary of financial transactions, which typically shows your deposits and withdrawals, during a specific period of time.

Bank Balance Certificate is a document issued by the bank that shows that an individual has a certain amount of money in this account.

Bank Statement and Bank Balance Certificate are required, to apply for a student visa of different countries. In order to obtain them, you need to visit the bank where you own your bank account. Depending on your bank, you might need to fill out a small Bank Statement and Bank Balance Certificate form. So, as you enter the bank, ask if you are required to fill out a form, to obtain those.

Fill out the form and then wait in a queue. In most banks, both Bank Statement and Bank balance certificate are issued at customer service department or reception of the bank. Some banks might have a separate department for Bank Balance Certificate and Bank Statement. For example, at NIC Asia Kamaladi Branch, when I visited, Bank Balance Certificate was issued on the ground floor and Bank Statement was issued from the counter on the first floor. However, the branches of NIC Asia bank of Gongabu and Samakushi provide both services from the reception. Depending on customer flow, different branches have different arrangements as to how they provide their services. Make sure how your bank provides those services.

If you have to take a token, take the right token. In some branches of NIC Asia, for instance: NIC Asia Gongabu Branch, there's a separate token called CSD which is called Customer Service Department. However, up until the day I visited the NIC Asia Samakhushi Branch, there was no token system. Things might be different in the future and depending on the branch and bank you visit.

Normally, issuance of Bank Balance Certificate and Bank Statement should not take much time. However, sometimes, the system of the bank to generate Bank Balance Certificate might not function and you might be required to wait for long hours. E.g. Nabil Bank Maharajgunj Branch, had made my friend wait for the entire day citing their system was not functioning, which normally takes around 30 minutes or less, when the system is working normally.

When visiting your bank, make sure everything you need is in order, so you get the document you need without much hassle.You need to have your account number handy because you need to fill that in the form. Also, fill out address and other details as per your Citizenship Card.

Biswo Bhasa Document Translation- Translators' phone numbers.

If you need to have authorised translation of documents from a foreign language into English language, you need to have it translated from Biswo Bhasa Campus (campus of international languages), which is in Pradarshani Marga.

Photo Credit: Saroj Baral, Google Maps

The front of the building features, Sajha Publication Exhibition and Sale Showroom, as we enter from the gate we can see Biswo Bhasa Campus. For translation, we do not go to the campus building. Instead, we need to go to Administrative building- building which is shown in the photo above. We then head to 3rd floor of the building where we can find administration for translation purpose. On the door there is a name list of translators and their contact numbers. We first contact the administration and ask what we need to do for translation, if they asked us to leave the documents there which they'll hand to translators, we can do so. Or we can call the translator ourselves, send the documents to them by Viber and receive it when they are done with the translation. We need to again visit the Campus to receive our documents. It is stamped by Biswo Bhasa Campus. One page translation costs NPR 700. We need to pay NPR 700 per page at the counter of Nepal Bank Limited. There's one Nepal Bank Limited counter, almost 200m from Biswo Bhasa Campus towards Putalisadak, where we can ask for a form to pay cash for Biswo Bhasa Campus. That form will already contain account information of Biswo Bhasa and other information so we need not ask for account number with anyone.

After paying the fee we then go to Biswo Bhasa Campus show the receipt and ask for our documents if they're ready. The officials there will stamp our documents and give them to us. Then only the translation is deemed official or authorised.

If you do not need official or authorised translation you can still have it translated from the translators of Biswo Bhasa, and have the document sent by Viber. Documents translated like that will bear no official stamp from Biswo Bhasa Campus. Translators usually charge NPR 700 even for unofficial translations.

I have a photo containing phone number and name of translators which I took when I visited Biswo Bhasa Campus few days ago. Translators might keep changing there, so, if it is feasible, visit the Campus yourself, and check on the administration office door of the 3rd floor and ask the officials there.

Documents required to send tuition fees from Nepal to your foreign university.

Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

It is somewhat a complex process to transfer money from your bank in Nepal to a foreign bank, mainly due to the rules  and regulations of Nepal Government and Nepal Rastra Bank. In fact Government of Nepal has just allowed USD 500 Pre-Paid Dollar Card.  500 USD might be enough to make purchases of small amount, it is however nowhere near enough to pay the tuition fees of your university abroad for one academic year or 6 months, which majority of the students wishing to study abroad have to pay. Having said that, it is not impossible to send the tuition fees either, so in this blogpost I will explain you the process, if you read this carefully and plan beforehand you will avoid a lot of possible hassles.

Documents required

1) Offer Letter from your foreign university

2) College Invoice

3) No Objection Certificate (NOC), issued by MOE Nepal.

4)PAN Card, (if you do not already have one, you can get one from Inland Revenue Department, Aantarik Rajaswo Bibhag Nepal, there are many offices of Inland Revenue Department in Kathmandu).

5) Your Passport ( Take a photocopy of it.  Of course they'll copy themselves, but banks are usually                                            overcrowded so prepare it ahead of time to avoid the hassle)

6) Sufficient funds on your or your sponsor's bank account.
           (Remember that you need to calculate the total amount on today's date converting your money to  the currency (e.g. USD, AUD, EUR, CAD) you want to deposit also add 2% government tax applicable when sending tuition fees abroad and required transfer fees, usually we pay all transfer charges ourselves (OUR) to make sure that university receives the exact amount mentioned in the invoice).

There's also another option (SHA-Shared) in which we only pay our bank's outgoing charges, but OUR option would be preferable so the University gets the exact amount you are sending. However do not confuse yourself with OUR and SHA as some banks put OUR themselves, but if they asked you, you can now make an informed decision.

Then with those 5 documents and ensuring you have enough funds, you head to your bank where you have an account. This type of transaction is normally handled by the "Remittence" department of the banks. Then they will give you the form to fill in, where you need to put beneficiary's name- which is the account name of your university. It needs to be exactly the same as what's written in the invoice you receive from your university. And, beneficiary's bank - which is the name of your university's bank. IBAN number which is International Bank account number and it is mentioned in the invoice as well. Address of your beneficiary's bank. And then you put your name, address, phone number and signature. All these details need to be clear as bank in Nepal does not want to take a risk sending money with incorrect details because even a minor mistake will result in your money being returned to your account. Hence, if something is unclear, email your university immediately and ask for clarification. Usually, bank officials want everything in print. If you have clarification details in your email, print that one out as well.

After the form is duly filled in with all the details, you can then submit all the documents at the remittence counter. If they say everything is ok, then they will transfer the money. After the money has been transferred they will issue you receipt of it. You need to visit the bank after few hours to obtain the receipt of transfer.

Though it may not be mandatory, you can send the scanned copy (Or a photo ) of the transfer receipt to your university so they can verify it and send you the acknowledgement document of the tuition fees paid, which is required when you apply for your visa.

As long as you have an offer letter, NOC issued by MOE, a PAN card issued by IRD, and a clear invoice from your university vividly mentioning account name, IBAN, Swift Code, Bank Address, and Beneficiary's bank name, the process should be rather smooth. 

Also read.
List of Documents required for Canada.
NOC
Costs of applying to Canada