List of Documents Required To Secure A Study Abroad Loan

Incomplete documentation is one of the key reasons why education loan applications are rejected. 

To avoid getting your application trashed due to missing papers, keep all necessary documents ready. 

What does ‘all’ mean here?

The documents required for a study abroad loan vary based on the course, country, and the lender you are applying to. Documentation also differs depending on whether it is a collateral-backed or non-collateral-backed loan and whether the co-borrower is a salaried professional or a business owner. 

So be sure to read the specific application requirements of the lender before submitting your application. 

However, we do have a generic list of documents that you should keep handy while applying for international education loans.

Spoiler Alert: You might not need all of these documents for your application. But having them available and accessible would definitely save you from last-minute panic attacks or worse, having your education loan application turned down. 

Must-have documents for securing a study abroad loan

There are different documents required by different lenders, for different loan types, and during different stages of the study abroad loan application process. 

The list of documents required for education loan are sorted into various categories and listed below:

• KYC documents

  • Aadhar card
  • Voter’s ID card
  • Permanent Account Number (PAN) card
  • Valid passport
  • Driving license (for address proof)
  • Birth certificate (for age proof)
  • Class X mark sheet (for age proof)
  • Letter explaining the gap between the last completed degree and the year in which the applicant plans to begin the next degree (if any)

• Academic Documents

  • Mark sheet of the qualifying examination (for example, class XII mark sheet for graduate degree loan, graduation degree for postgraduate degree loan, etc.)
  • Degree/certificate of professional degree (CA, CS, CWA, ICWA, etc.) if applicable.
  • Foreign language examination scorecard (TOEFL, IELTS, etc.)
  • Admission examination scorecard (GRE, GMAT, LSAT, SAT, etc.)
  • Conditional/Unconditional admission letter issued by your preferred university/institution on their official letterhead and with their seal/stamp

• Financial Documents

  • Bank account statement for a minimum of 6 months up to 3 years
  • Bank passbook copy
  • A third-party guarantee or certificate

• Financial documents required in the case of immovable collateral:
  • Encumbrance certificates (EC) to ensure the property is free from legal or monetary charges.
  • Land or property title deed to establish ownership
  • Property sale agreement 
  • Allotment Letter By Municipal Corporation or other authorized government authority
  • NOC from the builder or mortgage holder
  • Extracts 7 or 12 of the property, land, or otherwise,
• Financial documents required in the case of movable property collateral
  • Gold bond, Bearer bond, or other bond certificates
  • Insurance policy document
  • Demat account portfolio statement
  • Fixed Deposit (FD) or Recurring Deposits (RD) certificates

Note: If you are applying for an education loan with a national Non-banking Financial Company (NBFC), the immovable and movable property documents are NOT required.

• Legal/Institutional Documents

  • Immigration documents
  • Student acceptance letter 
  • Approval visa (varies depending on the country where you want to go to)
  • Indian Income Tax Returns (ITR) of a minimum of the last 2 years till a maximum of the last 4 years
  • International scholarship awards or certificates (if applicable)
  • Demand letter (for fees) from universities/educational institutions (not compulsory for NBFCs)
  • Receipts of payments of any academic fees (if paid) (not compulsory for NBFCs)

• Subsidy Documents

  • Extra-curricular or merit certificates (if applicable)
  • Disability certificates showing the type and degree of disability (if applicable)
  • Minority caste certificates issued by competent government authorities (if applicable)

Note: Subsidy documents are only required when applying to banks for loans and are not considered by NBFCs or international lenders.

• Co-applicant Documents

  • Identification documents like Aadhar card, voter’s ID card, PAN card, or valid passport.
  • Address proof (any of the above or driving license)
  • Consent letter for becoming the co-applicant/co-borrower
  • For salaried professionals, salary slips (of a minimum of 6 months, till a maximum of 3 years)
  • For business owners or self-employed people, accounts and tax statements of business approved by a charted accountant (of a minimum of 1 year, till a maximum of 3 years)

• In case of an NRI being your co-applicant, the following documents are also required:
  • Power of Attorney
  • Copy of NRI co-applicants visa stamped/approved by the designated authority.
  • Copy of work permit.

• Documents required by international education loan lenders

  Other than the mentioned list of documents, international education loan lenders also require the following documents:

  • Cosigner’s identification documents like proof of citizenship (For example, in the case of an American cosigner, their social security number, voter’s registration, or resident card is needed. 
  • CV or resume of the applicant 
  • CIBIL score and credit report 
  • Bank Statements (8 months to 3 years)
  • Bank guarantee (also called proof of savings)

Based on the stage of the process, there are different documents required for an education loan. They are mentioned as follows:

• Pre-approval documentation

  To check your eligibility for study abroad loans, the following documents are needed:

  • Identification documentation 
  • Collateral documents

• Documents required to confirm student loan application

  To sanction the education loan in your name for your preferred university, the following documents are needed:

  • Academic documents 
  • Loan agreement

• Documents required to manage the education loan after sanction

  Once your loan is sanctioned, you’d need the following documents to manage your study abroad loan:

  • College fee receipts
  • Co-applicant removal consent, if required

Important points to note while submitting documents to secure an international educational loan

You might have 20-50 papers lying in front of you while submitting a study abroad loan application. And it is easy to get confused. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind while sorting and arranging the documents.

• Some documents work for multiple purposes. 
  For example, you’d be submitting your class X mark sheet for academic purposes. That also works as an age-proof. So you can skip your birth certificate, get two copies of the class X mark sheet and use it for academic as well as age proof. Similarly, for address proof, you can use your Aadhar/PAN/Voter’s ID card too if it has the same address. No need for a driving license. 
• Never submit an original document for a study abroad education loan application.
  Only the fully-filled loan application form has to be original. Use self-attested photocopies of the rest of the documents. However, in the case of a collateral-based education loan, the original documents related to immovable or movable collateral have to be submitted to the lender. 
• Passport size photographs are not ‘documents’ but vital for your education loan application. 
  2 passport-size photos of the primary applicant and 2 of the co-borrower are standard. You might also want to keep a couple of extra copies handy.
• Having more than the needed documents ready with you is great. Submitting unwanted documents to lenders, not so much. 
  Submitting unwanted documents might complicate the process, make it difficult to identify the required ones, and also put off the loan officer, resulting in a rejection. Before submitting any study abroad loan application, check the official list of required documents. And submit only what is needed. 

Want to avoid the hassles of cumbersome education loan documentation? Try FundRight.

It takes over 720 hours and negotiations and discussions with 10+ loan vendors to finalize an education loan for studying abroad. 

You are most likely to have to hop from one loan officer’s cabin to another’s with your binder full of documents for that. Cut down the time to 2 days and skip having to hop around with hands full of papers with FundRight. 

India’s first student loan bidding platform, FundRight, helps you leverage lender competition to get the best possible interest rates and offers. The platform also ensures that your loan application document submission happens with ease. 

Have questions? We’ve got the answers.

• Is there a risk of losing my documents?
  When you carry your original documents to multiple lenders and let them shuffle through there, there is a risk. But with FundRight? Absolutely not. The original documents stay safe with you. 
• Will I have to submit my documents to all banks or lenders to get their quotes and loan offers?
  No. The lenders bid on your profile and offer you loans. And you have to submit your documents to only that lender whose loan offer you accept. (Don’t worry if you are baffled by the oh-so-enticing loan offers you’ll get. The FundRight team will help you choose the best financial option.
• What if I have doubts about what documents to submit?
  FundRight’s in-house advisors can help you. And because they are a part of FundRight and not the lender’s teams, you get prompt and absolutely unbiased advice.
• Are my documents and details safe?
  100%. FundRight respects your privacy and your confidential data is not shared with lenders without your permission. 
• How many photocopies of my documents do I need?
  None. The entire process happens online and you only need scanned copies of your documents. No need for multiple physical copies. 

Give wings to your international education dreams – find the right loan provider from among 30+ lenders including banks, NBFCs, and international loan givers with FundRight. And then effortlessly submit only the required documents online with expert advisors by your side on every step.