I have been a silent observer on this forum. I am planning to apply for Tier1 General from India as soon as I have this final hurdle sorted out.
Background
I hold a Citibank current account and a linked Citibank home loan account under a "SmartHome" scheme. What this means is whenever I make a deposit in my current account, it is swept into my loan account (to give me a benefit on the interest part of my home loan account.); However, the funds are available for me to withdraw at anytime.
As a result, my current account does not show the required maintenance funds. But, my home loan account shows these liquid funds as "Line Amount". A statement of the line amount has a footnote stating that these are the funds withdrawable by the customer.
After much persuasion, I have been able to procure a letter from Citibank that states that "line amount is withdrawable balance" and that the line amount in my LOAN ACCOUNT has not dropped below Rs.250000/- (statement date exchange rate was Rs.84.xx so I am above GBP2800).
Along with the above mentioned letter, I am also trying to get a daily line amount statement for the last 90 days.
I am also including the 90 day Current account statement which shows the date these funds entered my Citibank current account and were swept in to my loan account.
I am also including a letter from the bank where these funds were held in a fixed deposit before the FD matured and I moved the funds to Citibank. This letter too states that the funds were available for withdrawal at any time. (However, this letter is more than 7 days old).
My questions :
1. Would BA accept this as sufficient proof for maintenance funds ?
2. What other explanation I can give in my covering letter to strengthen my case?
3. I am concerned about the following statement on
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/worki ... intenance/
4. Would the case officer understand that this is not an overdraft facility...i.e. I am not trying to show funds available to me as a loan from the bank but rather actual liquid funds that I have deposited in the account?Evidence must be in the form of cash funds. Other accounts or financial instruments for example, shares, bonds, pension funds or agreed overdraft facilities are not acceptable as evidence of your maintenance (funds).
5. Should I get a letter from Citibank explaining the SmartHome scheme or my explanation in the covering letter suffice? It has really been a pain getting statments/letter from Citibank after threatening to end my relationship with Citibank and escalating my case through some people I know in Citibank. Even if Citibank agrees to issue another letter with the above explanation, by the time I get it, my current letter would become more than 7 days old.
Please advise, should I go ahead with my application or use some other form of evidence for maintenance funds....if so, what evidence ??
Please reply ASAP as my 7 day clock started ticking today....
Thanks in advance !!