In the student loan process, a disbursement basically refers to the concept of withdrawing part of the education loan in order to cater for expenses. When students/applicants take out part of their loan amount to meet their expenses, the act is called an education loan disbursement in the lender’s terms. An education loan disbursement marks one of the last phases in the abroad education loan process. 

In the past, the general guidelines of most Indian lenders dictated that the disbursement of education loans could only take place once students submit their student visa.

With the changing times, the immigration rules of certain countries changed and in order to keep up with these changes, several lenders modified their education loan disbursement policies in turn. This article will provide you with the list of countries for which lenders grant an education loan disbursement before visa. It will also throw light on how education loan applicants can fulfil such financial prerequisites before commencing their visa process.

Pre-Visa Disbursement & its Importance in the Abroad Education Loan Process

If you ask any student who is preparing to pursue his/her Masters course abroad, you will find that Canada and Germany are two countries that are on top of every student’s list. Similarly, Australia and New Zealand are also famous amongst students who are looking for opportunities of higher education abroad. The student visa regulations of all the countries mentioned here require applicants to deposit a minimum of one year’s living expenses in order to be eligible for a student visa.

A majority of Indian students opt to borrow education loans to fund their higher studies in the above countries. A pre visa disbursement is required by such students to fulfill their financial prerequisites to qualify for a student visa of the respective country. Here is a brief take on the living expenses requirements of various countries and how education loan applicants fulfill them.

Read about Expenses Covered by an education loan in India

Funds Required by Students To Study in Canada

Students who have been admitted to universities and colleges in Canada are required to deposit their one year’s living expenses in a savings account in a bank based in the country. This account is called a Guaranteed Investment Certificate account. A GIC account is basically a savings account which offers fixed returns to all the eligible candidates over a period of time. This is a compulsory requirement which all students need to fulfil if they plan on pursuing a course under the study direct scheme.

The basic Canada GIC process requires students to deposit a minimum of $10,000 CAD with any of the lenders registered and recognized by the Canadian embassy. Out of the CAD 10,000 deposited by a student for living expenses, The student gets to withdraw up to $2000 as set-up expenses. After that, $667 can be withdrawn every month to cover the student’s other expenses.

Education Loan Disbursement Rules For Canada

Opening a GIC account is a mandatory requirement for all international students who wish to study in Canada under the SDS (Study Direct Scheme) programs recommended by the Canadian government. As this prerequisite has to be fulfilled prior to their student visa process, students who have applied for education loans in India to study in Canada may request their respective lenders for an education loan disbursement before visa, or a pre visa disbursement. Ideally, after having verified their details, lenders are expected to approve of the disbursement and the required living expenses are to be transferred to the respective banks in Canada through a wire transfer. But the reality is different in the case of students who have borrowed an education loan for Canada

In the Canada education loan process, a lot of students find it difficult to convince their lending authorities to approve of an education loan disbursement before visa,  as many of them demand to see a visa before allowing the students to avail an education loan disbursement. This results in the students missing out on important deadlines, thus ruining their chances at a successful visa process. The financial team at WeMakeScholars has worked in close cooperation with many prominent lenders in aiding an easy disbursement of education loan to students who have availed an education loan for Canada. If your request for an education loan disbursement before visa has been refused, get in touch with the financial team of WeMakeScholars today to get help. 

Funds Required by Students To Study in Germany

Germany has adopted a similar policy when it comes to financial prerequisites to be fulfilled by international students. Indian students who have managed to secure a place in German universities are required to deposit their yearly expenses into a blocked account or a ‘Sperrkonto’. 

As of September 2019, the German embassy has recommended 10,236 Euros as the yearly expenses for all international students studying in Germany.  Once they deposit this Germany blocked account amount, students will be able to withdraw a monthly sum of 853 Euros from their blocked accounts to support their living expenses in order to study in Germany without any financial problems. 

Education Loan Disbursement For Germany

Many students who borrow an education loan for Germany will be required to request their respective lenders to approve their education loan disbursement, before their Germany student visa process. However, here are a few important points which every student who is planning to borrow an education loan for Germany needs to keep in mind.

Many students are likely to face certain hurdles while requesting their lenders for an education loan disbursement before beginning their student visa process. Students who approach their respective bank authorities with a request for an early release of their living expenses are often turned down as most of these officials are seldom aware of the policy changes made by their organizations regarding the same.

Another problem in the education loan process for Germany arises from the fact that many students are confused about the possibility of obtaining an education loan for Germany, as they are under the impression that since most public universities in Germany do not charge any tuition fees, they could find it difficult to find an education loan for Germany that will cater for the living expenses. Hence, they refrain from applying for an education loan for Germany.

This is where the assistance of the WeMakeScholars team comes in handy. The financial team of WeMakeScholars is well-versed with the financial requirements that are to be fulfilled by students who wish to study in Germany with the help of a Germany education loan.  Also, the core team of WeMakeScholars has been responsible for a lot of significant policy changes adopted by most prominent government banks. One such change is getting these banks to approve education loan disbursements as and when the students require it.

So, when students apply for an education loan to study in Germany through WeMakeScholars, they seldom face any difficulty in getting the same. If you are looking to fund your higher studies in Germany with the help of an education loan, do get in touch with our team today and get to experience an easy education loan process with the lender recommended to you by our team of experts.

Funds Required by Students To Study in New Zealand

New Zealand is a country which offers ample opportunities to international students. However, like all other international destinations, the embassy has set certain rules and regulations to study in New Zealand for Indian students. The process to get a visa to study in New Zealand for Indian students includes the crucial step of opening an FTS account. This requirement is a must to study in New Zealand for Indian Students.

Students who belong to India, China, Philippines and Sri Lanka are required to open a Funds Transfer Scheme account with the ANZ bank in New Zealand. The Funds Transfer Scheme enables students belonging to the above-mentioned nations to deposit the living expenses required by them for their course duration, into a savings account created at the ANZ bank. Opening an FTS account is one of the major requirements to study in New Zealand for Indian students.

All international students studying in New Zealand are eligible to withdraw the following amounts from their FTS accounts every month. Depending on the amounts deposited into the FTS account, students are deemed eligible to withdraw the following amounts to meet their monthly expenses of studying in New Zealand.

1. On depositing NZ $15,000 which is the minimum estimated cost of study for Indian students in New Zealand, a monthly sum of NZ $1,250 can be withdrawn by students every month for 12 months of their stay in New Zealand.
2. On depositing NZ $18,000 into their FTS accounts, students get to withdraw NZ $1,500 every month to support their monthly expenses.

Also, Read about Education loan during COVID-19: Should You Avail Moratorium Extension?

Education Loan Disbursement For New Zealand

Students who plan to fund their higher education with the help of an abroad education loan for New Zealand are required to fulfil this financial prerequisite by requesting their lenders for an education loan disbursement before their visa process commences. The New Zealand embassy has estimated NZ $15,000 as the cost of study in New Zealand for Indian students. These living expenses do not include their tuition/course fees.

One of the major problems of borrowing an education loan for New Zealand from any of the prominent government banks is that many students are not able to secure a pre-visa disbursement so that they can fulfil the study in New Zealand requirements on time. This is where the assistance of the WeMakeScholars team comes in handy.

The financial team of WeMakeScholars is well-versed with the financial requirements that are to be fulfilled by students who wish to study in New Zealand with the help of a New Zealand education loan. Also, the core team of WeMakeScholars has been responsible for a lot of significant policy changes adopted by most prominent government banks.

One such change is getting these banks to approve pre-visa disbursements as and when the students require it. So, when students apply for an education loan to study in New Zealand through WeMakeScholars, they seldom face any difficulty in getting the same. If you are looking to fund your higher studies in New Zealand with the help of an education loan, do get in touch with our team today and get to experience an easy education loan process with the lender recommended to you by our team of experts.

Funds Required by Students To Study in Australia

Students need to arrange for the following funds once they receive confirmation from the particular university and before they apply for a student visa to study in Australia, i.e, in phase 2 of the Australia education loan process:

1. On receiving a confirmation from the respective university, students need to deposit their one semester’s tuition fees to the university account and the health insurance charges.
2. Deposit one year’s living expenses into the student’s savings account.

It is only after the university receives confirmation of payment of the above funds that they issue the CoE (Confirmation of Enrolment). Now students are required to produce this CoE at the time of their visa process.

The Australian embassy requires students to deposit their funds in a certain way. Students need to provide the university account details to which the tuition fees and health insurance funds have to be transferred before the loan amount is disbursed by their respective banks.

On the successful transfer of funds by the bank to the university, students are required to send the payment receipt to their university.  After they receive this receipt, the university issues the CoE, which is required for a student visa to study in Australia.

The student’s living expenses will be disbursed to a savings account in India, with a ‘Hold’. This means that although this transaction will be reflected in their savings account, the students cannot perform any transactions through this account until they start their course

Education Loan Disbursement For Australia

There are three different ways of funding higher education in Australia. Students who plan to borrow an Australia education loan to finance higher studies need to note that in most cases, the Australian embassy perceives banks to be reliable sources of an Australia education loan as opposed to private lenders like NBFCs. The method of obtaining an education loan disbursement to fulfil the funding requirements of studying in Australia is similar to that of Canada and Germany. 

Public bank officials have a reputation of being in the dark about many policies when it comes to abroad education loans. In most cases, they are not aware of the instructions and policy changes made by embassies and universities abroad. Hence, when students approach their respective bank officials, they generally hesitate to approve pre-visa disbursements.

The WeMakeScholars team has been at the core of many crucial policy changes made by public banks with respect to education loans. As a result, our financial officers have been successful in helping many students get their pre-visa disbursement within the stipulated time-frame. You may check your eligibility for an education loan here or request a callback from our team in order to avail our services which are free of cost.

Note: WeMakeScholars is an organization funded and supported by the Government of India that focuses on International Education finance. We are associated with 10+ public/Pvt banks/ NBFCs in India and help you get the best abroad education loan matching your profile. As this initiative is under the Digital India campaign, it’s at free of cost. The organization has vast experience dealing with students going to various abroad education destinations like the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Italy, China, France among others