Italy's means-of-subsistence requirement for international students is now EUR 10,179.85 a year, raised from EUR 6,947.33. That is a large jump, and it is the number that decides more Bangladeshi files than any language test or transcript.
Two things about it are worth fixing in your head before anything else.
It is an annual figure, and only an annual figure. The circular states one yearly sum. It publishes no monthly equivalent. If a page tells you Italy wants a specific amount per month, that page divided the number itself and presented the result as a rule. Do not build a plan on it, and be careful with everything else that page told you.
Italy requires no blocked account. This is the single most common confusion we deal with, because Germany does require one and the two countries get merged in every WhatsApp group in Dhaka. The circular says that where the home country allows it, rotating current accounts and bound accounts in the student's own name are to be preferred. Preferred is not required, and a normal Bangladeshi bank account, properly evidenced, is what most successful Italian files actually contain.
The figure, and what it is not
| Item | What the circular says |
|---|---|
| Means of subsistence to evidence | EUR 10,179.85 per year |
| Previous figure | EUR 6,947.33 per year |
| Monthly equivalent | None published |
| Blocked account | Not required |
| Whose money it should be | Preferably the student's own |
| Otherwise | The family unit, a relative up to the fourth degree |
| Account type preferred | Rotating current accounts and bound accounts in the student's name, where the home country allows |
| Who verifies the origin | The diplomatic-consular representation, as an express duty |
The last row is where this article stops being a number and starts being useful.
What "lawful and traceable" actually asks of you
The circular does not merely say the money must be there. It places a duty on the consulate to establish where the funds came from and whether they genuinely belong to the student or the family unit — and it names how: by examining the movement of the account, and by testing whether the funds are consistent with the income and the overall assets of the student and the family.
Read that as an instruction to the officer assessing your file, because that is what it is. The officer is not being asked whether the balance clears EUR 10,179.85 on the day of the statement. The officer is being asked whether this money makes sense for this family.
That single sentence explains almost every Italian refusal we have seen on funds, and it explains why the two most common Bangladeshi strategies fail.
The lump sum. A statement showing a modest balance for five months and then a single large deposit shortly before the application is the exact pattern the rule was written to catch. It fails the consistency test, not the amount test. Where the money came from and why it arrived then are now questions your file has to answer, and "a relative lent it to us" is an answer that makes things worse, because a loan from outside the family unit is not your means at all. This is covered in more detail at why an inflated bank statement gets caught.
The borrowed sponsor. An employer, a family friend, a neighbour with a strong business — none of these is inside the boundary the circular draws. The money should be the student's own, or the family unit's, up to a relative of the fourth degree. Parents and siblings are never in question. A more distant relative sits near the edge of that boundary, and if your whole file depends on one, confirm the position with the consulate before you build around it rather than after. What happens when the consulate decides to check is described at when the embassy calls your sponsor.
What a Bangladeshi family actually shows
There is no single document called proof of funds. There is a set of papers that together answer the consulate's question, and which papers those are depends entirely on how your family earns.
| Family income shape | What evidences the money | What weakens the same file |
|---|---|---|
| Salaried parent | Salary certificate, twelve months of the salary account, tax return | A balance that never matches the salary, or savings with no visible accumulation |
| Business owner | Trade licence, business account statements, tax return, and the transfers from business to personal account | A personal account fed by cash deposits with nothing behind them |
| Land or agricultural income | Land documents, sale or lease records, and the deposits that match them | Large deposits with no corresponding paperwork of a sale |
| Supported by a relative abroad | The relative's relationship evidence, their income evidence, and remittance records through formal channels | Money sent through informal channels, which leaves no trace anybody can follow |
| Mixed sources | All of the above, for each source, tied together in the cover letter | Presenting only the final balance and hoping nobody asks |
The right-hand column is the article. A file is not strong because the balance is large. A file is strong because every taka in it can be followed to a source that fits the family it claims to belong to.
Two practical pieces sit underneath this and we will not restate them here: how the statement itself is obtained and what the branch will and will not put on it is at getting a bank statement in Bangladesh, and what a solvency certificate is, what it proves and how long it takes is at the bank solvency certificate. The general European picture, for a student comparing countries, is at proof of funds for a European student visa.
Traceability for a business owner, said plainly
This is the case we are asked about most, and the honest answer is uncomfortable. A great deal of genuine Bangladeshi business income moves as cash. Cash is lawful. Cash is not traceable, and the circular asks for both.
What works is showing the business rather than the balance. The trade licence establishes that the business exists. The business account statements establish that it trades. The tax return establishes that it has been declared. The transfers from the business account into the personal account establish how the family's money reaches the family. When those four line up, a large personal balance stops looking unexplained and starts looking earned.
What does not work is depositing a year of accumulated cash into a personal account in one week and presenting the statement. It is the same money, honestly earned, and it will read exactly like the pattern above.
If your business income genuinely cannot be evidenced this way, that is worth knowing now rather than in November. It does not mean Italy is closed to you. It means the evidence has to be built over months, not assembled in a fortnight.
Two traps next to the funds question
A scholarship you have applied for is not money. The circular is specific: merely having applied for, or being eligible for, a regional right-to-study scholarship cannot be counted in your means of subsistence without an explicit attestation that the scholarship has actually been awarded. Italian DSU scholarships are genuinely valuable and genuinely worth applying for — the DSU scholarship guide explains how they work — but you must be able to show the required funds without one.
A housing application is not housing. The same logic applies to accommodation, which is a separate visa requirement. Applying for, or being eligible for, a place in a university residence is explicitly not valid evidence that you have suitable accommodation. You need something that actually confirms a place to live.
Where the rest of the money goes
The EUR 10,179.85 is what you must be able to show. It is not what a year costs, and the two get confused constantly. Tuition at an Italian public university is assessed on family income rather than charged as a price, and living costs vary widely between Milan and a smaller university city. The full first-year breakdown for a Bangladeshi student is at what a year in Italy costs, and the tuition question specifically is at is university free in Italy.
Who this page is not for
If you are looking for the minimum you can get away with, this page will not help you, and neither will we. The figure is a floor set in a circular, and the assessment behind it is about whether your family can plausibly sustain the whole course — the circular says exactly that, in those terms. A file built to clear the floor by one euro on one day is a file built for the one question the officer is not asking.
It is also not for a student who has already been refused on funds and wants to reapply next month with the same documents. A refusal on means of subsistence is a judgement about the shape of your evidence, not its size, and reapplying without changing the shape repeats the result.
Last checked 14 September 2026. The figure and the rules above come from the circular governing academic years 2026/2027 and 2027/2028. Consulates publish their own document lists, which can ask for more. Confirm both before you submit.
Official sources — check for yourself
- MUR/MAECI — Procedures for international students, AY 2026/27 and 2027/28
- Universitaly — the official pre-enrolment portal
- Study in Italy — Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Embassy of Italy, Dhaka
Rules and figures change. We review these articles periodically and show the date above, but always confirm the current requirement with the official source before you act on it.
Common questions
How much money do I need to show for an Italian student visa in 2026?+
EUR 10,179.85 for the year, raised from EUR 6,947.33. The circular states it as a single annual sum and publishes no monthly equivalent, so ignore any page that quotes a per-month figure for Italy. The amount is a floor, and the consulate assesses whether your family can plausibly sustain the whole course rather than only whether the balance clears on one day.
Does Italy require a blocked account like Germany?+
No. Italy requires no blocked account. The circular says that where the home country permits it, rotating current accounts and bound accounts in the student's own name are preferred, and preferred is not the same as required. A normal Bangladeshi bank account with properly evidenced money is what most successful Italian files contain.
Can my uncle or a family friend sponsor my Italian student visa?+
A family friend, an employer or a neighbour is outside the boundary the circular draws. The money should be the student's own or come from the family unit, up to a relative of the fourth degree. Parents and siblings are never in question; a more distant relative sits near the edge, so confirm the position with the consulate before building your whole file on one.
Why would my bank statement be rejected if the balance is enough?+
Because the consulate is expressly required to check the origin of the funds and whether they genuinely belong to you or your family, including by examining account movement and testing the money against the family's income and assets. A modest balance followed by one large deposit before the application fails that consistency test even though the final number is correct.
Can I count a DSU scholarship towards the required funds?+
Not unless it has actually been awarded to you in writing. The circular states that merely applying for, or being eligible for, a regional right-to-study scholarship cannot be counted in your means of subsistence without an explicit attestation of the award. Apply for the scholarship, but be able to evidence EUR 10,179.85 without it.
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