A UDIN-verified statement of your assets and debts, prepared by a practising CA for student, tourist and business visa files
A net worth certificate for a visa sets out, on one date, everything you or your sponsor own, minus everything you owe, signed by a practising chartered accountant and carrying a UDIN the visa officer can verify. For Kolkata families it is most useful when wealth sits in a flat, a share of a family house, post office savings, LIC policies or fixed deposits rather than in a savings account. It supports your bank statements and tax returns; it does not replace them. We prepare it from your records at our Lake Town office, with a rupee total and, if you need one, a foreign-currency total. Fees start at ₹1,499, excluding GST.
| Question | Answer for a Kolkata applicant |
|---|---|
| What is it? | A practising CA's certificate of total assets less total liabilities on a stated reference date |
| Is it compulsory? | Seldom listed by name; it backs up your funds evidence and shows roots in India |
| Whose assets? | The applicant's, or the sponsor's (often a parent), with their consent and documents |
| How is it checked? | By its 18-character UDIN on ICAI's portal |
| Currency | Rupees, with an optional foreign-currency figure at a named rate and date |
| Missions in Kolkata | Several, including the US Consulate General, the British Deputy High Commission and the German Consulate General |
| Time | One to three days once your papers are in |
| Fee | From ₹1,499, excluding GST; no government fee |
Agents and relatives in Kolkata often say a consulate "wants a CA certificate". The official guidance we have read does not say so. Britain's published list of supporting documents for visitors talks about proving that the funds are yours to use, about the origin of money in your account and about your earnings; a chartered accountant's certificate is not on it.
A net worth certificate earns its place when your bank balance gives the wrong impression. A retired schoolteacher in Behala may have modest monthly bank activity but a paid-off flat, NSCs and a pension. A Burrabazar trader may keep most of the family's wealth in stock, property and the business itself. The certificate brings those holdings together on one signed page, each line traced to a document an officer can ask to see.
If your checklist names something specific, such as a minimum balance, a set period for which funds must be held, or a particular format, that requirement comes first. The certificate is an addition to it, never a replacement. For other purposes such as loans, tenders or demat accounts, our general net worth certificate in Kolkata page covers them; this page is only about visa files.
Students from Kolkata and the rest of West Bengal applying for courses in the UK, US, Germany, Canada or Australia often need to show how the course will be paid for. The student route sets its own funds rules. The UK's student visa money page, for example, says the money must have been held for at least 28 days in a row. A certificate does not meet those rules on its own, but it gives the full picture of the family behind the student.
When parents in Salt Lake, Lake Town or Garia pay the fees, we certify their holdings, not the student's, and the file pairs it with their sponsorship letter and something that proves the relationship, such as the birth certificate. If a bank loan is also funding the course, read how lenders treat these certificates in our education loan guide.
Puja holidays and winter breaks are when many Kolkata families travel to Europe, the UK or South-East Asia. Here the certificate helps answer the officer's second question, about ties to India: a home, a job or business, savings and dependants here.
Exporters, tea and jute traders, IT professionals from Sector V and New Town, and owners of family businesses travelling for trade fairs, buyer visits or client meetings use a personal certificate to show their own standing.
Kolkata hosts several foreign missions that cover eastern India. Among them are the US Consulate General Kolkata, the British Deputy High Commission Kolkata, which represents the UK across West Bengal, twelve other eastern and north-eastern states and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the German Consulate General Kolkata, whose jurisdiction covers West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and several north-eastern states, and which takes visa applications by prior appointment.
Whether you apply at the mission itself, at a visa application centre it has appointed, or online depends on the country and the visa type, so follow the mission's own website.
We therefore bind the certificate and its schedules as a single PDF, page-numbered, so nothing goes astray at the counter. We also leave the addressee general and state the purpose as a visa application, which lets a family applying to two countries in the same season use one certificate, provided its date suits both.
Jewellery and gold are shown only on a registered valuer's report. We usually leave out cars and household goods, because they add little weight to a visa file.
You tell us the destination, the visa type, the appointment date and whose assets are to be covered. We choose a reference date close to the appointment that matches the bank statements you will file.
Nothing goes on the certificate without paper behind it: account balances need the bank's statement, flats need the registered deed, policies need the insurer's surrender value letter and loans need the lender's statement.
For property especially, we agree whether to show cost, government market value or a registered valuer's figure, and the basis is printed beside the line.
You review the draft annexures and confirm nothing material is missing, then sign a short management representation letter.
After signature the UDIN is generated the same day and printed on the certificate. You get the PDF by email; a wet-signed copy can be picked up in Lake Town.
| Stage | Usual time |
|---|---|
| Collecting documents | Depends on the family; property papers usually take longest |
| Tracing and first draft | Within a day for a simple file |
| Review, signature and UDIN | On the day you approve the draft |
| Joint-family property, several co-owners or business interests | Up to 72 hours, sometimes more if shares need documenting |
A certificate states the position on one date and has no legal expiry. Each mission decides what it treats as recent.
Nothing is payable to any government office for this certificate, and ICAI charges you nothing for the UDIN. Extra steps such as a notary's stamp, an apostille or a sworn translation arise only if your destination asks; we quote for them separately when they do.
| Package | Fee (excluding GST) | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Single applicant | From ₹1,499 | One person with bank accounts, deposits, investments and up to one property |
| Sponsor or couple | From ₹6,999 | A sponsoring parent, or a couple, with property and income-tax return tracing |
| Joint family | From ₹11,999 | Several family members, several or inherited properties, or business interests |
GST at 18% is charged on top. Half the fee is paid when you engage us and half when the signed certificate is delivered. Send the asset list first and the quote is fixed before any work begins; a property valuer, notary or translator bills separately.
| Asset | Basis we normally use |
|---|---|
| Savings and current accounts | Balance on the reference date per bank statement |
| Fixed deposits | Principal plus interest accrued to the reference date |
| Post office NSC, KVP, MIS and deposits | Value per post office statement, including accrued interest where shown |
| Life insurance policies | Surrender value confirmed by the insurer, not the sum assured |
| Mutual funds and listed shares | Units × NAV, or holding × closing price, on the reference date |
| PPF and EPF | Balance per latest statement, shown apart from liquid assets |
| Property in West Bengal | Registered valuer's report or government market value, or cost per registered deed; the basis is stated |
| Share in inherited or joint property | The applicant's documented share of the stated value only |
| Loans and card dues | Outstanding on the reference date per lender statement |
What the CA attests is the amount in rupees. A dollar, pound or euro figure is shown beside it purely as a conversion, with the rate, the publisher and the date printed so the officer can redo the sum. Our default is the rate Financial Benchmarks India Ltd (FBIL) publishes for the reference date; the Reserve Bank of India handed this job to FBIL from 10 July 2018. A rate set by your mission or university overrides ours.
| Document | Shows | Does not show |
|---|---|---|
| Bank statement | Money available now and how it moves | Property, policies and investments held elsewhere |
| Income-tax return | Declared income and its sources over the years | What you own today |
| Net worth certificate | Assets less liabilities on one date, traced and UDIN-verified | Day-to-day cash flow |
| Sponsor's letter and documents | That a parent or host will pay | The applicant's own ties to India |
Only a member of ICAI holding a certificate of practice may sign this kind of certificate, and the work follows ICAI's guidance on special-purpose reports and certificates. The law lays down no fixed wording, which is why we adopt any template your mission or university supplies.
Since 1 February 2019 a Unique Document Identification Number has been compulsory on CA certificates. Its 18 characters encode the year, the signing member's ICAI number and a system-generated string. ICAI's UDIN portal lets an embassy or anyone else look it up with no account, and ICAI allows the CA up to 60 days from signing to generate it; ours is generated on the day we sign.
Sources: ICAI UDIN portal FAQs; UK Visas and Immigration visitor and student guidance; RBI reference rate page; German missions in India; GOV.UK (British Deputy High Commission Kolkata); US Embassy and Consulates in India.
A New Town couple with two school-going children are planning a Puja holiday, mostly in Germany with a short leg in Austria, and will apply through the German Consulate General in Kolkata. Salary slips already show they can pay; the certificate is meant to show what keeps them rooted here. The husband also owns a one-third share in his late father's house in Shyambazar, documented by a registered partition deed. They ask for a joint certificate with the total in euros.
| Item | Basis | ₹ |
|---|---|---|
| Flat in New Town (joint) | Registered valuer's report | 78,00,000 |
| One-third share in Shyambazar house | One-third of valuer's figure of ₹66,00,000 | 22,00,000 |
| Fixed deposits | Principal plus accrued interest | 12,40,000 |
| Post office NSC and KVP | Post office statement | 6,50,000 |
| LIC policies (two) | Surrender value per insurer | 4,10,000 |
| Savings accounts | Balance per statements | 3,85,000 |
| Mutual funds | Units × NAV | 9,15,000 |
| Total assets | 1,36,00,000 | |
| Home loan outstanding | Lender statement | (31,20,000) |
| Credit card dues | Card statements | (80,000) |
| Net worth | 1,04,00,000 | |
| In euros | At ₹101.50 per EUR (assumed) | €102,463 |
Working: ₹1,04,00,000 ÷ 101.50 = €102,463, rounded down to the euro. The certificate also shows liquid assets (fixed deposits, savings and mutual funds) separately at ₹25,40,000, because that is what pays for a holiday. The post office savings and LIC surrender value are listed apart, since they cannot all be drawn at once, and the property lines show the family's roots in Kolkata.
Figures are made up for illustration. ₹101.50 per euro is an assumed rate; on a live certificate we apply FBIL's published rate for the chosen date, unless the consulate prescribes one.
Start with the all-India visa net worth certificate page, or see how we handle it in Delhi and Bengaluru. For loans, tenders and other purposes in Kolkata: net worth certificate in Kolkata. Guides: net worth certificate for visa, format and sample, education loan and foreign remittance. If your tax returns need catching up first, see salary ITR filing; for a parent sending fees abroad, see Form 15CA and 15CB.
Not as a general rule. The official guidance we have read, such as Britain's visitor document list, wants proof that you can use enough money, typically through bank statements and evidence of income, and is silent on CA certificates. A certificate is useful supporting evidence when much of your wealth is outside your savings account. Your own visa checklist decides what is required.
₹1,499 plus GST is the starting fee for a single applicant. Sponsor or couple files begin at ₹6,999, and joint-family files with inherited property or business holdings at ₹11,999. No government fee applies, and you pay half on engagement and half on delivery.
Usually in the name of whoever is paying. If your parents fund the course, the certificate covers their assets, with their consent and documents, and goes with their sponsorship letter. It supports their standing; the funds evidence your study route asks for, such as bank statements held for a set period, still has to be filed as the route requires.
On a basis we state on the certificate: a registered valuer's report, the government market value, or the purchase cost from the registered deed. Where the property is co-owned or still in a deceased parent's name, we show only the applicant's share and say how it is held.
Yes. National Savings Certificates, Kisan Vikas Patra and post office deposits are shown at the value on the post office statement, and LIC or other life policies at the surrender value the insurer confirms, not the sum assured. We list them separately from bank balances because they cannot always be withdrawn at once.
Yes. The attested amount stays in rupees, and a converted figure in the currency you need is printed alongside, with the rate, who published it and the date. FBIL's rate for the reference date is our default unless your checklist names another.
Through the 18-character UDIN printed on it. Anyone can check a UDIN on ICAI's portal without registering, and it confirms the certificate was generated by a practising chartered accountant for that document.
There is no statutory shelf life; the certificate describes your position on a single day. Each mission decides how fresh it wants evidence to be, and Britain's visitor guidance, for one, treats papers older than twelve months as weak. We pick a reference date near your appointment.
One to three days once everything is in. A single applicant with bank accounts, deposits and one flat is often done next day; joint-family property files take longer because each person's share has to be documented.
Tell us what you need and a real CA calls you back, with no scripts and no transfers. Call 72783 76654. Mon - Sat, 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM IST.
Reviewed by CorporateWalla's CA and CS team · Last Updated 23 October 2026 · · Sources: ICAI UDIN portal: FAQs and verification, GOV.UK: supporting documents for UK visitor applications, GOV.UK: Student visa, money you need, RBI: reference rate handed to FBIL, German Consulate General Kolkata, GOV.UK: British Deputy High Commission Kolkata, U.S. Consulate General Kolkata
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