Documents required for an education loan to study abroad: a 2026 checklist from 15 lenders

In our experience, an education loan file is held up by paperwork far more often than it is refused. A salary slip that does not match the bank credits, a missing earlier deed for the family house, or a bank statement that is too old can each hold a file for a week. Each lender also words its list differently, so it is hard to know when you are done.

We read the published document lists of 15 lenders, from SBI and Canara Bank to ICICI Bank, HDFC Credila, Avanse and Prodigy Finance, and put them into one checklist, arranged by who provides each document and when, with the Tamil Nadu property papers in full. Each lender’s wording links to its own page, checked on 13 October 2026. Your lender’s list has the final word: use this one to prepare, and theirs to submit.

What documents are required for an education loan to study abroad?

The student’s identity, academic and admission papers; the co-applicant’s identity, income proof and bank statements; the property papers if the loan is secured; the signed loan papers after sanction; and the university’s fee demand with a remittance form at each disbursement. Tick each item off as you collect it; the sections below give each lender’s wording.

Student

• Signed loan application form
• Passport
• PAN card
• Aadhaar or other identity and address proof
• Two passport-size photographs
• Class 10 and Class 12 mark sheets
• Degree mark sheets or transcript
• Test score reports (GRE, GMAT, IELTS or TOEFL)
• Offer or admission letter
• I-20, CAS or CoE, when issued
• The university’s fee structure or schedule of expenses
• Scholarship letter, if any
• Gap certificate, if there is a break in study
• Salary slips and experience letters, if the student has worked

Co-applicant

• PAN card
• Aadhaar or other identity and address proof
• Two passport-size photographs
• Salary slips and Form 16, if salaried
• Two years of income tax returns, if self-employed
• Proof of business, such as GST registration, if self-employed
• Bank statements for every account, usually for six months
• Proof of relationship to the student
• Sanction letters and statements for any existing loans

Property (secured loans only)

• Sale deed
• Earlier title deeds
• Encumbrance certificate
• Patta, chitta and FMB sketch, or the TSLR extract in towns
• Approved building plan
• Latest property tax receipt and electricity bill
• Legal heir certificate, if an owner has died

After sanction

• Signed sanction letter
• Signed loan agreement
• Auto-debit mandate for EMIs
• Registered deposit of title deeds, for property

At each disbursement

• The university’s fee demand letter or invoice
• Form A2
• Visa copy (before the first disbursement at some lenders)
• For later instalments: progress report or mark sheet, and the previous fee receipt

What documents does the student need for an education loan?

The student provides identity papers, academic records, the admission letter and the university’s fee schedule, plus scholarship, gap or work papers where they apply:

• Passport. SBI says the passport is mandatory for students for studies abroad; Indian Bank says the same, and PNB lists the passport for study abroad.
• PAN. Indian Bank calls it a mandatory document, to be submitted with the application or before the first disbursement. The RBI also makes PAN mandatory for all transactions under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, the route by which fees are sent abroad, so apply early if the student has none.
• Identity and address proof, and photographs. Aadhaar, a voter ID or a driving licence. Canara Bank asks for two passport-size photographs of the applicant and co-applicants, and Avanse for two colour photographs from everyone on the loan.
• Academic records. Mark sheets for Class 10, Class 12 and the degree, and the test scores the admission used. HDFC Credila lists GRE, GMAT, TOEFL or IELTS score sheets for studies abroad.
• Admission proof. The offer or admission letter, and later the I-20 (USA), the CAS or Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (UK), or the CoE or Confirmation of Enrolment (Australia). Indian Bank says it will consider a loan on the basis of an invite or conditional offer letter, and ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and IDFC FIRST Bank offer a sanction before admission; Avanse needs a confirmed admission letter before it pays out.
• The university’s costs. SBI calls it the schedule of expenses for the course; HDFC Bank asks for the admission letter with fee break-up. The loan is sized on this document, so make sure it shows tuition, living costs and other charges for the whole course.
• Scholarship letter, and any fee waiver.

What is a gap certificate, and how do you get one?

A gap certificate explains a break in the student’s studies. SBI asks for one if applicable, and lenders do not publish a standard format, so ask your branch what it accepts. In our experience it is a signed declaration, often an affidavit, setting out what the student did during the gap, with any work, course or medical papers attached.

What extra documents does a student with work experience need?

Proof of the job and the pay. IDFC FIRST Bank asks for the salary slips of experienced candidates, and InCred for a resume, the last pay slip and appointment or experience letters. The relieving letter and the student’s own bank statements help too, because a student who has earned and saved is a stronger file.

What documents does a co-applicant need for an education loan?

PAN, identity and address proof, photographs, bank statements and income proof: salary slips and Form 16 if salaried, or two years of tax returns and proof of the business if self-employed. The co-applicant, usually a parent, signs the loan with the student and is equally responsible for repaying it. Every Indian lender we checked asks for one on a student loan; the exception is Axis Bank’s separate loan for working professionals. International lenders such as Prodigy Finance lend without one. None of the 15 publishes a minimum income or credit score.

• Bank statements, usually for six months. Avanse asks for eight months and Union Bank for the last 12 months, with any bank. HDFC Credila wants online statements no more than 30 days old, so download them the week you apply.
• An asset and liability statement: SBI asks for one from the applicant, co-applicant and guarantor for loans above ₹7.5 lakh.
• Proof of relationship to the student, which IDFC FIRST Bank and Avanse list; a birth certificate or ration card usually settles it when surnames differ.
• Existing loans: PNB asks for the sanction letter and six months of statements for each, and Indian Bank for documentary evidence of them.

What does a salaried parent provide?

Recent salary slips, Form 16 or income tax returns, and six months of statements for the account the salary is paid into. HDFC Credila adds that the salary amount should match the bank credit entries. Payslips that do not match the credits are one of the problems we see most.

What does a self-employed parent provide?

Income tax returns, usually for two years, with the computation of income, and proof that the business exists, such as GST registration or a shop and establishment licence. HDFC Bank also asks for two years of audited balance sheets and proof of turnover, and InCred for proof that the business has run for five years. HDFC Credila says a return filed under the presumptive scheme for small businesses (section 44AD, in its wording) needs only a statement of income, with no profit and loss account, balance sheet or CA attestation.

What if the co-applicant is retired or has no income?

HDFC Credila is the only lender we found that publishes this: a pensioner provides six months of statements for the account the pension is credited to, or the pension order, and a co-applicant with no income provides six months of savings statements. Lenders then usually want a second, earning co-applicant or collateral as well.

Who can be a co-applicant, and can an NRI parent sign?

Public banks usually want a parent or guardian, and a spouse or parents-in-law for a married student. Private lenders accept a wider circle of relatives, and only some accept a co-applicant living abroad:

IDFC FIRST Bank says you can include your NRI parent or relative living overseas, and HDFC Credila says it accepts NRIs as co-applicants if they are Indian citizens, or an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holder alongside another Indian-citizen co-applicant, with an Indian account that can pay EMIs electronically. In our experience the lender will then want the passport with the overseas visa or residence permit, overseas salary slips and employment contract, and statements for both the overseas and the Indian accounts.

What documents are needed if a parent has died?

The death certificate, and for any property a legal heir certificate, which the Revenue Department issues through TN e-District, with the documents that settle the property on the heirs. The surviving parent usually becomes the co-applicant; Union Bank says that where both parents are not alive, a close relative or guardian can be. Start this early: a patta still in a late parent’s name is one of the slowest things to fix.

What property documents does a bank need for a secured education loan in Tamil Nadu?

The title deed and its history, proof that the property is free of other loans, the revenue records, and the approvals for any building. SBI’s checklist asks for the sale deed and other documents of title, the approved plan, property tax receipt and electricity bill, and any other document needed to establish the chain of title. In Tamil Nadu that usually means:

• The sale deed and the earlier deeds showing how the property came to the present owner. The bank’s lawyer decides how far back to go, so gather every earlier deed you have.
• An encumbrance certificate (EC), which shows whether the property is mortgaged or under any registered claim. You can view an EC free on TNREGINET, the Registration Department’s portal ; one issued by the department costs ₹1 to apply, ₹30 for the first year searched, ₹10 for each further year and a ₹200 computer fee, per survey number. A 30-year search costs ₹521, so the fee matters less than getting the period the bank’s lawyer wants.
• The revenue records: the patta, the record of who owns the land; the chitta, with its extent and type; the A-register extract, the village register of survey numbers; and the FMB sketch, the field measurement map of the plot. All are on the state’s e-services portal, which says the sketch can be downloaded free and that no visit to a revenue office is needed. Those records cover rural and natham land; in towns and cities, including Chennai, the equivalent is the Town Survey Land Register (TSLR) extract and sketch, on the same portal.
• For a building: the approved plan, the building permission, the latest property tax receipt and an electricity bill. For a new flat, SBI also asks for the builder’s registered development agreement.
• If someone other than the parents owns it, that owner joins the loan as a co-borrower or guarantor and gives their own identity papers. SBI accepts collateral offered by a third party other than the parents.

Agricultural land is usually refused. The SARFAESI Act, the law banks use to enforce security, does not apply to any security interest created in agricultural land, as the Supreme Court restated in a 2018 case from Tamil Nadu, where it judged the land by its actual use. SBI asks for a copy of non-agriculture land permission, and Avanse lists only non-agricultural land. Lenders also accept fixed deposits, life insurance policies with a surrender value, government securities and, at Indian Bank, gold.

How much does the property mortgage cost to register in Tamil Nadu?

Banks take property as security by an equitable mortgage: the owner deposits the original title deeds with the bank, which keeps them until the loan is closed. Branches call the document a memorandum of deposit of title deeds (MOD or MODT). In Tamil Nadu it must be registered: a 2012 amendment to the Registration Act added instruments evidencing an agreement relating to the deposit of title deeds to the documents that must be registered. TNREGINET’s duty table sets stamp duty at 0.5 per cent of the loan, up to ₹40,000, and the registration fee at 1 per cent, up to ₹8,000. On a ₹50 lakh loan that is ₹25,000 in stamp duty and ₹8,000 in registration fee, ₹33,000 in all, on top of the bank’s legal and valuation charges; Bank of Baroda, for example, lists ₹8,500 per property for its advocate and valuer. Keep certified copies of the deeds for yourself before you hand the originals over.

How do you submit the documents: PM-Vidyalaxmi or the bank?

For most public sector banks, through the government’s PM-Vidyalaxmi portal, where students can apply for the education loan as well as interest subvention, through a simplified application process to be used by all banks; SBI’s Global Ed-Vantage page sends every application there. The portal’s Common Education Loan Application Form (CELAF) goes to up to three banks at once, and its student guide asks for uploads in PDF, PNG or JPEG, no more than 200 KB each, so scan at a modest resolution before you start. Families going abroad use the portal only to apply: its interest subsidy and collateral-free scheme loans are for selected institutions in India. Non-bank lenders (NBFCs), and many private banks, also take applications on their own sites.

Do you need originals, attested copies or translations?

In our experience, you submit self-attested photocopies and show the originals for verification, except the property deeds, which the bank keeps. Tamil Nadu banks’ lawyers read Tamil deeds as they are; a lender outside the state may ask for a translation, so check first. Papers from an NRI co-applicant should be in English or come with a translation.

What documents are needed after the loan is sanctioned?

The signed loan papers, a repayment mandate, any insurance the lender requires, and the security documents:

• The sanction letter and loan agreement, signed by the student and every co-applicant. HDFC Bank notes that stamp duty is to be paid by the customer.
• An auto-debit mandate (NACH or ACH, or a standing instruction) so that EMIs are taken from the bank account, and at HDFC Bank three security cheques.
• Insurance, where required. Union Bank says life insurance of the student is mandatory to the tune of the loan amount, and Bank of Baroda requires life cover above ₹7.5 lakh, through its group credit life policy or the student’s own term plan.
• Security: the registered deposit of title deeds for property, or the pledge of deposits or policies.

What must the loan letter show for the student visa?

Each country sets its own test, so give the bank the wording before it issues the letter:

• UK: the letter must be dated no more than 6 months before the application, confirm it is a student loan from a government or an academic or educational loans scheme, confirm the loan is to the applicant and its amount, confirm there are no conditions on release other than a successful visa application, and confirm the funds will be available before you travel, or paid to the university before you travel with any living-cost share available by the time you arrive. It must also confirm the lender is regulated for student loans, which for an Indian bank or NBFC means by the RBI. Our UK financial requirement guide explains each point.
• Canada: IRCC accepts proof of a student or education loan from a bank, and for programmes longer than a year you must say how you will pay for the full course. See our Canada study permit documents guide.
• USA: the university needs evidence of funds to issue the I-20. Washington University in St. Louis, for example, wants loan letters that are on letterhead, indicate that the loan is approved and list the applicant’s name, in US dollars or with a conversion. A loan application alone is not enough. Our MS in the USA cost guide shows the amounts universities ask you to prove.
• Australia: Home Affairs accepts a government loan or loans from a financial institution as evidence of funds, and says the best evidence of genuine access to a loan is evidence of disbursement, so ask the lender for a disbursement letter or schedule, not only the sanction.
• Germany: the German Missions say an education loan is additional to the blocked account, so the blocked account is still required.

What documents are needed for education loan disbursement?

The university’s fee demand, the signed loan papers and a remittance form each time the lender pays. Axis Bank’s list for the first disbursement is typical: the demand letter from the college or university, the signed loan agreement and sanction letter, a disbursement request form, receipts for the margin money paid, and Form A2 for an overseas institute. PNB says a copy of the visa is required before the first disbursement; SBI may pay the first instalment before the visa if the university needs it, but wants the visa before the second, as our SBI education loan guide explains. No tax is collected at source on these payments, because the money is a loan from a financial institution, taken for education.

What is Form A2, and who fills it?

Form A2 is the RBI’s application for sending money abroad. The RBI’s rules say the person remitting should furnish Form A2 for purchase of foreign exchange, with their PAN, and education fees go under purpose code S0305, travel for education. In practice the bank fills in most of it; the student or co-applicant signs it at each disbursement.

What documents are needed for later disbursements?

Proof that the student is still enrolled and doing the course, with the next fee demand. HDFC Bank asks for the academic progress report for the previous semester and the institute’s receipt for the previous payment; Axis Bank for any one of an exam progress report, mark sheet or bonafide certificate, with a fresh Form A2. Keep every fee receipt the university sends, because the next instalment usually depends on it.

How do you avoid delays with education loan documents?

Start with the papers that take longest, and leave the ones that go stale until last. In our experience that means a legal heir certificate or a patta transfer first, then missing earlier deeds and the EC, then PAN for anyone without one, and fresh bank statements in the week you apply. These cause most of the delays we see, and most can be fixed before you apply:

• Names that do not match across the passport, PAN, mark sheets and property papers, such as an initial written out on one and not another. Correct them, or swear a “one and the same person” affidavit before a notary.
• Stale or incomplete statements: an account left out, or statements older than the lender accepts.
• Income that does not reconcile: salary slips that differ from the bank credits, or business income on the return that the statements do not support.
• A broken chain of title: a missing earlier deed, an EC showing an old loan never closed, or a patta still in a late grandparent’s name.
• The wrong security: agricultural land, or a property whose owner is not on the loan.
• An old default on the co-applicant’s credit report. No lender lists the report as a document, but lenders check it, so pull it yourself before you apply.

For loan amounts, margins and how the main banks compare, read our guide to education loans in Tamil Nadu; for loans without property, our guide to loans without collateral; and for what each country wants as proof of money, our proof of funds guide. Our education loan support covers checking a file before it goes to the bank.