Schengen Visa Bank Balance for Indians, by Country

For a ten-day Europe trip, the EU's own published minimum is €550 in the Netherlands, about ₹60,900, and €650 in France if every day of the stay is covered by a hotel booking, about ₹72,000. Spain asks €1,221, about ₹1,35,200. There is no single Schengen visa bank balance requirement for India: no consulate here publishes a lump-sum rupee figure, and the official document list sets no minimum at all. What exists is a set of daily amounts, fixed country by country. Here is what each rule says, and what it comes to in rupees.

Why there is no single Schengen visa bank balance requirement in India

The supporting documents for a Schengen visa application lodged in India come from one harmonised EU list, most recently amended by Commission Implementing Decision C(2025) 4379 of 4 July 2025. On money, it asks for an original private bank statement showing movements in the last three months, duly stamped and signed by the bank. It does not name a minimum balance.

So a figure like "₹3 lakh" or "₹1 lakh per week" is not a rule. It is somebody's estimate. If you have searched "Schengen visa ke liye kitna bank balance chahiye", this is why the answers disagree.

The amounts that do exist come in through Article 21(5) of the Visa Code. The consulate assesses your means according to the duration and purpose of your stay, by reference to average prices for board and lodging in budget accommodation in the country concerned, multiplied by the number of days, on the basis of the reference amounts each member state has set.

The same list also asks for your ITR acknowledgment for the last two assessment years and, if you are employed, pay slips for the last three months. Those are covered in the document checklist.

Three numbers people mix up

The legal daily floor. The amount a member state has published, per person per day. It is the minimum the officer measures against, not a target.

What your trip really costs. Flights, hotels, trains, food. The officer reads the file as a whole, and a balance that clears the floor but not the trip you describe leaves a question open.

What your statement shows. Three months of movements, not a single closing figure. The officer sees how the balance got there.

The official daily amounts, country by country

The European Commission compiles every member state's figure in one document: Annex 25 of the Practical Handbook for Border Guards, which is also Annex 18 of the Visa Code Handbook. The current version is dated 1 April 2026.

France's €65 is stated "as of 1 January 2012", so it is an old figure still carried in the current document. Switzerland's amount is in Swiss francs; the rupee table below converts it through the euro.

What 10 days means in rupees, per person

Converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of 11 September 2026: €1 = ₹110.7675 (and €1 = CHF 0.9451). Rates move every working day, so redo the sum the week you apply.

These sums count ten days. A trip of ten nights usually spans eleven calendar days, and the officer may count all eleven, so for a margin, multiply by eleven: that takes the Netherlands to €605, about ₹67,000, and Spain to €1,343.10, about ₹1,48,800. The figures are per person, so two travellers show twice as much. They cover your days in Europe, not your flights.

How your accommodation changes the figure in France

The same ten-day trip to France has three different floors:

• No hotel reservation shown: €120 a day, so €1,200.
• A hotel reservation: €65 a day, so €650.
• An attestation d'accueil from a host in France: €32.50 a day, so €325.

Where a reservation covers only part of the stay, the compilation applies €65 for the period the reservation covers and €120 for the rest. Four days covered by a booking and six not covered come to €980.

A booking lowers the figure only because it is real. A genuine reservation, including a cancellable one, is a real booking. A fabricated one is misrepresentation, and the standard refusal form has a ground for exactly this: the information submitted about the purpose and conditions of the stay "was not reliable".

Bank balance for a Germany or Austria Schengen visa: no fixed amount

Germany has set no mandatory daily amount. The compilation says each case is examined individually, taking account of the nature and purpose of the journey, the length of stay, whether you are staying with relatives or friends, and subsistence costs. Only if a traveller cannot evidence those circumstances, or at least make credible statements about them, does it give a guidance figure of €45 a day, and a return or onward journey must be possible.

So €45 is a fallback, not a requirement. It does not mean "show €45 a day and you are done". Under Article 21(5) the consulate still assesses whether your means fit the purpose and length of the trip you describe.

Austria publishes no reference amount at all. Decisions are made case by case on the purpose, type and duration of the stay.

With no floor to aim at, your statement, pay slips and ITR carry the case. The question is whether your income, savings pattern and trip fit together.

Spain works differently

A floor whatever the trip length. Spain asks for €122.10 per person per day, 10% of its gross national minimum wage, but never less than €1,098.90 per person, about ₹1,21,700. A five-day trip still needs €1,098.90. For ten days the daily sum, €1,221, is higher, so that applies.

A fixed-date return ticket. Spain also asks for a personal, non-transferable, fixed-date ticket for your return or onward journey.

No internet statements. If you show funds through cards, cheques or receipts, the compilation says they must be accompanied by a recent bank statement or an up-to-date bank book, or other evidence clearly showing the credit available, and that bank letters and internet bank statements are not acceptable.

What the statement itself must look like

Whichever country handles your file, the India list asks for:

• An original private bank statement.
• Movements covering the last three months.
• Stamped and signed by the bank.

"Movements" is the word that matters. The officer reads a history: salary coming in, regular spending, a balance that was built rather than one that arrived. A large deposit shortly before you apply raises its own question, and the rejection reasons post explains why and how to document money that is genuinely yours. Do not park borrowed money in your account to clear a figure.

Work out your own figure before you apply

You need three things: which country is legally responsible for your file, how many days you will be there, and how you will be accommodated. The first is not a choice. Article 5 of the Visa Code sends you to your sole destination or, on a multi-country trip, your main destination by length of stay or purpose; see which country to apply to. If you are travelling over the holidays, the December travel guide covers timing.

Then multiply the right daily amount by your days and compare it with what three months of statements actually show. The €90 adult visa fee is not refunded if you are refused, so do this before you pay it.

Frequently asked questions

How much bank balance is required for a Schengen visa from India?

No consulate in India sets a lump-sum balance. The India list asks for three months of stamped statements, and the minimum comes from the daily amount of the country handling your file, for example €55 a day for the Netherlands. Germany and Austria set no fixed amount.

How much bank balance do I need for a 10-day Europe trip?

Per person, at the ECB rate of 11 September 2026: about ₹60,900 for the Netherlands, ₹72,000 for France with every day covered by a hotel booking, and ₹1,35,200 for Spain. That is the floor for your days there, and your statement should also make the trip look affordable.

Is Rs 3 lakh enough bank balance for a Schengen visa?

There is no official ₹3 lakh rule. For one person on ten days it is above every published floor in the table, but the officer also reads the three months of movements behind it, your income and your itinerary.

How many months of bank statements do I need for a Schengen visa?

Three. C(2025) 4379 asks for an original statement showing movements in the last three months, stamped and signed by the bank.

Does booking my hotels reduce the amount I need to show?

In France, yes: €65 a day with a hotel reservation against €120 without. Belgium's figure is also lower with a private host than at a hotel. In the Netherlands, Greece and Spain the published figure does not change with where you stay. The reservation has to be genuine.

When your destination and dates are settled, run the free readiness check to see which consulate your file goes to and what it is still missing. A consular officer decides the application; the check tells you where you stand before you pay.

Sources

• Commission Implementing Decision C(2025) 4379, Annex I: harmonised list of supporting documents for India (hosted by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
• European Commission, DG HOME: Annex 25 of the Practical Handbook for Border Guards, reference amounts, version of 01/04/2026
• Regulation (EC) No 810/2009, the Visa Code, consolidated text of 11 June 2024 (Articles 5, 16, 21 and 32, and Annex VI)
• EEAS: Visa Code Annex VI, standard form for notifying refusal of a visa
• European Central Bank: euro foreign exchange reference rates (daily file; the rates used here are those of 11 September 2026)
• European Commission: Applying for a Schengen visa