A query

[Yoshimasa Tsuji]

Hello, Brice.
I understand it is your institution that asks Russians whether they
have sufficient money or not. If I were you, I wouldn't be satisfied by
looking at the balance of a bank account because the money could be
spent for other purposes. The safest thing is to ask them to pay
the money into your bank account.

If that procedure is meant just to please the US Immigration officer,
I would advise Russians to put the money in the "Sberbank" and draw
all the money as soon as a certificate of balance has been issued.
The point is that Sberbank is the only bank that the Russian government
has vowed to support. Yes, it is very likely no one will be able to
draw the money from Sberbank tomorrow, but there are no alternative banks
in Russia at the moment. As Russian banks are all (including Sberbank)
virtually bankrupt (they operate by the cash feed from the Central bank
in exchange for promissory notes -- Good Lord, without any real mortgages!),
choosing the best among bad ones isn't a terribly good idea, though.

Or hang on a few months till foreign banks will be allowed to look after
individuals in Russia (so far corporate clients only).

Or perhaps a "notarius"(notary?) may give you a certificate of your
financial status, but at an astronomical cost, to be sure.

I think the best thing to do is to ask the prospective students to
send some money to your account as deposits (say a three months worth
living cost) and to issue a certificate addressed to the immigration
officer that the basic cost of living in US has been already paid up.

Cheers,
Tsuji