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How to Pay School Fees Abroad from Nigeria

Nothing has change. You can pay your school fees abroad while still in Nigeria. So, everything I’m going to discuss here will cover how to pay for tuition fees abroad from Nigeria.

Paying School fees abroad from Nigeria

Image credit: US Embassy & Consulate in Nigeria

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has started allocation and sale of Foreign Exchange for purposes of payment of school fees and settlement of medical bills overseas. We shall see how  CBN Form A is use for various international payments including School fees.

According to channelstv, the apex bank claimed that despite assurances it had given, some persons had continued to suggest that the Bank had stopped the allocation of Foreign Exchange to Nigerians seeking to pay school fees and medical bills overseas. The CBN also urged all genuine users desiring to obtain foreign exchange for payment of school fees and settlement of medical bills abroad to approach their banks with their requests and appropriate documentation.

Many Students seeking to pay for their tuition fees UK, China, USA, India, Austria, South Africa, Ghana, and so on from Nigeria have asked me here severally how to pay for school fees abroad as it very difficult sending money abroad now. The suggestions I make to them that work perfectly is what I want to share here with you too.

So if you are among those seeking to study abroad; whether for an undergraduate degree programme or postgraduate programme (PGD, MSc. Phd.). Here are some fast ways to pay school fees abroad from Nigeria!

Ways to Pay school fees abroad from Nigeria

There are several means to pay for tuition fee aboard from Nigeria. The current cheapest means to pay for school fees abroad is through:

A.   Use of CBN Form A/e-Form A

HOW TO PAY SCHOOL FEES ABROAD USING CBN FORM A

  • Visit the customers’ care of any of these Nigerian banks: Firstbank of Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Diamond bank, Zenith bank, and Fidelity bank; if you have an account with them that would be better. Take alongside the bank detail of the school that offer you the admission.
  • Once you’re in the bank, tell the bank customer care you would like to pay for the school fees abroad with Form A.  You will be directed to the appropriate desk where you will be given Form A to fill and sign. Please, make sure you fill the form correctly; ask questions where you are not clear.
  • The bank will communicate to you after proper filling and documentation of Form A, the day the payment will be made.
  • Scan the payment receipt and email it to your school in abroad, they will notify you when they received the payment.

If you don’t have account with any of the bank mention above; you may need to first, visit any CBN office close you to present your evidence of your school admission abroad.  After authentication by CBN, you will be given an official exchange rate waiver.

After given a waiver; visit any of the bank mention above or if possible, visit GTbank with this official exchange rate document from CBN

  • Tell you them you want to pay for your tuition fees abroad. Present the CBN paper to them.
  • You will be given Form A to fill and sign. The procedure continues as in above.
  • GTBank may take up to 2 months to make the payment.
  • Stanbic IBTC may take maximum of 72 hours to make the tuition fee payment.
  • Firstbank of Nigeria may take maximum of 48hours to make the payment.

The exchange rate for Form A is currently at N360/$. CBN does not allow any other hidden charge from the bank on your request. The maximum amount allowed for Foreign School Fees is USD15,000 or its equivalent per session.

Please note: The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced the electronic Form A (e-Form A). So, starting from November 30, 2021, the e-Form A replace the hardcopy Form ‘A’ for transactions covering PTA/BTA, medicals, education, and other related remittances.

What is e-Form A

e-Form A is an electronic form of CBN hardcopy Form A

  • Form A transactions is now being process electronically as e-Form A on the CBN Trade Monitoring System – tradesystem.gov.ng
  • A valid Bank Verification Number (BVN) is required to access the Trade Monitoring System for e-Form A applications.
  • The e-Form A is an online portal which means you can submit your request and upload your supporting documents from the comfort of your home or office.
  • A ₦5,000 fee is payable for each e-Form A application.

See Also: Guideline for Zenith bank international School fees payment

My Advice on use of CBN Form A to pay for school fees abroad

  1. My candid advice here is this; don’t wait till when it is remaining 2 months, 1 month or weeks before you starting seeking for means to pay your school fees abroad. Start at least 3 months earlier.
  2. Any of these bank mention above may claim to make the tuition fees payment within 72hrs, 48hrs or even 24hrs, I rather suggest you visit them often to make sure they keep to their promise.

Read Also: CBN Policy on PTA, BTA, school fees & medicals – all charges stopped

B. Use of Domiciliary Account

HOW TO PAY TUITION FEES ABROAD FROM NIGERIA USING DOMICILIARY ACCOUNT

Here, you have to open a domiciliary account or use a domiciliary account of someone you know to make the payment for the school fees.

Some Nigeria banks to open a domiciliary account with are GTbank, Firstbank, Diamond bank, and Zenith bank.

See : how to open a domiciliary account with Gtbank, Firstbank and Zenith bank

  • Once, you open a domiciliary account let say with GTBank; the next step is to fund the domiciliary account with the require amount you wish to pay as school fees abroad.
  • To fund the account, foreign exchange Company, like Travelex may offer better foreign exchange rate option than the black market (BDCs).
  • Show GTbank staff the admission letter and they will give form to fill the university bank details and to also add your student name and student ID number.
  • You need to have extra money on your domiciliary account for bank transfer charges. The bank charges include; telex transfer charge (optional but necessary), off shore charges
    and £10 if the correspondence bank need to deduct.

C. Through Agents

How to pay school fees abroad from Nigeria through an Agent

There are many agents (both local and international agents) that claim to offer the service of helping students who are offered admission abroad to pay for their school fees. I wouldn’t want to start mentioning them here because I don’t trust any of them. However, it doesn’t mean that there are no good Agents that runs school fees payment for Nigerians that goes abroad to study. In Lagos, you’ll find many of them.

 

To conclude,  I will suggest you go through the above options when paying for school fees abroad from Nigeria. Select the most convenient. They may still be other ways to pay for school fees abroad from Nigeria but the 3 options above are the fastest!

324 thoughts on “How to Pay School Fees Abroad from Nigeria”

  1. I applied for form A with Gtbank. I was debited but it was a negative debit because I had not paid the money into my account. I want to know there is a negative debit? I want to know if the money movement had been initiated?. If i should go ahead with transferring the money into my account to enable it to move?

  2. Thank you for the write up. I plan to pay for the initial deposit few days time using form a, can I still pay part of the school fees using form a few weeks after using form a to pay for initial deposit?

  3. Thank you for your response Emma.
    Please, is it that there is no longer the option to go to the bank and pick up the Form A?
    Do i have to fill in and print the online version? I hear there is a fee of N5000 attached for the e-Form A.

  4. Hi Emma. Good Evening. Thank you so much for this platform.
    2 things please
    1. I want to pay my deposit of 4K pounds to a UK School. Which Nigerian bank currently offers the best FX transfer service?

    2. I have a dollar account, can i use a dollar card to pay the deposit which is in Pounds?

    Please reply? Thank you!

    1. 1. I can’t vouch for any bank when it comes to FX transfer services. Only try will convince you.
      2. To your second question, it is your bank that will tell if that will work.

  5. I submitted my form A at GTbank on the 24th of March and got debited on the 30th but the money is still in my ledger balance it’s no longer in my main balance please I want to verify why i have not recieved my telex copy. Thanks

      1. Thanks so much much but I want to know why I have not recieved my telex copy and why the money is still in my ledger balance

        1. That the money is still your ledger balance, does not mean that it has not leave your account. The money has leave your account. So relax, as soon as it leaves your ledger balance, you’ll get your telex copy.

          1. Ok thank you.
            One more thing please i would like to know how long it will take for the money to leave my account

          2. Good day. It’s about the fee I told you about, currently the money has cleared from my ledger balance on Tuesday been 26th of April but the bank said i will get another debit for the telex itself please I want to know how long it will take to get the debit for the telex

    1. banks (gtb, for instance) usually block the required funds in your acc so that there would be no tampering with the funds while the payment processing is going on, hence the reason it’s still appearing in your ledger balance. it is not until when the process has been completed before the money is moved finally out of your account. i hope this helps!!!

  6. Thanks for this information. I like to ask if GTB will still take 2 months to send the school fees abroad as you noted in the write up.

    1. Good morning, please I will like to ask that can I use Stanbic IBTC bank to pay for my tuition fees. Because someone told me not to use the bank but rather, I should use UBA bank which I don’t have an account with them. Thanks

  7. Emma thanks for all the effort you make to answer questions regarding various payments. Please, I made a payment using Form A via Fidelity bank and I was told I will be debited within 2-3 working days but nothing yet. Please, I want to know how long it takes currently because I have barely a week deadline left for the payment to be made?

  8. Hello Emma. Please the bank says that there’s a CBN directive that’s restricting processing of payment of tuition for diploma programme. Please how do I resolve this?
    Thank you

  9. Hello EMMA, I have read your responses so far about questions been asked and I must tell you you really did a good job answering those questions…..big thumbs to you. I would like to know, I want to make a payment deposit into a UK school account. Please which options do you think is best now considering CBN restrictions and policies.

      1. Good afternoon Emma.

        Please can you tell me another way to pay a deposit to schools in the UK? I went to 5 different banks today to make a deposit, but none have a reasonable price even though they call it CBN form A. Here is the information from the different banks:

        Zenith Bank: 540.58 pounds excluding their service charge.
        Diamond Bank: 577.83 Pounds.
        FCMB Bank: 580 Pounds
        First bank: 578.26 Pound.
        Fidelity Bank: 601 pounds.
        This information is at today being 28/4/2021. I am stressed out. please can you recommend the cheapest bank or other means. Thank you.

        1. Another way to pay for your school fee in UK is to pay using domiciliary account. If you have one that fine but if you don’t, you can look for someone that has one to assist you.

          1. Hello Emma. Please the bank says that there’s a CBN directive that’s restricting processing of payment of tuition for diploma programme. Please how do I resolve this?
            Thank you

        2. Hello Emma, I want to ask concerning requirement for formA now, Polaris demanded for the student BVN, is it all banks that requested for the BVN even if the student does not have an account in Nigeria before leaving

            1. Gbeminiyi odediran

              Hi Emma,I want to pay for my school fees in the USA but on the form A it requires Iban and USA banks don’t use iban,what should I do?

        3. Hello emma..thanks for your response this far..
          I filled a form for payment through zenith bank form A to uk for over a week now and am yet to be debited..except the cbn processing fee..pls do you know how long this will take?

      2. Hello Emma , thanks for the good work on here ,
        please i want to ask do i still need to go to the bank to get form A if i am sending from a personal dom account or a frined or cani just proceed with the payment ? i mean since i can pay with internet banking ?
        thanks

      3. All the Bank rates are really different…I visited about 5 banks today all with different rate and sending terms…9ja is fucked up, imagine banks advising me to go and purchase Euros from the black market which is extremely expensive

        1. pls about the sch fees payment transaction you did at Polaris bank then hope the transaction went thru pls let me know cause am abt doing same process thru polaris bank

      4. Kabuoh Uchechukwu Lawrence

        Hello please i Dont really understand this because my school in Canada said I should use Western Union,but I got to my bank and it was form a transaction I used.please how many days would it take before my school in Canada receives my payment.it is first Bank I used and the deadline is fast approaching

        1. It depends on the bank and the money in the queue to be sent out. For Firstbank, it will take them like 2 – 5 working days but sometimes up to 2 weeks if they have less money in queue.

      5. Hello Emma, I must commend you for making payment process easy and accurate directions too. However, I made a pre-enrollment deposit to a school in Canada through Form A in Zenith bank. A week after the payment is yet to be done.

          1. Bro, the payment was later made on 27th April. Uptill now the Canadian school is yet to receive it. What do I do?
            Do I get someone in US or Canada to pay on my behalf.

      6. Please I want to know what an invoice is, because I used form A to pay part of the fee, when I went the second time, to pay CBN rejected it saying they need an invoice attached, I have no idea…

      7. Good day, I would dis platform has been really helpful, I’m trying to pay my fees to a university in the Uk..they said they are partners with Western Union Business Solutions. Tried using it but first bank and zenith said they don’t do that kind of transaction..I had to call the school for their bank details which they sent to me, I filled my Form A already but my questions are: 1)Do I get the Telex copy immediately 2) Will they use the black market rate or the official rate? I followed your advice I’m paying 4months before deadline

        1. Once the payment is made, get the telex copy. The payment might or might not be done immediately, it depends on the bank. Find out from the bank. They will use the official bank rate.

          1. I’m using Zenith bank and the official CBN exchange rate for pounds is really high.. the bank said 490.. is this ryt
            Thanks..

      8. please, how can I pay fees with my dollar Visa Gold card, issued by first bank. I have a domiciliary account with them. I am already in Russia. All the substantial amount for fees is in the card. I have online banking platform withe bank too. how do I go about payment as authority is no longer allowing me freedom.
        Thanks

        1. You need to find out the different payment methods from your school. This will help determine if your dollar Visa Gold card will work.
          I’m afraid; I may not be able to ascertain that considerable other factors which may come into play.

      9. pls, may I know how long it takes Zenith bank to effect my Tuition payment to be made on the 9th of october? Destination is New Zealand. Thank you

      10. Good evening Emma. Please how much is the Cbn exchange rate to pay school fees abroad. And is there any related charges. As well as how long does it take to process the transfer

      11. Good afternoon, I would like to know the documents required for Form A. My bank is insisting I drop my university certificate before they do the transaction. I’m of the opinion this isn’t necessary. All that is need is the admission letter from the school and the invoice. Am I wrong?

      12. Hello Emma, very good work here really helpful and problem and solving, please I want to know the role of cbn in getting money back when you decide to cancel a transaction while paying with westerunion business solution for school fees to Australia. I wanted to pay the school fees for Sydney university but it didn’t go according to the bank and now I want to pay for flinders but they keep telling me that the money is with cbn and they are waiting for cbn to return it, please explain to me how cbn can hold the money and for how long. Thanks.

      13. Hello Emma
        Please.. can I withdraw pounds cash in UK with a dollar card of a *dollar* domicillary account I opened in Nigeria?
        thanks…

      14. thank God ooo, first Bank sent me my TELEX COPY today, is dat shows dat the school has received the payment

        1. Hello Sulaimon.
          Please can you confirm if your school has received your payment because i just got my telex copy from my bank today but do not know yet if the school has received the payment.

      15. Sulaimon Babatunde

        EMMA good day sir,
        is there any way I can track my FORM A status to check whether it has been treated or not

        1. Hello Sulaimon Babatunde,
          Your School should be able to send you an acknowledgement message confirming the reception of your school fees payment once it reflects.
          If you don’t not receive message from them after 7-14 days, please contact your school to find out what happened.

      16. Sulaimon Babatunde

        Hello Emma,
        I paid $2000 through “FORM A” yesterday and First Bank deducted my money today, as they have deducted my money today, how long will it take the payment to reflect in the school account

              1. Sulaimon Babatunde

                yes u said it see it here

                JULY 28, 2016 AT 2:54 PM
                My bank had just sent me an alert for debits after months of submitting my form A. How long will it take to reflect in my University account? Will CBN send me an email or something?
                 REPLY
                JULY 28, 2016 AT 4:36 PM
                Hello Habila Haziel,
                Your university account will be credited immediately once your bank has debited you. CBN will NOT send any email to you.

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