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.

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!