Pay SEVIS Fee from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Others
Paying the SEVIS fee from Nigeria is difficult. Every year, students from Nigeria and some other African countries get admission into universities and colleges in the United States. However, when it get to the stage where they need to pay the SEVIS fee, they face a particular challenge – paying the money online from Nigeria. This article will show you how to pay the I-901 SEVIS fee without stress.
The reason for that is that there is no easy or affordable way to do it while you are in Nigeria. In fact, you cannot make this payment with a credit card issued by a Nigerian bank.
A number of countries from Africa are exempted from paying this fee online. This article will guide you on how to navigate this stage of your admission processing.
What Is SEVIS Fee?
SEVIS stands for Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. You will probably encounter this acronym after receiving the Form I-20 from your university or college.
It is a system that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uses to maintain information on Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)-certified schools, F-1 and M-1 students who come to the United States to study.
Why Do You Have To Pay It?
Simply put, it is a mandatory fee. Without paying this fee, you will not be allowed to attend your US Visa interview. If you are going to the United States on an F and M students visa because you need visa to enter the United States, you must pay this fee.
How Much Is SEVIS Fee?
The SEVIS fee is Three Hundred and Fifty US Dollars ($350) for F and M non-immigrant visa types.
| Visa Type | SEVIS Fee |
|---|---|
| F or M visa applicants (full payment) | $350 |
| J visa applicants (full payment) | $220 |
| Special J-visa categories (subsidized payment) | $35 |
| Government visitor (no payment) | $0 |
Why You Can’t Pay SEVIS Fee from Nigeria?
Prospective F or M student from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria or Gambia can only pay their SEVIS fee by money order, Western Union Quick Pay or certified check drawn from a U.S. bank. I
n other words, if your country of citizenship or country of birth is among those above, you cannot use credit or debit card to pay SEVIS fee. The reason for this separation is not clear.
How Can You Pay The SEVIS Free From Nigeria?
Currently, F and M students from the countries mentioned have to leverage people they know abroad to pay their fees. That is, countries like in the USA, UK or any other country that is not on the barred list. Therefore, if you know anyone in the US, UK, Australia, Germany, etc., contact them to help you pay.
Note that if your country is restricted, the third party paying on your behalf cannot pay using credit card, too. They still have to pay via the methods above; that is, Money Order, Western Union and Check.
What Options Are Currently Available?
At the moment, only two options are available – (1) Leverage people that you know abroad as described above, and (2) use mobile applications created by Nigerians to help people solve this problem.
If you don’t know anyone abroad, that is your easiest way out – you only have to pay a fee. If you continue reading, we will share the names of these I-901 SEVIS fee payment apps with you.
Will I Pay For My Dependents (Spouse and Children)?
Your dependents do not pay the SEVIS fee. Only prospective F and M students from countries where a visa to travel to the United States is mandatory pay the fee.
There are other conditions under which you must pay the mandatory fee. If yo are unsure, check this article on the US DHS webpage.
How To Pay It Now!
NGScholars will show you a way to make it easy to pay the SEVIS fee from the comfort your home. How will this work, you asked? To make the payment, use the following apps below.
Note that NGScholars has no affiliation with any of these apps. We are only recommending them because we have seen people use them to successfully make their SEVIS payments.
Vesti
Vesti helps you bypass limitations on paying from Nigeria. This include the monthly foreign currency spend online. With Vesti, you can pay merchants like WES and SEVIS fees.
At the time I tested the app, Vesti charges you a $50 fee but what can you do if you don’t know anyone abroad to pay for you?
It could also be the case that you don’t want to tell anyone about your travel plans yet. So, Vesti can help you with this payment seamlessly.
Vesti — https://app.wevesti.com
Pay 4 Me
The Pay4Me app helps users to pay their SEVIS fees within 24 hours. Based on the reviews on Google Play, their 24/7 customer support appears to be great.
Pay 4 Me — https://pay4me.app
What Information Do You Need To Pay?
In order to pay the I-901 SEVIS fee, all prospective F and M students will need to provide their:
- Your name,
- Address,
- Your date of birth,
- A working email address,
- Country of birth and country of citizenship,
- School Code as listed on the Form I-20 “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status,”
- SEVIS Identification Number as listed on the Form I-20.
If you have any question, check out our forum to ask.
To conclude, it is not an easy task to pay your SEVIS fee after you get admission into universities in the United States. This is due to restrictions the Nigerian Government placed on online spending and that placed by the US Government on SEVIS fee payment.
If you ever need help with paying, you can either find someone or use any of the applications that we have mentioned above.
Nice Article. I have used the Pay4Me App and I cannot help but commend the app. the customer support is truly 24/7 and they are honest and open as possible. They communicated with me all through my payment and it was fast within 24 hours,
I have always enjoy Pay4Me App and services, so smooth and fast. I am always grateful to the team behind the awesome app for making payments easy for me and only God knows the countless number of people they might have helped too. No wonder they have 5-star rating and good review on Appstore as you’ve pointed out. Great app and services.
The Pay4Me app is actually very awesome 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯