Here’s How Pakistani Students in Russia Can Pay Their Fees After Sanctions

The Embassy of Pakistan in Russia has introduced alternative means for Pakistani students studying in the Russian Federation to pay their dues and fees as many companies like Visa and Mastercard have stopped operations in the country.

Its official document revealed that on account of the international payment systems Visa and MasterCard, there will be no transfers or payments using Visa and MasterCard issued by foreign banks.

Given below are the alternate ways to transfer money in and out of Russia from 9 March onward:

1. Using card ‘Mir’ for the countries where it is accepted, including Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Tajikistan, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia.
2. Using cards of the international payment system UnionPay International (China).
3. Classic bank cross-border transactions by citizens’ current accounts, excluding accounts that were open in the Russian banks for which SWIFT has been canceled (VTB, Bank ‘Russia’, FK ‘Otkritie’, Sovkombank, Promsvyazbank, and Novikombank). An amount of $5,000 a month can be transferred to relatives living in the countries that did not put sanctions on Russia.
4. There are limits on the amounts and terms of cross-border money when using the money transfer system Golden Crown and Western Union.

Furthermore, students are recommended to:

1. Open an account in any Russian commercial bank that is not under sanctions but not in Sberbank for which correspondent accounts in dollars were blocked on 26 March. After opening an account, it is necessary to get all the bank details to transfer money by SWIFT and send it to relatives who can transfer money to this account from their accounts in a foreign bank. After receiving money from their accounts in a Russian bank, students may convert it into rubles and pay with the Mir card in Russia.
2. Open card UnionPay International (China) and provide bank details for bank transfers to relatives.
3. Address Golden Crown or Western Union and determine the possibilities for receiving a money transfer from their native countries.

For Students Evacuated From Ukraine

Students who have been evacuated from Ukraine can enroll in Russian universities in their respective fields and continues their studies. Those who used to study free of cost will be able to continue their education in Russian universities free of cost again, subject to a quota from the Russian government if they so desire.