Transfer of funds by foreign students

The Ministry of Education and Science of Russia has clarified the procedure for the transfer of funds by foreign students

International payment systems Visa and MasterCard announced the suspension of work in the Russian Federation.

In this regard, cross-border transfers by VISA and MasterCard cards, if issued by Russian banks, are not available. This applies both to paying for purchases in foreign online stores and to using these cards abroad to withdraw money and pay for purchases.

Transfers and payments using VISA and MasterCard cards issued by foreign banks will not be made in Russia. It is not possible to withdraw cash from these cards in Russia.

VISA and MasterCard cards issued by Russian banks will continue to operate in Russia as usual until their expiration date. Holders of these cards in Russia will be able to make transactions at ATMs, pay with their cards, and make card-to-card transfers. For payments in Russia, you can use an MIR card or the Bank of Russia's Quick Payment Service.

Current methods of cross-border money transfers to and from Russia:

  1. Using the Mir card for the countries where it is accepted: Turkey, Vietnam, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
  2. Using cards of the international payment system UnionPay International (China).
  3. Classic bank cross-border transfers on current accounts of citizens, except for accounts opened in Russian banks that are disconnected from SWIFT (VTB, Rossiya Bank, Otkrytie FC Bank, Sovcombank, Promsvyazbank and Novikombank). From Russia, transfers can only be made to countries that have not joined the US and EU sanctions, to close relatives in an amount not exceeding USD 5,000 per month.
  4. The use of money transfer systems, such as KoronaPay, but there are restrictions on the size and terms of cross-border money transfers, which should be clarified on the websites of these systems or in the branches that carry out such transfers.

Students are recommended:

  1. Open an account in any Russian commercial bank that is not under sanctions, but not in Sberbank (closed correspondent accounts in dollars since March 26, 2022). After opening an account, it is necessary in this bank to take its details for transferring money via SWIFT and send to their relatives, who can transfer money to this account from their account in a foreign bank. After receiving the money in his account in a Russian bank, the student can convert it into rubles and pay with a MIR card in Russia.
  2. Open a UnionPay International (China) card and give the transfer details to your relatives.
  3. Contact KoronaPay to find out about the possibility of receiving a money transfer from your country.