The first payment of a study-abroad plan is small: an application fee of $50 to $150, or £34.50 for UCAS. It still has to go through on the day you submit, and you often pay five or ten of them in the same week. Then, once an offer arrives, the university asks for an enrolment deposit with a hard deadline.
Almost every application portal takes card payments. This guide explains what the main portals charge, how they take payment, and how to pay with a Mehbit virtual Mastercard that you fund with USDT. For the tuition itself, read our tuition payment guide.
Before you pay: what we have tested
We only call a payment route “tested” when a Mehbit card has actually paid through it. Today that is Flywire, the platform many universities use for deposits and tuition. The application portals below take Visa and Mastercard online, so a Mehbit Mastercard should work on them, but we have not seen a Mehbit payment on them yet. They are marked “should work, untested”.
Application fees by portal
| Portal | Fee | How you pay | With Mehbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| UCAS (UK undergraduate) | £34.50 for up to five choices (2027 entry) | Debit or credit card online, at the end of the application | Should work, untested |
| UK postgraduate (the university’s own form) | Set by each school: £90 for a Master’s at Imperial, £95 at LSE | Card, after or at submission | Should work, untested |
| Common App (US undergraduate) | Set by each college. Dartmouth charges $85, and over 500 colleges charge international applicants nothing | Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Amex or e-check, when you submit to each college | Should work, untested |
| US graduate schools | Usually $50 to $150. The University of Cincinnati charges $70 for international applicants | Credit card or e-check on the school’s own application system | Should work, untested |
| OUAC (Ontario universities) | $156 for three choices, $50 for each extra one | Card, on the OUAC payment page | Should work, untested |
| uni-assist (Germany) | €75 for the first programme each semester, €30 for each additional one | Visa or Mastercard with 3-D Secure | Should work, untested |
| Australian universities | Often A$100 to A$150 (UTS A$100, Sydney A$150) | Visa or Mastercard at the end of the online form | Should work, untested |
| Netherlands (Studielink + the university) | Studielink itself is free. Some schools charge a handling fee, such as €100 at Erasmus Rotterdam for non-Dutch diplomas | Card or PayPal, on the university’s payment link | Should work, untested |
Application fees are almost always non-refundable once you submit. UCAS refunds the fee only if you cancel the whole application within 14 days, and Imperial refunds its fee to the original card under the same 14-day rule. Check each fee before you pay it.
Enrolment deposits after the offer
Once you accept an offer, many universities ask for a deposit that secures your place and is deducted from your tuition. This is a much larger payment, and many schools take it through Flywire or a card option in the applicant portal.
- UK, CAS deposit. Most UK universities want a deposit before they issue the CAS for your Student visa, often several thousand pounds. Westminster asks £5,500, and Edinburgh asks £1,500 for most Master’s programmes. Details, deadlines and visa-refusal refunds are in our UK guide.
- US, enrolment deposit. Due by May 1 for most autumn admissions. International deposits are often higher: Radford University asks $800 from international students, and the University of Kansas asks $375 and adds a 3% fee on card payments.
- Canada. Many colleges and universities ask for a deposit or the first semester before they issue your letter of acceptance. See our Canada guide.
- Australia. Universities such as Swinburne ask for a deposit after you accept the offer, paid through Flywire, and it counts towards your tuition.
If the deposit is paid on Flywire, the steps are the same as for tuition, and Flywire is the route we have tested. Look for the card option, choose the card’s country as the payer country, and check the Flywire page for the details.
Paying with a Mehbit card, step by step
- Make a list of the fees you will pay in the next few weeks and add them up. A card fee of up to 3% at some schools counts too.
- Deposit USDT (BEP20, TRC20 or ERC20) into your Mehbit wallet in the Mehbit app. Each deposit costs 2 USDT and the minimum is 10 USDT.
- Issue a card. If you are heading to the UK, take the United Kingdom Mastercard: the same card will later pay the CAS deposit and tuition with “United Kingdom” as the Flywire payer country. For other countries, the Singapore Mastercard has the lowest issuance fee. Issuance takes about 5 minutes.
- Load the card with the total plus a few dollars. The card is in US dollars, and a fee in pounds, euros or Canadian or Australian dollars is converted when it is charged. You can move what is left back to your wallet later.
- Pay on each portal with the card number, expiry and CVV from the app. Enter your name and the billing address exactly as shown in the card details.
- When the portal asks for a 3-D Secure code, Mehbit sends it to you on Telegram or by email. Enter it to finish the payment.
- Save every confirmation email. Admissions offices sometimes ask for proof of payment.
What it costs
An example: five graduate applications at $90 each, paid with a new Singapore card and one USDT deposit.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Application fees (5 × $90) | $450 |
| Card load fee (5% of $450) | $22.50 |
| Card transaction fee (5 × $0.35) | $1.75 |
| Wallet deposit fee | 2 USDT |
| Card issuance (one-time, Singapore card) | 10 USDT |
| Total on top of the fees | $36.25 |
- Issuance is paid once. If you use the same card later for the deposit and tuition, those payments only pay the load fee and $0.35 each.
- The card’s program country can add purchase VAT to a payment. The rates by card are on the pricing page, so leave a little room when you load.
- The school may add its own card fee, and your exchange charges its own network fee to send USDT.
- Current prices are on the pricing page.
Why an application payment fails, and how to fix it
- The balance is a few dollars short. Currency conversion or the school’s card fee pushed the charge above the balance. Load the difference and try again. Each attempt, declined ones included, costs the $0.35 transaction fee, so check the total before you retry.
- The name or billing address doesn’t match. Some portals compare these with the card. Copy them from the card details in the app instead of typing your home address.
- The 3-D Secure step timed out. uni-assist and many other portals require it. Keep Telegram or your email open while you pay, and enter the code as soon as it arrives.
- Wrong payer country on Flywire. Choose the country the card was issued in, not the country you live in, or you may get a card error or an extra fee.
- The fee can only be paid by bank transfer. Some fees, like the German semester contribution at Hamburg, are transfer-only. A card can’t pay them, and Mehbit doesn’t send wires or pay on your behalf.
Exam and credential fees
TOEFL, IELTS, GRE and the Duolingo English Test are paid online by card on the test provider’s own site, so the same card can pay them. We haven’t seen Mehbit payments on these sites yet, so treat them as “should work, untested”. Our Education & study abroad section lists every education service and its tested status.
Checklist
- List every application fee and deposit with its deadline.
- Check each school’s payment page: card, Flywire, or bank transfer only.
- Deposit USDT once, issue one card and load the total plus a small buffer.
- Pay each fee with the name and billing address from the card details, and keep the confirmations.
- After the offer, pay the deposit on Flywire or the portal before the deadline, with the payer country matching your card.
Frequently asked questions
Can I pay the UCAS fee with a virtual card?
UCAS takes debit and credit cards online at the end of your application. A Mehbit card is a Mastercard, so it should work, though we haven’t tested UCAS yet.
Does Common App accept international cards?
Common App takes Visa, Mastercard, Discover and Amex. Each college sets its own fee, and many charge international applicants nothing, so check the fee on each college’s page in your account.
Should I use one card for all my applications?
Yes. Issuance is a one-time fee, so one card for every application, the deposit and later the tuition is the cheapest way.
What if a payment goes through twice?
Check your card history in the app first: a pending charge can disappear on its own. If both were taken, ask the portal or the university for a refund. It comes back to the same card.
Can I get the application fee back?
Usually not. Application fees are non-refundable once you submit, with short exceptions like UCAS’s 14-day cancellation window.
Do I need to verify my identity to get the card?
No ID scans. You sign up with email or Telegram and a phone number, and the card is issued with your name on it.
