SEVIS I-901 Fee From Nigeria: $350 (₦539,000) Before DS-160

The SEVIS I-901 fee is $350 — about ₦539,000 at ₦1,540/$, July 2026 — paid at fmjfee.com before the DS-160, using the SEVIS ID on your finalised I-20. It’s separate from the $185 MRV fee. If you’re searching how to pay SEVIS fee from Nigeria, the payment options and two mistakes that cost money are below: paying before the SEVIS ID is locked, and arriving at interview without the printed receipt.

1. Get your finalised Form I-20 from your school’s DSO — note the SEVIS ID (starts with N).
2. Pay $350 (~₦539,000) at fmjfee.com using that exact SEVIS ID.
3. Print your I-901 payment confirmation.
4. Complete the DS-160 for students, which asks for the same SEVIS ID.
5. Pay the separate $185 MRV fee and book your interview.
6. Bring the I-901 receipt — plus your I-20, DS-160 confirmation and MRV receipt — to Abuja or Lagos.

How much the SEVIS fee is in ₦ (2026)

In short: the SEVIS I-901 fee for F-1 and M-1 students is $350, about ₦539,000 at the ₦1,540/$ July 2026 rate. A J-1 exchange visitor pays $220 instead, through their program sponsor. Source: ICE SEVP, fmjfee.com fee schedule.

The SEVIS fee isn’t tuition or the free DS-160 — it’s a separate US tracking charge. Add the $185 MRV fee due later and an F-1 visa applicant’s total is $535, about ₦824,000. See the full F-1 order from Nigeria.

Source: ICE SEVP fee schedule, fmjfee.com; ₦ column computed at this site’s ₦1,540/$ July 2026 rate.

When to pay it: after your I-20 is final, not before

In short: pay the SEVIS fee only after your school issues a finalised Form I-20 — the payment is filed against the SEVIS ID printed on it, and paying against an earlier draft attaches your $350 to a record you cannot use. Source: ICE SEVP, fmjfee.com payment instructions.

Your DSO issues the I-20 after admission and a funds check. It carries a SEVIS ID starting with N — the key fmjfee.com files your payment against. Use the I-20 you will actually submit, not a preliminary draft some schools issue while paperwork is still moving.

The edge case incumbent pages skip: a reissued I-20 with a different SEVIS ID — a school transfer, corrected dates, a fresh I-20 after a gap — doesn’t carry your paid fee across automatically; it stays on the old record. Fix it with a correction request to the SEVP Response Center, using your payment confirmation and both SEVIS IDs — DSOs handle this routinely, but it costs weeks near an interview date. Avoid it: wait for the I-20 you will submit, then pay.

Paying from Nigeria: card reality and the fallback order

In short: fmjfee.com takes a card payment in USD only — there is no bank-branch naira option here, unlike the MRV fee. A plain naira card fails at the same USD step every other consular fee does. Source: fmjfee.com payment instructions.

Paying from Nigeria: naira cards decline on foreign government portals. Use a dollar card, domiciliary + prepaid, or someone abroad — the full decision tree.

fmjfee.com charges a card in dollars only. It will not convert Naira to USD for you. Applicants ask this exact question on the same forex threads that describe the MRV and IHS decline moment: “is it now possible to pay for SEVIS fee online using a USD issued Nigerian card?” That is a fair doubt — a naira card hits the CBN cap here the same way it does on every other consular portal. Third-party “SEVIS payment agents” sell themselves into exactly that gap, so verify an immigration agent in Nigeria before you hand anyone $350.

Work the order. A dollar card first (GTBank, Chipper, or a naira-funded virtual dollar card); then a domiciliary account with a prepaid card; then someone abroad pays, and you repay them in naira. Sort your forex for the consular fee early. A scramble at the deadline is how a decline turns into a missed appointment. Which card clears a consular fee compares the options at $350. On the third route, what matters is the SEVIS ID the payment is filed against, not whose card clears it — see someone abroad paying your visa fee.

Do you need the receipt at your interview?

In short: yes — print your I-901 payment confirmation and bring it to the interview at the US Embassy Abuja or Consulate Lagos. Consular officers can verify SEVIS payment electronically, but a printed receipt is standard, non-negotiable advice. Source: ICE SEVP, fmjfee.com; US Embassy Nigeria visa checklist.

fmjfee.com issues a confirmation the moment your card clears — your fee receipt / CGI reference is what the DS-160 and consulate check. Save it as a PDF and print a copy for your interview folder, with your I-20, DS-160 confirmation and MRV receipt. A missing SEVIS printout is a gap an officer can ask about, even though the payment already shows on their end.

Is the SEVIS fee refundable if your visa is refused?

In short: the $350 is not refunded on a refusal, but it usually doesn’t have to be paid twice either — reapplying for the same course of study within 12 months, on the same SEVIS ID, avoids a new SEVIS charge. Change schools or let the record lapse, and the fee is simply gone. Source: ICE SEVP, fmjfee.com FAQ.

A 214(b) refusal doesn’t refund the $350 — it’s spent either way. The one carry-forward: reapply for the same program, school and SEVIS ID within 12 months, and fmjfee.com doesn’t charge you again. Confirm this with your DSO before assuming it covers your case.

Change schools or let your I-20 lapse, and you get a new SEVIS ID — a new $350. The real cost-of-error: not the interview outcome, but whether your next I-20 shares the ID your first payment already paid for.

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