Paying Turkish university tuition from Iran: methods and documents

Paying Turkish university tuition from Iran is, for many families, the first money transfer they ever make abroad, and it usually comes with a deadline set by the university. The money has to reach the university's official account, match the invoice or payment letter, and be linked to the student's file; otherwise enrolment or the next semester stays on hold.

This article puts the common ways of paying tuition from Iran side by side, lists the documents the university issues and the ones you have to prepare, explains what a tuition transfer request needs, and ends with the mistakes that delay a few students' payments every year. If the terms application fee and admission fee are new to you, read Admission fee, application fee and tuition fee at Turkish universities first.

Why a tuition payment differs from an ordinary transfer

When you send money to a friend or a landlord and the description is incomplete, one message fixes it. For tuition, the receiver is an institution that takes hundreds of deposits a day, and its finance office links a payment to a student's file only through what appears in the description field: the student's full name, the student or file number and sometimes the invoice number.

Three things must match the university's document exactly: the legal name of the receiver (the university's registered name, not the name of a contact person), the currency and the amount. A deposit that does not match the invoice means, at best, a few emails and, at worst, a returned payment and the whole process again.

The common ways to pay from Iran

Carrying cash and depositing it in Turkey

Some families carry foreign currency and deposit it into the university's account in Turkey. This route has two obstacles: banknotes can be lost or stolen, and cash carried by travellers is subject to legal caps, which are set out with sources and dates in the cash limit from Iran to Turkey. On top of that, a cash deposit into a university account at a bank branch usually requires ID and a complete description, and it is not always straightforward without a Turkish bank account.

A transfer to the university's account through an exchange office

The most common route for someone who is in Iran: you pay the toman or USDT equivalent of the tuition, the amount is deposited in the currency the university stated into the university's IBAN, with the student's name and number in the description, and the bank receipt is sent to you. The service is described on tuition payments to Turkish universities; if the tuition is invoiced in lira, the mechanism is the same as a lira transfer to Turkey, only the destination is an institution. At EL DÖVİZ the rate and fee are confirmed after the request is reviewed and before anything is executed; no deposit is made until you approve.

Paying from the student's own account in Turkey

A student who is in Turkey and holds an account in their own name can pay the tuition from that account to the university's. The family first gets the money to the student's account, and the student makes the deposit; the advantage is that the student writes the description and the receipt stays in their online banking. How an account is opened and what it requires is covered in the guide to opening a bank account in Turkey.

Card payment in the university's system

Some universities accept bank-card payments in their online systems for the application fee or part of the tuition; Hacettepe University, for example, announced that its 2025–2026 application service fee is paid by card through the application system (decision of 29 May 2025). Cards issued by Iranian banks do not work in these systems, so in practice this option needs a card from an account outside Iran.

Documents the university issues and the ones you prepare

• Acceptance or admission letter: shows the student's identity, the programme and usually the amount and currency of the tuition or the deposit.
• Tuition invoice or payment letter: a document from the finance office or the international office with the amount due, the currency, a reference number and the account details. If the university does not issue a separate invoice, the acceptance letter or the letter with the bank details becomes the basis.
• The university's account details: the legal name of the account holder, the IBAN, the bank's name and the SWIFT/BIC code if given. Take these only from the university's official document, the student portal or an email from the international office, never from intermediaries or Telegram groups.
• The student's details: first and last name spelled as in the passport and the acceptance letter, student or file number, programme and faculty.
• The invoice currency: lira, dollars or euros. The deposit must go to the account of that same currency.
• The instalment plan, if there is one: the amount and order of each instalment, so that each payment is quoted for that instalment rather than the whole year.

Preparing the request

With the documents above in hand, a request can be reviewed without going back and forth. Send these details or enter them in the quote form:

1. The exact amount due and its currency, as written on the invoice.
2. That the destination is a university, and its name.
3. How you will pay: toman in Iran or USDT.
4. After the rate and fee are confirmed and you approve: the university's document and the student's details, to be written in the deposit description.

The quoted rate is for that amount on that day, and its validity period is stated in the same message. A quote creates no obligation; you can consult the university or your family and confirm afterwards.

The receipt and the university's confirmation

After the deposit you receive the bank receipt (dekont), which shows the receiver's name, the IBAN, the amount, the currency and the description. Upload the same document to the student portal or send it to the finance office, and ask the university to confirm receipt. Keep copies of the receipt and all correspondence; you may need them for a student residence permit renewal, a scholarship application or any later dispute.

If the university does not see the payment in the file after a few business days, the problem is usually in matching the description, not in the deposit itself. Send the receipt to the finance office so they can link the payment to the file manually.

Common mistakes

• Depositing into the wrong currency account: the university's dollar and lira accounts have different IBANs. Match the invoice currency to the IBAN.
• Name mismatch: the student's name in the description must match the passport and the university file, including the order of first and last name.
• Paying a person instead of the institution: if someone suggests a personal account for tuition, get written confirmation from the university. The tuition account is always in the university's legal name.
• Leaving it to the last days before the deadline: reviewing the request, confirming the rate, your payment and the deposit each take their own time, and bank holidays in Iran and Turkey do not coincide. Plan around the university's deadline from the start.
• Asking for a quote on the whole tuition when only one instalment is due: state the amount of that instalment so the rate is exact.
• Not verifying account details through a second channel: take the university's IBAN only from its official document; if an email says "our account has changed", call the international office to confirm before paying.

To begin, enter the amount and currency from the university's invoice in the quote form and note that the destination is a university. EL DÖVİZ reviews the request, confirms the rate and fee before execution, and after your approval the deposit is made and the bank receipt is sent to you.