Step-by-Step Relocation Guide

You have an IBAN. Now the money has to actually get there.

Opening the account with Expatrio or Fintiba (see the Blocked Account Comparison tool) only gets you a German IBAN and a target amount. The account is not "done" — and the visa file is not complete — until that full amount has actually landed inside it. There are two real ways to send it from Pakistan.

Route A: the provider's own transfer partner

Both major providers now sell a transfer service alongside the account itself, aimed specifically at avoiding a Pakistani bank's SWIFT process. You pay in PKR through a local payment partner; the provider converts and forwards the EUR itself.

• Fintiba Transfer — routes through Flywire or TransferMate depending on eligibility. You pick a payment method (bank transfer, card, or e-wallet, availability depends on the partner), the PKR amount is calculated at a rate held for 48 hours, and Fintiba issues the blocking confirmation once the money is credited — sometimes within minutes for a card payment, typically a few business days for a bank transfer.
• Expatrio Payments — offers an "International Bank Transfer" option (for services like Wise or a normal SWIFT wire) or, where available, a "Domestic Bank Transfer" that lets you pay a local account in PKR instead of wiring EUR abroad yourself. Expatrio quotes roughly 1–5 business days for the international route.

Route B: a direct international wire (SWIFT) from a Pakistani bank

If you would rather send the money yourself, any Pakistani bank with a foreign exchange desk can wire EUR directly to the blocked account's German IBAN. This is the older, slower route and the one most likely to go wrong on a first attempt.

1. Get your transfer details first. Both providers put a "Transfer Information Document" (or equivalent) in your account once it is opened — it carries your blocked account's IBAN, your name exactly as it must appear on the transfer, and the exact amount to send. Send that amount, not a rounded-up or rounded-down figure — it is what the provider's system matches your payment against.
2. Take it to your bank's forex desk, not a regular teller. Remitting money abroad for education is a permitted purpose under the State Bank of Pakistan's foreign exchange rules, processed through the bank's own Authorized Dealer function — but the exact paperwork it asks for varies by bank. Expect to bring, at minimum, your passport, your university admission letter, and the blocked account confirmation/IBAN; ask the desk directly which form they need signed rather than assuming, since this is not standardised across every bank the way the visa file itself is.
3. Pay the transfer fees "OUR", not "SHA" or "BEN". This tells your bank the sender (you) absorbs every fee along the chain, including the correspondent banks the payment passes through on its way to Germany. Picking anything else lets those banks deduct their cut from the amount in transit — and a shortfall here means the blocked account is short too, which is exactly what an embassy checks for.
4. Budget a buffer above the required amount for the Pakistani bank's own SWIFT fee plus whatever correspondent banks still take despite "OUR" — commonly cited as somewhere in the PKR 1,000–2,500 range for the local leg, plus a smaller correspondent-bank deduction in USD/EUR. Providers generally refund or credit an overpayment; they cannot top up a shortfall for you.
5. Expect roughly a week, not a day. A SWIFT wire typically takes several business days to clear and post, longer around a Pakistani or German public holiday. Send it with enough runway before your visa appointment that a delay does not become the reason you miss it.

What about Coracle?

Coracle is the provider most Pakistani applicants and consultants have historically recommended, and it runs its own transfer guidance — mainly pointing at your bank's remittance desk or a digital service like Wise or TransferGo, with a standard SWIFT transfer usually landing in 3–5 working days. If you already hold a Coracle blocked account opened before its pause below, follow Coracle's own instructions the same way Route B above describes.

Which route to actually use

Neither provider publishes one single "correct" answer — the right choice depends on which payment partners actually serve Pakistan at the time you transfer, so confirm what is currently offered inside your own account before deciding.

• Prefer Route A if your provider's transfer partner is available to you — it is simpler, avoids the Pakistani bank's SWIFT desk entirely, and is usually faster.
• Fall back to Route B if it is not, or if you would rather keep the whole transfer inside your own bank relationship — just budget the extra fee and the extra time it needs.