Italy has lately emerged as the country that is the most sought after destination for international students. This was not the case till even a few years ago, but since the time the government started investing in a major way in education, and the education system was revamped, students have started looking at the European country with renewed interest. For students from the European Union countries, there are no separate italy visa requirements to study in Italy. However, for international students, there are two kinds of Italy visa available- the short stay visa and the long stay visa. Let us go into the details of each.
The short stay visa, or the Type C visa
This visa is for one or more entries not exceeding a total of a maximum of ninety days.
Schengen visa italy
This visa is for students who are not citizens of any European country, and still wish to go to one and study. If the student needs to stay longer then a period of ninety days, as it often happens, students need to apply for a residency permit that allows the student to reside in that country for a whole year. The best thing about this visa and the extended stay through the residency permit is that with a Schengen Visa students are allowed to travel in and out of the country, within the entire Schengen area.
The long stay visa, or the Type D visa
Students can apply for this visa if they have applied for a degree course that has at least twenty hours of courses every week, totally eighty hours of courses a month.
Documents required for Visa
The following the documents required to apply for a Italy study visa.
- Entry visa application form
- Recent passport size photograph
- Valid travel document (the expiry date should be three months longer than that of the visa requested)
- Proof that a student has arranged accommodation in Italy (for the whole period of studies)
- Proof that a student has sufficient financial means to support his or her studies (900 Euros a month)
- Paid health insurance of 150 Euros for the first year of studies
- Copy of the previous educational certificates
- Acceptance letter from an Italian university
- Receipt of the visa application fees
To apply for a Italy student visa, one must remember a few key things. One must have a valid passport with at least two blank visa pages. One must be able to provide a copy of one’s flight itinerary. One must not have a criminal record, and one must not have been refused entry into Italy previously. One should apply for an education visa on the prescribe visa form at the Italian embassy or consulate in one’s country. One should also schedule a visa interview at least four weeks in advance. It is important to keep in mind that the italian visa processing time is between one and three weeks. In Indian currency, the Italy visa cost is around five thousand rupees. It is possible to get a visa without IELTS, if a student wants to pursue higher education in Italy. There are no specific language requirements to study in any Universities in Italy. Since this is not a mandatory requirement, the italian consulate do not ask candidates for any kind of proof of language proficiency. However, it helps if a student who wants to study in Italy can speak Italian at least on a basic conversational level. Also, getting a dependent visa is not troublesome if the required documents are in order. Hence, for Indian students who want to pursue higher studies abroad, Italy is certainly one of the best options right now.
