Italy Student Visa For Indian Students

 

Italy is undoubtedly the flag bearer of education in the world. Ancient Rome was the cradle of human civilization. Indians have had old ties with Italians, and student exchange programs used to be there even in the BCE. There are thousands of students studying in Italy, and it also hosts the most prominent Indian diaspora in continental Europe. Italy has some of the world’s oldest universities in the world. Today these educational institutions happen to be one of the best universities in the world.

Italy is one of the few countries globally with educational institutions that have been doing research work in various disciplines for the last thousand years. Italian universities offer courses in Engineering, MBA, Science, Liberal Arts, Humanities, etc. Around 1500 Indian students are studying in Italy, and governments from both countries plan to increase the number of Indian students in Italy. Discussions are underway to increase the number of visas that Italy accepts for Indian students. It will help encourage research and student collaborations between the two nations. 

Types Of Student Visas For Italy 

There are two types of Italian student visas for Indian students, and an applicant must know about them before choosing the course and educational institution.

Italy Schengen Student Visa: This visa is issued for students planning to take short-term courses that are of duration less than 90 days. The visa is issued under the ‘C’ short-term category and is primarily restricted to students going for vocational courses. 

Italy National Student Visa: This visa is issued for students planning to take long-term courses, i.e. one extending beyond 90 days or those who don’t fall in the earlier mentioned category. The visa is issued under the ‘D’ long-term category. However, like the first category, even this category allows students access to the Schengen area. The number of entries viz. single entry, double-entry, or multiple-entry are decided by the Italian authorities. 

Eligibility for Italian Student Visa

Following are the criteria for an Indian student to get an Italian student visa:

• The applicant must be an Indian citizen residing in India. For Non-Resident Indians, rules are different. 
• The applicant for an Italian student visa must produce the official letter of acceptance from a recognised Italian university or an educational institution.
• The visa applicant must have a valid passport for 90 days or three months from the date of travel to Italy. It must have at least two blank visa pages. 
• Another crucial factor is that the applicant mustn’t have any criminal case pending at the time of application for the visa.
• The student applying for a visa must produce evidence that substantiates the ability to cover the cost of education and living expenses in the duration of stay in Italy. The cost is at least 448 euros per month for the academic year, a total of 5824 euros per year for Indian students. 

Documents needed for student visa in Italy

There is a comprehensive set of documents that a student must have in order to get a student visa for Italy. Any discrepancy or false information might lead to the rejection of the visa application. Following are the list of documents a student should have:

• A valid passport with two blank pages must be valid for six months ahead of the span of stay. 
• Two passport photographs must be clear, and they shouldn’t be blurred or overly flashy. 
• Travel medical insurance that gives a coverage of 30,000 euros. 
• Return flight tickets for short term stay visas and one-time flight tickets for those with more prolonged stay fall under the category ‘D’.
• Letter of acceptance from the university clearly explaining the course and duration of stay. 
• An original admission letter should also be given, but that is needed only for the long-duration courses, not for the Schengen visa falling under category ‘C’.
• The visa applicant should provide a detailed itinerary. 
• All pages of the documentation submitted should be self-attested by the applicant.

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Italian Student Visa Application Procedure For Indian Students 

The process of filling the offline visa application process is simple, but one must fill all the information with utmost care since all of it will be verified at later stages. The chances of visa application rejection are pretty high when students commit personal and academic information errors. Once the form is filled, offline students have to go to any one of the Visa Application Centres run by the Italian government at the Italian embassy and consulates.

The visa application centres or the VACs and the states they cover

VACs	Places under coverage
The Embassy of Italy, New Delhi	Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Uttarakhand.
The Consulate General of Italy, Mumbai	Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry.
The Consulate General of Italy, Kolkata	Assam, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Orissa, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, West Bengal.

 

Here is a step by step process for Italian student visa application:

• Visit the official website of the Visa Application Centre and download the form that has to be filled offline. 
• Students must bear in mind that they are well aware of the course duration and thus accordingly fill the Schengen visa for short duration courses (courses with the duration of 90 days or less) and national visa application for long-duration courses (any course with a duration of more than 90 days). 
• After filling in the form, the next step is to book the online appointment at the nearest VAC. The nearest VAC is the one that is closest to the place of residence of the applicant for the last six months. The appointment at the VAC can also be made by calling on the official phone number of the respective VAC.
• Once the appointment is set, a student should visit on the date and at the allotted time slot. Students have to bring a duly filled application form, all the original documents, and the fees payable at the VAC. 
• Students have to give the biometrics too. However, there is an exception for those who have already given their biometrics at least once in the past five years.

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Right Time To Apply For Visa

Visa issuance takes time, and ideally, the duration is around 15 working days. But the number of official days shouldn’t be confused with the actual date of application. The visa application process must be initiated right after receiving the acceptance letter. A long list of documents has to be arranged for the verification process, right from academic to loan documents and other papers related to accommodation. So, the whole process takes way more time than 15 days. 

The processing of applications is one part of visa issuance, and arranging documents for at least two months should be reserved. If seen in entirety, the process takes around 2-3 months from loan approval to grant of visa. So, it’s advised not to waste time since there are instances when applications are rejected for minor errors, and an applicant might have to reapply for the visa. This may extend the entire process by more than a month, which will have consequences on the course. For short term courses, it will severely affect the studies as the duration is of less than 90 days. 

Fee for Italian Student Visa for Indian Students

The fee amount should be checked directly on the Visa Application Centre website since the exact cost varies with fluctuations in the currency exchange value. The fee is taken in euros, and it is different for different types of visas. The charges also vary depending on the type of visa sought. The cost is less for a Schengen visa for a course duration of fewer than 90 days than the cost of Indian students. 

 

Visa Type	Cost in Euro	Duration
Schengen Multiple Entry (Category ‘C’)	70	3 months
Italian’˜D’ Category National Visa	Fee- 50 Service Fee- 13 Residence Permit- 30 Total= 93	More than 3 months

 

Getting the Visa

Once the application is processed, all the fees are paid, and the authorities have cross-checked all the documents, the applicant will get the visa. In the meanwhile, an applicant can track the visa by visiting the official VAC website or through the agent through whom the visa is applied. One can get the visa either by visiting the Visa Application Centre or choose the option of getting the visa delivered at their location via mail.

Things To Do In Case Of Visa Application Rejection

There are several instances wherein the visa application is rejected. The most important thing is to ascertain the reason for the rejection of the visa application. In case of refusal, the embassy sends a letter stating the reason for rejection. If the reason stated is a minor one, such as lack of sufficient funds or some minor errors in the form, it can be corrected and reapplied again. 

However, if the reason stated is a serious issue, e.g. criminal conviction, forged documents, or any other reason that the embassy may deem serious can make the applicant ineligible even for future instances. It’s always better to check all the documents as reapplying takes a lot of time, and it can have direct consequences on the studies. 

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Residence Permit For Indian Students

Indians and all Non-EU citizens are required to apply for a residence permit once they reach Italy. The duration for applying is eight days after the arrival, and it must be done without fail. The application for a residence permit has to be done at the local post office, the place of residence in Italy. There is a list of documents one must keep with themselves for applying for the residence permit:

• Copy of the passport, visa and personal data page. 
• Copy of the health insurance that an applicant has to take before reaching Italy. However, for Indian students, there is a provision for taking health insurance after reaching Italy. 
• Copy of the university letter of acceptance.
• Forms have to be filled depending on the type of choice at a recognised Italian university. Bachelor of science and master of science courses have different forms to be filled.
• Once the concerned authorities verify the details, the post office issues the residence permit. 

Read Also:

•  Italy Universities Application Deadlines
•  Education Loans for Study in Italy
• 5 Best Countries to Study in Europe
• How to Choose the Right Country for Overseas Education?
• International Student Loan Without Cosigner: A Detailed Study

Italy is one of the best places in the European continent with a world-class education. In recent years an increased number of Indian students have chosen Italy as their destination for higher education.