Studying in Italy: from entry visa to renewal
of residence permit study in Italy
Welcome Association Italy (W.A.I.) aims to assist non-EU and EU citizens in Italy. Assistance, a central theme of our trade union, takes many forms, all aimed at making it easier for foreigners to stay in our country. Among the main categories of foreigners who choose the assistance of Welcome Association Italy stand out students, boys and girls from all over the world to study in Italy and appreciate its dolce vita. With this premise came out the idea of creating an all-inclusive guide that brings together all the indispensable steps for studying in Italy: from the visa in the country of origin to the renewal of the residence permit for study reason.
1
The Italian academic system offers a very wide range of bachelor’s and master’s degree programs recognized at the European and world level. Among the excellences stand out the Politecnico di Milano, Alma Mater Studiorum of Bologna, La Sapienza of Rome etc. Your first step is to choose the course of study/master’s degree that interests you. In addition to documenting yourself online, you can consider the QS World University Rankings, which collects and compares the best Universities and Faculties, or you can visit the Universitaly portal, which contains the Italian academic offerings, but we will talk about that later.
2
Once you have established the course of study you intend to take, it becomes necessary to figure out where to do it. Economics faculty, for example, are present in almost all Italian universities. It is up to you which city you decide to take your path in. Beware, the choice of the city in which you will study is important and can have consequences. You have to consider that in Italy there are big differences from city to city and among regions. The cost of rent, the presence of infrastructure, the cost of living, and college fees can change considerably. To understand, the price of an average room in Milan is around €600.00, in Rome €450.00 while in Naples it touches €300.00. Choose carefully.
3
At this point you have chosen the course of study (1) and the city in which you intend to tackle it (2). The idea of coming to study in Italy began to emerge. All you have to do is to make it concrete by pre-registering on Universitaly. This is an institutional portal of the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) in which you can find info on tuition fees and how to enroll in degree programs in Italy. If you are interested in limited number faculties, you can also register for entrance tests, see when and where to take them.
4
Pre-enrollment further solidifies the idea of studying in Italy. But something is still missing. It becomes necessary for non-EU students to visit the website of the Italian embassy in their home country and figure out what documents are required to apply for a student visa to study in Italy. Alternatively, you can visit the Visa for Italy portal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. On these portals you will find the documentation you need to collect and submit in order to study in Italy: housing, health coverage, means of subsistence and course registration, and more. Keep in mind that if your study entry visa documentation is not complete you may face denial by the Italian authorities.
5
Documentation required for a study entry visa also includes proof of accommodation in Italy. Right now you are still in your home country, so the only alternative available to you is to look for solutions online. You may want to search on social media, sectorial platforms or ask for help at your university’s welcome desk to solve the problem, but consider that in big Italian cities it is not easy to find a room or apartment. Keep your eyes open, there are many people speculating on international student rentals, so watch out for scams!
6
You have found a house/room, obtained a study entry visa from the Italian Embassy/Consulate in your home country, have pre-registration for a degree program, and most likely have taken an Italian language course. All you have to do is complete the registration on the university portal and wait for the day of departure.
7
The day has come, you have arrived in this beautiful country. Depending on the city of arrival you may feel a little disoriented, but don’t worry, you will only need to blurt out a few words in Italian to familiarize yourself with the taxi driver/waiter. Now it is the time to check the home you have chosen and the people with whom you will share it. Don’t rest on your laurels; you still have more to do.
8
You have a few days to get your bearings, but not too many. Remember that you have exactly 8 days from your arrival in Italy to apply for a study permit. After becoming aware of where you are, you need to go to the Italian Post Office and apply for the yellow postal kit, reserved for non-EU students. The kit contains a form, to be filled out in black pen block letters, and must be submitted along with:
Doing the math, the whole thing will cost you €100.46, not counting the €16.00 of the previous stamp:
Collect the required documents and, without closing the kit, forward it. Once submitted you will get the payment receipt containing the summons for the appointment at the police station. Consider that, depending on the Police Headquarters, appointment timelines can be very long, even longer than six months. Therefore, the payment receipt is a legally valid and recognized document. Keep it carefully, because it is very important.
9
You have just arrived in Italy, you have submitted the postal kit within the canonical eight days, and you have the receipt of payment for the postal kit, you think you have finished the paperwork. You didn’t. You need to go to the Agenzia delle Entrate and apply for a tax ID number. This document is needed for registration and control of your tax information. It sounds like something that won’t do you any good, but it is essential. This alphanumeric code will allow you to meet different needs, for example:
Also, don’t forget that you have an appointment at the Police Headquarters near your home to finish the application process for the residence permit. The appointment has a dual purpose:
The document you most likely will not have entered is health coverage. In Italy, non-EU students applying for study residence permits can choose between voluntary membership in the National Health System (NHS) and private health coverage. NHS membership guarantees a general practitioner and has a calendar term, meaning that regardless of when you make the membership, it will expire on 12/31 of that year. For you who have decided to study in Italy, where the academic year starts in September, this could pose a problem. In addition, as of January 2024, the cost of NHS membership increased by 470%, from €149.77 to €700.00. Consider carefully what health coverage is best for you to sign up for your study permit. If you want to learn more about this, click here.
After the appointment, you will be delivered the physical residence permit, and you can then avoid using the postal kit payment receipt as your identification. You are free to live your experience and study in Italy, for the moment.
10
You have settled in; it has been quite a while since you arrived in Italy. You have taken exams, made friends, and probably visited a few Italian cities, experiencing different culinary traditions. You will have realized that there is so much to see and to eat in Italy, so you will need a few extra euros. Don’t worry, with a study permit you can work, always within the limits of the regulations. You can sign a 20-hour per week contract, a part-time job that might allow you to take more trips, go to dinner a little more often, or simply live more comfortably. Your study permit, however, is about to expire. 60 days before the document expires, you have to start the procedure for renewal of your study permit, but after all you have done to study in Italy it will seem like a piece of cake.
You simply need to go to the Post Office’s Sportello Amico and request the yellow postal kit. Collect the documents, forward the kit and wait for the appointment at the Questura, monitoring the status of the file from the Immigration Portal of the Ministry Of Interior. There is also another option. If you have finished your studies, and you want to stay in Italy to look for work, you can apply for conversion of your study residence permit to a residence permit for pending employment. Be careful, you will only be able to apply for this residence permit once, for a maximum duration of 12 months, so make a commitment to look for work if you want to stay in Italy.
For Welcome Association Italy, your voice matters! The idea of this guide is to collect all the information that might be useful to international students who choose to study in Italy. Write to us to implement the guide and help improve the stay of thousands of international students in Italy.
Welcome Association Italy for international students
This concise and comprehensive guide will help you keep track of the mandatory steps you must take to study in Italy. Although we have simplified it into 10 steps, it is necessary to take into account several elements that could get in the way of an international student’s stay in Italy: language barrier, slow bureaucracy, difficulty in finding information, legislative changes, and more. From these needs, arise the services of our trade union, which for decades has been working to simplify and improve the stay of foreigners who decide to study in Italy, after all
W.A.I. is always there, even before your arrival.
W.A.I. provides you with all the assistance you need to improve yours
stay in Italy!
