Do you need a study visa for Italy?

Are you thinking about studying Italian in Italy and you do not know how to get a study visa to enter Italy? In this article we will explain how to do it.
The study visa application procedure depends on your country of origin.

1. Citizens of many countries all around the world can attend an Italian language course only by entering Italy with a study visa (see here http://vistoperitalia.esteri.it/home/en#BMQuestionario);
2. Citizens of some other countries (see here http://vistoperitalia.esteri.it/home/en#BMQuestionario) have three choices:
   A) entering in Italy with a tourist visa (ie a simple stamp on entry into the country made by the border authorities) and attending an Italian language course for up to 90 days without a study visa.
   B) applying for a study visa (type D), even if they attend a course lasting less than 90 days, so to be able to extend the course (and therefore the stay) in Italy with a procedure to be done at the Police Headquarters while in Italy.
   C) applying for a study visa for Italian language courses lasting more than 90 days.

In the second option, students (ie students from countries that are allowed to enter Italy for up to 90 days with a simple tourist visa) can easily have a study visa for more than 90 days but some conditions are necessary.

Information for foreign citizens who want to apply for a study visa for Italy

First of all it is necessary to contact a school or an institution that:

1. have an official authorization from the Ministry of Education to teach Italian language to foreigners;
2. is a School built, named and registered to act and do business in activities related to Italian language teaching. This needs to be proved by adequate documentation;
3. is skilled in dealing with the procedures needed to apply for a study visa.

On the other hand students need:

1. to be able to prove to be in a financial situation so to support themselves all throughout the time they will be in Italy for the whole length of the study visa;
2. to provide documentation of any income (i.e. if the are working) or properties, if they have it;
3. to have adequate health insurance;
4. to have an air ticket or a reservation both for coming to Italy and back;
5. to have a motivational letter explaining why they want to study Italian;
6. to possibly be able to prove a previous knowledge of the Italian language;
7. to provide the Consulate with the correct documentation sent by the School where the student wants to attend the Italian language course in.

It is therefore very important to contact an authorized school that is used in dealing with visa procedures.
Very often the refusal by the Italian Authority to issue a study visa is due to an incomplete or incorrect documentation.
Citizens coming to Italy from countries at high risk of immigration will surely find more difficult obtaining a study visa compared to citizens allowed to enter Italy with a tourist visa.

A very important point to take into account is that the study visa is supposed to be used to enter Italy for studying. Therefore the minimum numbers of hours required is 20 per week and the duration of stay in Italy can only be the same as the course length (plus traveling days on arrival and departure).

One of the advantages of the study visa is that students are allowed to work legally up to 20 hours per week.

For more information please contact us at info@ilm.it