Study and traineeships
A citizen of a third country who studies in Italy for more than ninety days enters with a national visa for study, issued by the consulate of the country of residence on the proof of the admission, of the means, of the accommodation and of the insurance, and obtains in Italy a permit for study which lasts the academic year, allows a limited amount of work and may be converted, at the end of the studies, into a permit for work. British students lost the free movement in 2021 and follow this route since.
University
The student applies first to the university through the Universitaly portal of the Ministry, in the pre-enrolment procedure which the universities validate, and then for the visa at the consulate, with the letter of admission, the proof of the means, which for the academic year 2026 to 2027 the consulates fix at ten thousand one hundred and seventy-nine euro, in a personal account with an irrevocable order of transfer and not in cash or by a guarantee of a third person, the proof of an accommodation, since an application for a place in a hall is not enough, the insurance, the proof of the knowledge of Italian at level B2 or of the language of the course, and the fee of fifty euro. The deadline for the courses of the first and the second cycle falls at the end of November, and the courses of other kinds are open through the year.
Courses, schools and traineeships
The visa for study covers also the courses of more than ninety days at a school, an academy or a language institute, with the enrolment and the same proof of means, the training courses, and the traineeships under article 27 of the consolidated act, for which the host body in Italy signs an agreement with the trainee and the region approves it. The exchanges of the universities follow the same visa, and a British student who comes to Italy under the Turing scheme or a bilateral agreement enrols at the Italian university for the period of the exchange.
The permit and the work
Within eight working days of the entry the student requests the permit for study through the postal kit, which lasts the academic year and is renewed on the proof of the examinations passed and of the means. The permit allows employment for at most twenty hours a week and one thousand and forty hours a year, without concentrating the weekly hours. At the end of the studies the holder of an Italian degree, a master, a doctorate or a higher technical diploma may request a permit to seek work of between nine and twelve months, with the proof of the means, and convert it into a permit for employment or self-employment when an offer comes, or convert the permit for study directly within the quotas, outside them for the graduates the law favours. The years of the permit for study count for half towards the long-term permit.
A student from Reading admitted to a master in Bologna applies in London in July with the admission letter, an account holding the sum the consulate requires, the lease of a room, the insurance and the certificate of Italian. She receives the visa in August, requests the permit in September, works twenty hours a week in a bookshop during the course, and at the graduation requests the permit of twelve months to seek work, which she converts into a permit for employment when a publishing house hires her.
If you are coming to Italy to study, send us the admission letter, the proof of the means and the documents of the accommodation. We tell you whether the file meets the requirements of the consulate, and we prepare the translations and the declarations of value of the qualifications you hold.