Study in Italy

We advise you to check the enrollment requirements and procedures directly on the website of the Italian university you intend to enroll in.

To check if you need a student visa, visit the following page: Visa for Italy. As a general rule, if you need a tourist visa to enter the Schengen area, you definitely need a visa to study in Italy. If you are a national of a country exempted from issuing a Schengen visa for stays up to 90 days, you will need a visa only if your stay for study purposes lasts over 90 days.

In addition to the generic student visa, there are 6 other types of student visas: for enrolling in an Italian university; for attending a single university course; for post-graduate studies; for participating in an exchange and mobility program; for traineeship and apprenticeship; for vocational training. To check the requirements for each of these types of visa, see the database Visa for Italy .

If you are a non-EU citizen residing abroad who wants to enroll in an Italian university and needs a study visa, you must pre-enroll on the Universitaly portal.

If you are an EU citizen or a non-EU citizen already legally residing in Italy and do not need a visa, you do not need to pre-enroll on the Universitaly portal.

If you do need a visa, you must pre-enroll on the Universitaly portal. For the academic years 2026-2027 and 2027-2028, the higher education courses for which pre-enrollment through the Universitaly portal is mandatory are the following:

• Bachelor’s degree courses and Master’s degree courses (two-year or single-cycle);
• courses of the institutions for Higher Education in Art, Music and Dance (AFAM);
• courses provided by the Higher Schools for Language Mediation (SSML);
• Marco Polo and Turandot international mobility programmes;
• courses of specialization schools;
• Ph.D. courses;
• postgraduate and advanced training courses;
• first and second level university Master’s courses;
• single courses;
• courses in Italian language and culture at the University of Roma Tre, the University for Foreigners “Dante Alighieri” of Reggio Calabria, the University for Foreigners of Perugia, the University for Foreigners of Siena;
• preparatory courses (Foundation Course);

courses provided by the Institutes of Specialization in Psychotherapy.

To obtain a student visa to attend an Italian language course, the course must be of a higher level, full-time, and of a fixed duration.

A useful tool for showcasing language skills is certification of language proficiency, in line with the “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages”. For further information on the certifications of Italian as a foreign language, you can consult the webpage Certification.

With reference to the academic years 2026-2027 and 2027-2028, if you apply for a visa to enroll in an Italian university, you must demonstrate you have a minimum amount of financial resources equal to € 10.179,85 a year. If your studies are staggered over more years, you only need to prove you have these financial resources for the first year. For all the other types of student visa, with a view to knowing the amount of financial resources required, you must refer to Table A of the Directive issued by the Ministry for Internal Affairs on March 1, 2000, providing for a fixed amount and a daily amount. Hence the total amount varies depending on the length of stay for study purposes.

No, you cannot. In the case of stays for study purposes, the bank guarantee or the insurance policy do not fall within the list of documents deemed suitable for demonstrating you have adequate financial resources. You need to have personal or family guarantees or financial guarantees provided by Italian institutions and organizations (including universities), by local governments or by foreign institutions and organizations deemed reliable by the Italian diplomatic mission.

Regularly admitted students applying for a study-university enrollment visa must demonstrate that their family has sufficient financial means to support their studies in Italy. If somebody outside the family (associations, friends, or relatives residing in Italy) guarantees their maintenance with a declaration of hospitality and a written commitment (while demonstrating the necessary resources), this constitutes a positive, but not decisive, factor for obtaining the visa. The final decision rests with the local visa offices.

It will not be necessary. The visa is the authorization to enter Italy for the first time with the motivation shown on the visa label (student visa for enrolling in a university, in this specific case). Within 8 days since entry into Italy, you must apply for a residence permit (permesso di soggiorno) at the immigration office of the questura competent for the municipality of residence. The residence permit is the document that makes your presence in Italy legal. It must be renewed before it expires.

Foreign qualifications are not automatically recognized in Italy. For information on recognition methods, please consult the CIMEA website. If you intend to pursue a course of study or a career in Italy and the recognition process involves foreign authorities and Italian consular offices abroad, we recommend starting the process before moving to Italy.

The qualification must be legalized by the competent authorities of the country where it was issued and must be accompanied by an official translation. For general information on legalizations and official translations, we recommend reading the Translation and legalisation of documents page on this website.

The declaration of value of a foreign academic or professional qualification is an informative document, produced by Italian consular authorities abroad, which educational institutions and authorities responsible for qualification recognition in Italy can use to evaluate qualifications. You can check the application procedure on the website of the Italian embassy or consulate competent for the place where the qualification was obtained.

To request the declaration of value for your qualification, you can contact Office III of the Directorate General for Services to Citizens Abroad and Immigration Policies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, which offers assistance to refugees for requesting the declarations of value (Declaration of Value for Beneficiaries of International Protection in Italy).

Yes. Your long-term residence permit entitles you to travel to other Schengen countries for up to 90 days within every 180 day-period. Please note that not all European countries are part of the Schengen area. Before purchasing your travel ticket, please consult the list of Schengen countries.

If you are a citizen of a country for which no visa is needed for short stays (up to 90 days), you can remain in Italy and in the Schengen area, even after your stay permit has expired, up to a maximum of additional 90 days. The responsibility to grant the authorization for the extension of stay as tourists and no longer as residents falls within the competence of the local immigration office, which must be contacted for further information about the requirements to be met and the documents to be submitted. If you are a citizen of a country for which a visa is required even for short stays, you cannot remain in the country after your stay permit has expired.

Yes. A residence permit for study purposes allows you to carry out a part-time job for a maximum of 20 hours per week, even for the entire year, but for no more than 1,040 hours annually.

Yes, you can if your study permit is still valid. You must sign a contract of stay for work purposes with your future employer at the Sportello Unico Immigrazione (SUI). All these matters fall within the competence of the immigration offices of the Italian questure. More detailed information can be found on the websites of the prefetture.

You should check with the foreign educational institution where you will continue your studies. You may be asked to legalize your Italian qualification and translate it into the language of the country in which you wish to have it recognized (or into a common language). In Italy, the legalization of administrative documents (such as academic qualifications) is the responsibility of the legalization offices of the prefetture. Lists of sworn translators are available from Italian courts. CIMEA has a section on its website dedicated to the recognition of Italian qualifications abroad.