Access to higher education courses in Italy is governed by regulations as per the validity of academic qualifications:
Foreign qualifications that allow access to the Italian university system must necessarily have all the following characteristics:
- They are obtained after a total period of at least 12 years of schooling;
- They meet all the requirements for entry to a course similar to the chosen Italian one at universities in the country of the education system they relate to;
- They are issued by official schools recognised in the country of the foreign education system;
In some cases there are specific requirements in addition to those listed above.
PRIOR CHECK OF FOREIGN QUALIFICATIONS
When registering for the admission test, candidates who will obtain or have already obtained a foreign qualification will be asked to enter information and attach documents in their possession related to their educational background so that a prior check can be carried out.
Since the preliminary check often precedes the award of the final qualification and successful completion of possible additional examinations or tests and is carried out on the basis of provisional documents, it does not guarantee eligibility for admission to the chosen course, which remains conditional on obtaining a qualification from the previous cycle.
REQUIRED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION FOR FOREIGN QUALIFICATIONS
Every university is entitled to request, with full autonomy, any documentation deemed useful for assessing the suitability of a foreign qualification for access to the chosen course.
The documentation produced by Italian Diplomatic Authorities only plays an informative role in supporting the assessment, which remains the exclusive responsibility of the individual University, and therefore does not guarantee that the qualification is valid for admission to a university course in Italy.
The original final qualification (or certified copy) must necessarily be accompanied by:
- Legal translation into Italian
- Legalization or Apostille
- Declaration of Value or Statement of Comparability or Diploma Supplement
For information on legal translations, it is possible to contact the Italian Diplomatic Authorities in India or a sworn translator directly.
Legalization certifies a document’s authenticity.
In order to have a qualification legalized, it is necessary to contact the Italian Diplomatic Representatives in India: Embassy of Italy or Consulate General of Italy in India.
The “Apostille” replaces legalization in countries that are contracting parties to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. N.B. The qualification must be legalized or Apostilled in the country of the educational system to which it refers.
Once the qualification has been Apostilled or legalized, it is possible to apply for the
‘Declaration of Value’ (Dichiarazione di Valore).
The Declaration of Value is an informative document issued by the Italian Diplomatic Authorities abroad (Embassies/Consulates/Cultural Centres), which provides a description of a qualification obtained in an educational system other than the Italian one and certifies its value in the issuing country.
The Declaration of Value can be replaced by Statement of Comparability
The Statement of Comparability is a document issued by CIMEA-NARIC Italia (http://www.cimea.it/it/index.aspx) which may replace the Declaration of Value since it serves the same purpose.
It is advisable to opt for the Statement of Comparability especially in those cases where there are delays in issuing the Declaration of Value or it is complicated to travel to the foreign country to submit the request to the relevant Authorities.
The Diploma Supplement is a certificate that supplements the official qualification obtained at the end of a course of study at a university or higher education institution, issued by these institutions in the countries participating in the “Bologna Process”. (http://ehea.info/page-full_members).
It provides a standardized description of the level, content and status of the completed studies and therefore replaces the Declaration of Value.
Students will be asked to provide a digital copy of the documentation at the time of enrolment; while the original documents will have to be handed in afterwards to the Registrar’s Office for inspection.
ADMISSION, ENTRY AND RESIDENCY FOR INDIAN STUDENTS APPLYING FOR STUDY VISAS
Students applying for a study visa must follow the steps below in order to access the chosen course:
Pre-enrolment
Enrolment and visa application
Arrival in Italy and residence permit application
Admission to degree courses with a limited number of places available is determined by an entrance test. For courses with a quota reserved to EU citizens or Non-EU citizens with EU equal status and another quota reserved to Non-EU citizens, there are two admission tests for one or the other category respectively.
Taking the test not intended for your category, automatically disqualifies you from the competition.
For courses taught in English, a language certificate issued by one of the certifying bodies recognised by MIUR must be submitted at the time of enrolment
The required level is specified in the relevant Calls for applications.
The certificate is not necessary if the candidate has completed at least the last two consecutive years of school or university entirely in English.
Candidates residing in countries outside the European Union who are admitted and intend to enrol into a course in Italy must follow the procedures to apply for an entry visa for study purposes.
The applicant must first complete the university pre-enrolment application on the UNIVERSITALY portal. At this stage, the applicant will be asked to create a profile, select the chosen University and the Degree Course and upload certain documents such as passport, academic documentation and language certificate when required.
The University will then check the submitted information and attachments and validate the complete application, which will be received by the Italian Diplomatic/Consular Representatives of the candidate’s country of residence.
IMPORTANT:
– The applicant may only select one university and one degree course.
– Applications without school documents will not be validated.
– The letter of admission is attached by the University at the time of validation.
– Italian universities do not deal with the visa procedure, which is the exclusive responsibility of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Once confirmation of validation has been received, the candidate has to contact the Italian Consulate/Embassy of reference to apply for the issue of the study visa and has to complete the enrolment procedure at the University at the same time.
It should be noted that pre-enrolment on the UNIVERSITALY portal and matriculation to the course for which one has been admitted are two separate procedures with different purposes.
Candidates who have only submitted a pre-enrolment application through UNIVERSITALY are NOT automatically enrolled and are NOT exempt from sending the required academic documents to the Registrar’s Office, even if they have already been uploaded on the aforementioned portal.
Failure to obtain the student visa from the relevant Authority will automatically result in forfeiture of matriculation.
Once the study visa has been obtained and the enrolment process has been completed, the student can enter Italy.
From the date of his/her arrival in Italy, the student will have eight days to go to the post office and submit the application to obtain a residence permit for study purposes to the competent police headquarters in the city where s/he intends to reside.
Please note that the procedures for issuing and renewing residence permits are the exclusive responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior.
The student must also apply for the Italian tax code issued by the Italian Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate).
Detailed information on visa, residence permit and tax code application procedures can be found on our website.