This information is for international degree-seeking students. If you need further information, you can contact the Student Support (study@unibz.it, +39 0471 012900).
If you are an exchange student, this information does not apply to you. If you have any questions, please get in touch with the International Relations Office.
BOOK AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE STUDENT SUPPORT TEAM
Slides from the Freshers Days info session (Bozen-Bolzano)
Slides from the Freshers Days info session (Brixen-Bressanone)
According to the Italian law, within 8 working days of your arrival in Italy, you must have applied for the residence permit: as soon as you arrive you should contact the University’s Student Support and you will be given all the information so that you can start this procedure.
In order to obtain the residence permit, you need to have the following documents:
* For more information about health insurance and to buy one online have a look at the relevant section below. After you bought your insurance, you can log in and download the certificate to hand in with the kit.
To apply for the residence permit, you must first go to the Post Office in the town where you are living and get the kit (an envelope with a yellow stripe) that contains the application form and the instruction sheets.
You should then book an appointment with the Student Support team. We will help you fill out the form, check that all documents are correct, and issue your enrolment confirmation.
Once you have filled in the form, you need to attach a €16 duty stamp (“marca da bollo”), which you can buy at a newspaper stand. You must also pay €30 when you send the form, which is sent with insured post (hence the cost).
A further €30 must be paid with a postal order for the issue of the electronical permit to stay and another €40 for any stays longer than 90 days and up to one year.
Cost Summary
* these amounts can be paid with a single postal order of the following amount: €70.46.
Once you have filled in the application form, you must take it back to the Post Office where you got it from.
The post office clerk will then give you the receipt that certifies that you have sent the documentation and the appointment when you need to show up at the local police office (Questura). You must keep this receipt safe as you need it to track your application through the www.portaleimmigrazione.it website.
You will also need to show this receipt in the event that you are stopped by the police. The receipt acts as a provisional residence permit and as such, it puts some limitations on you that the full permit does not.
The receipt, however, still has legal value and allows you to move freely in Italy; it also allows you to return to your country and back to Italy again, as long as you do so through the same border control (e.g., same airport).
The receipt will tell you when you have to go to the Police Station, and what you need to take with you (4 identical passport-size photos with a light background and with your head and face uncovered with neutral face expression, and any other documents that may be missing). If it’s your first time in Italy, you will be fingerprinted.
After a certain amount of time, an electronic permit will be issued for you. It is an optical smart card with a microchip that contains all your personal information, your photo and your fingerprints. Once you receive it, you must submit it to the Student Office otherwise you will not be allowed to sit exams. You will then also need to register your residency at the municipality (more information in the relevant section below).
Once you have applied for the residence permit, you do not need to renew your visa. A residence permit has much more value than a visa and allows you to travel through the Schengen area for up to 90 days and to exit an re-enter Italy (as long as it is still valid). If you have question, please contact the Student Support
Do not forget to renew your residence permit in time!
Do not wait for the expiration date but apply for the renewal at least 30 days in advance. You must follow the same procedure as for the first issuing, but, for the first renewal you must have passed at least one exam. As from the second renewal you must pass at least two exams per year. According to the Italian law, you can apply for the renewal of the residence permit until the 3rd year after the normal length of the studies (6 total years for a bachelor programme, 5 total years for a master programme); further renewals are not allowed.
You should book an appointment with the Student Support team. We will help you fill out the form, check that all documents are correct, and issue your enrolment confirmation.
For submitting the renewal request you will also need to attach:
Also after the renewal you will need to confirm your residency registration at the municipality (more information in the relevant section below).
If you enter Italy for the first time, along with the application form for the issuing of a residence permit lasting at least one year, you must sign at the local police headquarters (Questura) the so-called “integration agreement”. Within this framework, the Government ensures you support in the integration process in your new cultural and linguistic context, while at the same time, within two years of the signing of the agreement, you undertake to:
The first step of the integration agreement is the free of charge participation in a training session on civic education and information about life in Italy, lasting between 5 and 10 hours, offered by the “Commissariato del Governo” (local prefect’s office) in Bozen-Bolzano.
You must attend this training programme if you are invited to within three months of the signing of the agreement. You should receive an invitation to the training session by recorded delivery stating when and where exactly the session will take place. If you do not receive an invitation, do not worry.
If you are a student, you can certify your language skills in Italian (compulsory at least at A2 level) and German (which can give you some more advantages in the Province of Bozen-Bolzano) by sitting the language exams organised by the unibz Language Centre.
If you
the agreement will be considered fulfilled and, if you wish, you can extend your stay in Italy also beyond your studies.
The Italian individual tax code is what you need to identify yourself when dealing with Italian public offices and institutions. In case you have not requested it when applying for your visa at the Italian embassy/consulate, it will be issued to you when you go to the police (Questura) for your residence permit appointment. Please make sure that it is issued to you.
In case you need it before the appointment (e.g., you want to buy the public transportation student pass abo+), you can request it to the “Agenzia delle Entrate” (Italian Revenue Agency) with a valid passport or ID card.
You can do this in two ways:
You have to submit your tax code to the Student Secretariat as soon as you get it.
Further information can be found on the Italian Revenue Agency’s website.
Italian law states that all non-EU citizens resident abroad must register with the city/town authorities in which they wish to live as soon as they receive their first residence permit. This does not mean that you must relinquish your residency in your own country.
In order to register, please book an appointment with the Student Support team. We will support you in filling out the form and check that all documents are correct.
Once you have registered, your declaration of residence, and the certificate that you are provided with, are a fundamental requirement if you wish to apply for a study grant of the Autonomous Province of Bozen-Bolzano. You can only apply for a study grant once you have certified at least one year of residency in South Tyrol so you should do it as soon as possible (once you have received your first residence permit).
You have to re-register yourself every time your residence permit is renewed: within 60 days of the renewal of your permit you will have to go again to the Registry Office and renew your residency there. If you move, you will also have to inform the Registry Office within 15 days of the move.
In order to get the residence permit, you need health insurance. Private health insurances are usually fine. But please bear in mind that the expiry date of your permit will be the one of your health insurance. If you want a one-year permit, you need a one-year insurance.
One of the cheapest one is the one offered by Welcome Association Italy. You can buy it online by registering on WAI’s website. You can either buy a 6-month insurance (for €81) or a 12-month one (for €130). After you bought your insurance, you can log in and download the certificate to hand in with the residence permit kit as well as the information on how to use your insurance.
Full Health Cover for non-EU citizens
In case you want to obtain non-mandatory health cover and have your own family doctor for the period of your studies, you will have to go to the Local Health Care Provider (Azienda Sanitaria Locale - ASL) to register for the Italian National Health Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale - SSN). You need the following documents:
further, if you receive a grant:
Starting 1 January 2024, as amended with art. 1 paragraph 240 of Law No. 213 of 30 December 2023, the amount you have to pay to register for health care as a student is €700.
These amounts are valid for a year (1 January to 31 December), are not divisible and are not retroactive. You are only covered for the period of validity of your residence permit.
In case you are interested in the non-mandatory health cover, you can contact the Student Support team for more information.
If you want to organise your finances while you are studying here, and to obtain any study grants that you may apply for, you’ll have to open an Italian bank account.
Most banks offer special accounts for students and young people – normally accounts for young people are for people under the age of 26. We suggest you have a look at the deals being offered by the different banks and open an account at the beginning of the academic year.
If you want to open a special account for students, apart from an ID card, you will also have to show your Student Card. If the bank requires a certificate, you can download a self-declaration autonomously.
Non-EU students can apply for a study grant of the Autonomous Province of Bozen-Bolzano if they have a long-term residence permit or after 1 year of regular registered residence in South Tyrol.
If you have a study residence permit, you can work part-time for maximum 20 hours per week with a maximum annual limit of 1,040 hours. Once you graduate, if you have a job proposal, you have the opportunity to convert your residence permit from “study purposes” to “work purposes”, obtaining one of the places established by the immigration decree, issued yearly by the Italian Government.
If you need further information, you can contact the Student Support (study@unibz.it, +39 0471 012900) or you can book an appointment with the team.