Italy Visa Steps - Tamilnadu

These are the following processes to be done to come to Italy for studies.

1. Legalisation/attestation of your degree/provisional certificate

2. Pre-enrolment

3. Declaration of Value (DOV)

4. Visa Application

5. EDISU scholarship document preparation

The processes have to be done in the same sequence as I had mentioned above.

1. Legalisation/Attestation of your degree/provisional certificate:

Your degree or provisional certificate (only in case you are in your final year of studies now and haven’t received your degree certificate yet) has to be attested at three levels as mentioned below:

i. University level 

ii. State government level 

iii. Central government level 

i. & ii. : First you need to get HRD attestation for your degree certificate. This is done at the Secretariat in Chennai. Once you submit your degree/provisional certificate for HRD attestation, they will send your document to your university for confirmation that your documents are legit. Then the Secretariat gives the HRD attestation and will give you back. This process takes about a two weeks depending upon how much you push them. 

iii. After this is done, you take attestation from Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), 

Ministry of External Affairs Branch Secretariat, 

68,College Road, 

E.V.K. Sampath Maaligai, 7th Floor, 

Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600006. 

You have to take a DD and submit your HRD Attested document. You will submit in the morning and will get it the same day evening. This attestation is called Apostille which is acceptable in almost every country in the world as a legitimate form of legalisation. Remember that you can do MEA only in the state where you did your studies or MEA, New Delhi. You cannot do MEA in any other states . HRD can only be done in the state where you did your studies. 

Read this link for info regarding Apostille.

Note: You can start this attestation activities only with your University admit letter.

2. Pre-Enrolment:

Pre-enrolment is a process which takes place at the Italian Consulate general in Mumbai. It is to confirm the number of candidates willing to take up studies in Italy from the big list of all those who got admit letters.

http://www.consmumbai.esteri.it/consolato_mumbai/it/la_comunicazione/news/2017/03/pre-enrolment-2017.html

http://www.consmumbai.esteri.it/consolato_mumbai/resource/doc/2017/04/pre_enrolment_2017.docx

Go through these above two links as they are very important in preparing the documents for your pre-enrolment.

The mandatory documents required for pre-enrolment are as per following:

A) Declaration of Value (if already obtained)

OR

Original University Degree completed with Apostille

(for the students who completed graduation or HSC in the years before 2018)

(See link http://www.vfsattestation.com/attestation.asp)

OR

Provisional 2018 with Apostille

(previous years provisional will not be accepted)

B) Certificate issued by the University certifying exams passed and, for each discipline, detailed plans for the achievement of the same (academic transcript in case you have your degree certificate / consolidated mark sheet in case you are in your final year of studies)*

C) Two passport-size photographs (white background) for the Photo Authentication* 

D) Two original Pre-enrolment forms* (available in the below link) 

E)  Original Passport along with two photocopies (first and last page)* 

F) Apostilled Degree/provisional certificate translated into Italian language. (Original copy, not photocopy)

First, your degree/provisional certificate has to be translated in Italian by an authorised translator like the one below:

The Indo Italian Chamber Of Commerce,

New No. 17, 2B Jamals, 

Jamals Building, Jagannathan Road, 

Nungambakkam, Chennai, 

Tamil Nadu 600034

Provide a photocopy of the Apostille degree/Provisional Certificate and have your certificate translated in Italian Language with the seal of the Agency.

While you are the getting the docs ready, monitor the Consulate General of Italy, Mumbai website for any updates on the publication of dates for pre-enrolment. Pre-enrolment can be done only on the dates mentioned in the website. The sooner you arrange your documents, the earlier you can complete your pre-enrolment and the earlier you can apply and receive your study visa. Thus the  you can come to Italy earlier and apply for EDISU/ DSU scholarships. There may be cases when you have done everything well in advance but delays are caused by VFS, Consulate, University etc. Just make sure you complete your works as soon as possible to prevent any delays in arrival.

On the day of pre-enrolment, there will be a huge crowd outside the Consulate in Mumbai. It is going to be a very hectic day/process but there is no other option but to complete your pre-enrolment that day. Take the necessary documents as mentioned in the website.
http://www.consmumbai.esteri.it/consolato_mumbai/en/la_comunicazione/news/2017/03/pre-enrolment-2017.html

The pre-enrolment will happen as a visa interview about why you chose to study in Italy, the motivations of choosing a particular course, the source of funds, etc.,. Be positive and answer confidently. It is not as complicated as it sounds. Once your pre-enrolment is completed, you will get a document authorising your photograph and your identity. With this, the pre-enrolment process at the Consulate is completed and these documents must be given with the other documents while applying for visa. 

3.Declaration of Value (DOV) preparation:

Declaration of Value (DOV) is a document made in Italian language which certifies that your degree/provisional certificate is legitimate. This is done by The Consulate General of Italy in Mumbai and the application for the same is submitted at VFS Italy in Chennai.

Italy Visa Application Centre,

VFS Global Services Pvt. Ltd,

Fagun Towers, Third Floor,

No 74, Ethiraj Salai, Egmore,

Chennai - 600 008

For this, take the already translated document(Degree Certificate and Consolidated Mark Sheet) along with your original certificates to VFS Italy,Mumbai. Before taking the application for DOV, you should do a  verification of your document at VFS which will cost ₹2000/-. You  can now pay for your document verification and apply for DOV at VFS Italy. They say it takes 15 working days to get DOV but it may take even as long as a month or more. It's advised to apply at the earliest as it is a mandatory document for visa application. Note that you should submit your original degree/provisional certificate while applying for DOV and you won’t get degree/provisional certificate until you get the DOV. http://www.vfs-italy.co.in/mumbai/verification_services.html

Note: You submit your original degree/provisional certificate while applying for DOV and you won’t get your degree/provisional certificate until you get your DOV.

The Status of your DOV application can be tracked through the below link: DOV Tracking

4. Visa Application:

The next step is to apply for study visa. You will be applying for a Long Term “D” type Study Visa. Check out the following link for more information. Study Visa - Long term

DOV is a mandatory document to apply for visa and if your DOV is delayed, you may not have even your degree/provisional certificate to apply for visa. You may or may not have your DOV and provisional certificate while going for pre-enrolment due to delay from VFS/Consulate. In such a situation, you have to mail the Incoming Mobility Office/International Admissions for polito students (international.admission@polito.it) seeking permission to apply for visa without DOV explaining them your situation. Only if they send you a mail stating you may proceed with applying for visa without DOV, VFS will accept your visa application. Take a printout of that mail and attach it with your documents for visa application and submit at VFS. 

Remember that, the International Admissions office doesn’t send that mail that easily and they have a cut-off date after only which they will be ready to send the mail to everyone who request for it. Wait for 15 working days from DOV application as mentioned in the website, track your application once from VFS chat support, know the status and then send the University a mail with Consulate and VFS email in cc. Send them emails once every four days so that your request will not be missed when they prepare to send the permission mails to everyone.

You need to take overseas medical insurance for a period of one year as a part of your application documents for visa. Make sure the insurance validity starts from the day you are travelling to Europe (the day of your flight from India).

Visa application requires a prior appointment at VFS. Use the below link to register and create an appointment. Take a printout of the appointment while going. Like mentioned earlier, it’s better to take an early appointment, may be the first on that day to avoid delays. Appointment is only to let you inside VFS office. 

Now that you have finished the visa application, all you have to do is to track your visa application at the link in VFS website or through VFS chat support.

5. EDISU Scholarship application

Please click here to have a look into the detailed information on Scholarship. 

Courtesy: Special Thanks - Mr. Sarath Babu Nagarajan [ M.Sc. Automotive Engg, Politecnico di Torino - 2016 ]