Dear Non-EU prospective student who got an admission letter for academic year 2022/23 from our academic admission committee:
The procedure to start the VISA issuing process takes place online through the government-run Universitaly website (https://www.universitaly.it/index.php/students/stranieri). The present page contains important instructions for you to start the VISA procedure and enroll with our University and our LMCE course. You may also refer to the following instructions page of our University.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR OUR ADMITTED STUDENTS
1) register to the University of Parma platform (called ESSE3) in order to create a personal account at: https://www.idem.unipr.it/start/registra (on the top-right menu select English). Detailed instructions are found here.
This way you will get your University of Parma ID number (we will also call it ESSE3_ID_number. It is the “Username UniPR” you can read in your “User Data” screenshot in ESSE3). This will be required at next step B.
2) STARTING VISA ISSUING PROCESS
Now you have to Pre-enroll through the Universitaly portal. The Pre-enrollment procedure applies to all Non-EU applicants living outside Italy who need a study visa type-D to enter Italy for enrollment in an Italian University. To do that, you must:
2.1) register to the Universitaly platform in order to create a personal account at: https://www.universitaly.it/index.php/registration/firststep
2.2) now pre-enroll. Log-in into your Universitaly account: https://www.universitaly.it/index.php/ click on right banner “International Students -> pre-enrol now” and then click “Go to Application”.
STEP A: your personal data are filled in automatically from your Universitaly account. Select the upcoming academic year STEP B: Visa Application ---------------- select your country select your Embassy/Consulate Course Information ------------------ Institution: select "Università" Institution Name: select "Università degli studi di Parma" Tick English Language Course type: select "Laurea Magistrale" Course name: select "Communication Engineering" ID account at the chosen University / AFAM / Institute: enter here your University of Parma ID (ESSE3_ID_number) from point 1. STEP C: QUALIFICATIONS The final recipient of the Universitaly pre-enrollment documentation is not (only) the University you apply for (which is just required to VALIDATE if the documentation uploaded on Universitaly is ok for enrollment), but the Consulate/Embassy that will issue your VISA. Hence upload here the same qualifications (i.e. documents, in electronic form) that you uploaded on the LMCE online application website. FUNDAMENTAL(!!!): pls include ALSO AS A SEPARATE PDF FILE (ie, not mixed with other documents) a copy of THE LETTER YOU RECEIVED BY EMAIL FROM OUR PRE-ADMISSION COMMITTEE.
More detailed step-by-step instructions for UNIVERSITALY pre-enrollment are found here at point “2. Pre-enrolment on the Universitaly portal (see pdf instructions)”.
DEADLINE: you should apply early enough so as to get your VISA by the end of November, and in any case no later the end of February. Delays of over 6 months are unfortunately common, so you must plan to apply as early as you can.
When you complete your pre-enrollment application through Universitaly, our UNIPR administrative staff looks for YOUR PRE-ACCEPTANCE LETTER to immediately VALIDATE your application. If no pre-acceptance letter is uploaded, your Universitaly pre-enrollment gets stuck.
After university VALIDATION, your selected Embassy/Consulate will receive through Universitaly all your documents to start the VISA process. You will be informed of validation by a statement in the Universitaly portal that says “Forwarded to Consulate on date-xxxx, time“.
Please note that to apply for a student VISA the Italian regulations require you to have since at least 3 months on your/your family’s bank account a minimum of 10387 euros (see our VISA page). All VISA applications declaring below the minimum are automatically rejected. Other fundamental Facts about obtaining (or failing to obtain) a VISA can be found HERE.
Please strictly follow the above online procedure, since for embassies it is the online VALIDATION by our University through Universitaly that gives them the “green light” to start processing your VISA request.
3) After validation, you now have to contact your selected Embassy/Consulate where you will have to take an interview to finalize in person your VISA issuing. For information on how to forward the visa application and further documents to be submitted to your selected Embassy/Consulate, consult the website https://vistoperitalia.esteri.it/home/en and the web pages of the Embassy/Consulate.
Your are normally required to show proof of accommodation in Italy upon your arrival. You can find here a Director’s Statement letter to that aim.
Some embassies/consulates do include, among the documents required for VISA issuing,
evidence of payment of university fees. Regarding this issue, please find here a Director’s Statement letter.
Again, please make sure you adequately prepare yourself for the interview, as explalned HERE.
NOTICE: the universitaly pre-enrolment procedure does NOT guarantee you to obtain a VISA for study purposes and it does not imply any rights to the subsequent university matriculation, which will only be finalized once all the provided academic and administrative documents have been positively evaluated.
4) while waiting for your VISA:
PLEASE BE INFORMED THAT COURSES WILL START MID-SEPTEMBER IN PRESENCE DUE TO THE IMPROVED COVID EMERGENCY HERE IN EUROPE. SO PLEASE DO WHATEVER IS NECESSARY TO TRY AND BE IN PERSON IN PARMA AT THE BEGINNING OF LECTURES. PLAN TO ARRIVE AT LEAST 1 MONTH EARLIER SINCE FINDING A LODGING AND COMPLETING ALL BUREAUCRATIC STEPS TAKES TIME AND EFFORT, WHICH YOU CANNOT AFFORD DURING CLASSES.
While waiting at your home before physically getting to Parma, you are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to take the video prep-courses we offer to our new students (please also watch the “welcome lecture” video to better understand how our course is organized and what we expect from you) as this will allow you to start your official classes with the best background. Prep-courses are found at: http://communication-eng.unipr.it/index.php/pre-course/ Please send email to alberto.bononi@unipr.it to get ID and password to access those videos. There you will also find “Other Background Knowledge Sources” to further your study. If, after watching videos and extra sources, you still have specific questions, please email the instructor of the course you have questions about, as follows:
Intro to Communication Engineering (gianluigi.ferrari@unipr.it) Mathematical Methods for Engineers (paolo.serena@unipr.it) Fourier Transform (armando.vannucci@unipr.it) Stochastic Processes (armando.vannucci@unipr.it) Probability Theory (alberto.bononi@unipr.it) Signals and Systems (alessandro.ugolini@unipr.it) Digital Communications (paolo.serena@unipr.it)
5) MARTICULATING WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF PARMA
Once you get your study VISA you can finally matriculate through your ESSE3 account at the University of Parma Website. Do it before Nov 30 to avoid paying overcharges. Instructions are found here, look for “3. Enrollment”.
Matriculation can also be finalized by going in person at the “Segreteria Studenti” on Campus after your arrival in Parma.
6) UPON YOUR ARRIVAL IN ITALY
When you will physically get to Parma, you will need to complete your paperwork to get a “stay permit” (PERMESSO DI SOGGIORNO), get the TAX CODE CARD and other things, as explained in the section: “Practical Information for Foreign Students” .