PUSTphilo - Dean's office - Admission of students from outside the EU

Students who are neither citizens of the European Union nor of an EFTA member state

need a visa "D for studies" (and the corresponding permit of residence in Italy) to register at PUST. Such visas are granted by the Italian embassy of your home country. To get such a visa, you have to present the following documents at the Italian embassy of your home country:

An application for a visa "D for studies" ("D per studio").
The declaration of sustenance.
The stamped certificate of admission.

With your visa "D for studies", you can enter Italy, apply for a permit of residence in Rome, and register at PUST.

1. Visa application

You can get the visa application form at the Italian embassy (that's the easy part).

2. Declaration of sustenance

After having taken the decision to study at PUST, the next step is to find a place of residence in Rome. If you can not come to Rome in person, you can do so through the internet or through friends – it might also be helpful to contact the Office for Student affairs. When you have found a residence in Rome, you should get a declaration of sustenance.

The declaration of sustenance has to contain

a guarantee for your entire living costs (travelling expenses, board and lodging, academic fees, health insurance) "for the … years of studies";
the address of your place of residence in Rome;
the promise to communicate future changes of your place of residence to the competent authorities of the Italian State.

The declaration of sustenance has to be written on headed paper (containing the name, address and telephone number of the institution represented by the person who signs it) and has to be signed:

if in Rome, you will reside in a college: by the rector of your college;
if you are member of a religious institute: by the superior of your house in Rome;
if you are sustained by a scholarship: by the sponsor of your scholarship;
by an Italian parish priest;
by a private person, with a certification by the municipality in which he lives;
by yourself: If you are a lay person, you can declare that you pay yourself for your sustenance (that is then called a "declaration of self-sustenance", in Italian: "dichiarazione di auto-mantenimento").

The declaration of sustenance has further to be confirmed:

If it is signed by a religious, it has to be authenticated by the Congregation for Consecrated life and the Societies of Apostolic life.
If it is signed by someone living in Italy, it has to receive the "nihil obstat" (the declaration that "nothing speaks against it") of the (ordinary) diocesan bishop of the (Italian) diocese to which the person or the institution who signs the declaration of sustenance belongs.
In the case of a declaration of self-sustenance or of a declaration of sustenance signed by someone who is not living in Italy, it has to receive the "nihil obstat" of the (ordinary) diocesan bishop of the diocese of origin of the person who signs the declaration, with an authentication of the bishop's signature by the competent Apostolic Nuncio.

You need three originals of your declaration of sustenance: the first for the Italian embassy of your country of origin; the second for the University; the third for your request of a permit of residence in Italy.

3. Certificate of admission

The certificate of admission is granted by the dean's office of the Faculty of Philosophy. You have to present to the dean the following documents:

A letter of recommendation
- if you are member of a religious community: by your superior;
- in all other cases: by your diocesan bishop. – The signature of the bishop on the letter of recommendation has to be authenticated by the competent Apostolic Nuncio (normally, the one of your country of origin).
Your passport.
Your study transcripts required for the admission to a university in your country of origin and for the type of studies you want to undertake at PUST.
The declaration of sustenance.

You can either present these documents in person, or instruct somebody you know to do so. You can also send them to the dean's office.

You can send or fax photocopies of your passport and your study transcripts, but when you come to Rome you will have to produce the originals. You have to send the originals of the letter of recommendation and the declaration of sustenance.

Once the certificate of admission is granted, it has to be stamped by the following offices, in the following order:

The Secretariat of PUST (Segretario Generale della PUST); cost: EUR 5.00.
The Congregation for Catholic Education (Città del Vaticano, Congregazione per l'educazione cattolica, Piazza Pio XII, 3) – EUR 3.00.
The Secretariat of State (Città del Vaticano, Segreteria di Stato, Portone di Bronzo) – EUR 1.50.
The Secretariat of the Apostolic Nuncio to Italy (Nunziatura apostolica in Italia, Via Po, 27/29). EUR 3.00 if you give them some days to stamp your documents; EUR 5.00 if you want it done immediately (between 9.00 and 11.00 in the morning).
The local govermnent (Prefettura di Roma, Via Ostiense 131 – Metro station "Garbatella", Monday through Friday 9.00–12.00) – bring a pre-paid stamp ("marca di bollo") of EUR 10.33.

With the stamped certificate of admission, you can apply at the Italian embassy in your home country for a visa "D for studies" and inquire whether your local health insurance is also valid in Italy (if this should be the case, your will not have to pay for the otherwise obligatory health insurance in Italy).

Warnings and notes

This text has been compiled with the help of information provided by the Office for student affairs. We can not garantee its completeness or accuracy. Ask the Italian embassy of your country whether there have been changes.

There is an agency which takes care of the stamping of the certificate of admission; you can do business with them through the secretariat of PUST. It costs EUR 85,00 to have the certificate stamped; if all the documents are OK, the process takes usually ten to fourteen days. To get the stamped certificate sent back to you, you can either instruct the secretariat to do so (by normal mail) or the agency (by DHL, which costs you another EUR 30,00).

It is very important to come to Italy with a visa "D for studies". If you come with a tourist visa or if you stay in Italy illegally, you can not register at PUST, and you will have to go back to your country of origin to get such a visa.

Be aware that there are different types of visa "D" (and corresponding types of permits of residence in Italy):

for religious reasons ("per motivi religiosi"),
for religious studies ("per studi religiosi"),
for studies ("per studi").

Only with the last type are you allowed to work in Italy for a maximum of 20 hours a week.

To change your visa (and permit of residence) "D for religious reasons" into a visa (and permit of residence) "D for religious studies", you don't have to leave Italy; but if you want to change a visa (and permit of residence) "D for religious reasons" or "D for religious studies" into a visa (and permit of residence) "D for studies", you will have to do so.

Most of our students are catholic; but you can also study at PUST without being a catholic – instead of producing a recommendation from a catholic bishop, get one of the competent higher leader of your religion.