NEW PROCEDURES FOR STUDY VISA APPLICATIONS
Effective Decembre 1st, 2025
Starting December 1st, 2025, applicants for an Italian National Study Visa will no longer be allowed to freely submit their applications by mail or by dropping them off in person without an appointment at the Consulate of Italy in Houston.
From that date, U.S. citizens must book an appointment through the Prenot@mi portal in order to submit their study visa application.
The Prenot@mi appointment for U.S. citizens will be VIRTUAL:
– it does not require appearing in person at the Consulate for the interview,
– It simply authorizes the submission of the application, either by mail or via drop-off at the Consulate’s entrance.
WHO IS AFFECTED?
The new virtual-appointment procedure applies only to U.S. citizens residing or attending schools within the jurisdiction of the Consulate General of Italy in Houston and applying for a Long Term Study Visa.
Procedures for universities using the “batch” method remain regulated by separate instructions and are not affected by this notice.
Procedure for U.S. citizens
- Register on Prenot@mi
- Create an account (if not already registered).
- Select Consulate General of Italy in Houston → “National Visas – Study Visa/US CITIZENS ONLY”.
- Book the virtual appointment
- Choose the first available slot.
- This appointment does not require in-person attendance unless specifically requested by the Consulate. There won’t be any online interview or link involved. The appointment works as an authorization to submit the application.
- Prepare the application package –> Follow the checklist below (application form, passport, photos, proof of financial means, acceptance letter, proof of insurance, etc.).
- Mail or drop off the application ONLY ON or AFTER the date of the Prenot@mi virtual appointment.
Applications sent before the appointment date cannot be accepted. On or after the appointment date, U.S. citizens may submit their application:- by mail/courier,
- or by drop-off at the Consulate’s entrance (security desk), without accessing visa counters.
- In all cases, applicants must include a copy of the Prenot@mi appointment confirmation inside the package.
Applications submitted without a Prenot@mi appointment:
- any study visa application mailed or delivered in person without a valid Prenot@mi appointment will not be accepted or processed;
- the Consulate reserves the right to return non-compliant applications to the sender, without reimbursement of shipping costs.
TRANSITIONAL PERIOD
Study visa applications received by the Consulate up to November 30th, 2025 will be processed under the rules in force until that date.
All applications received on or after December 1st, 2025 will be processed exclusively under the new procedures described above.
REQUIREMENT for non-U.S. citizens
British, Japanese, and Canadian nationals are permitted to follow the same instructions applicable to U.S. citizens.
Applicants of all other nationalities applying for a LONG-term stay (91 to 365 days) who reside in our jurisdiction or are currently enrolled in a school within our jurisdiction (TX, LA, AR, OK) MUST book an appointment through [PRENOT@MI] and appear in person.
Please ensure that you select the correct appointment type: “Study – Non US citizens”.
Applications sent by mail or delivered without an in-person appointment will not be accepted.
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Please see the required documents checklist: STUDIO. This is a general list of requirements, some STUDY programs may need additional documentation. The office will provide the proper list in cases where your programs warrant a different process. Please do not overlook the requirements and make sure you have each of it prior to applying.
Most students enrolled in Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees, Specialization Schools, PhD programs, Advanced training courses, University Master’s programs, and individual university courses are required to register on https://www.universitaly.it/. Please confirm this with your university. Students must access the UNIVERSITALY portal and complete the pre-enrollment application online, following the procedures active on the portal and attaching the documentation required by the university institution. This procedure applies to the majority of academic institutions, with the exception of certain private universities. The deadlines for pre-enrollment procedures for study programs, except for those with limited enrollment, are set by each individual higher education institution and published on their respective websites. The Italian university to which the student is applying will validate the pre-enrollment application on the UNIVERSITALY portal. It will indicate whether the authenticity of the documents has been verified and for which ones, and whether the student needs a Declaration of Value for their diploma. Once the pre-enrollment is validated on the UNIVERSITALY portal, the student can apply for the VISA.
The study visa can only be issued for the dates requested by the academic institution. We cannot accommodate requests for more days. Study visas will only be issued for programs with classes of at least twenty hours per week.
Regarding ITALIAN LANGUAGE COURSES, the required level of proficiency for application acceptance is B1 (intermediate level). Prior knowledge of the Italian language must be demonstrated by presenting appropriate language certificates. The level of the language course you intend to attend in Italy must be necessarily a higher-level course (minimum: B2 level). The courses attended in Italy must be in line with the education acquired in the country of origin.
Visa Application available here: NATIONAL VISA APPLICATION FORM
If you do not intend to obtain a valid health insurance policy prior to your departure, you must provide an AFFIDAVIT FOR MEDICAL INSURANCE stating that you will purchase an Italian insurance policy upon your arrival in Italy, before registering with the local police headquarters (Questura).
Students attending a program in Italy at a foreign University for less than 150 days are not required to apply for an Italian Residence Permit. In place of it, they will have to present a Declaration of Presence in the country at the closest local police headquarters (Questura).
Processing can take up to 90 days. Before scheduling other trips that may come in conflict with your application, please be aware of the processing time. We urge you not to request expedited processing of your VISA on the basis of other trips.
The Visa office handles many thousands of requests each year and we strive to process every application in time for the departure date, which means that applicants might receive their passports just few days before their departure. Please do not ask for updates about your visa status and do not inquire about the delivery of the envelope. This sort of inquiries will be disregarded.
The LONG TERM STUDY VISA fee is $ 58.40 Visa Fee (esteri.it). Kindly pay the fee with a USPS MONEY ORDER or Cashier’s Check. We do not accept cards.
Affidavit of support available here: AFFIDAVIT OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT
If you would like the passport/visa returned by mail you will need to provide a UPS or USPS EXPRESS PRIORITY prepaid mail envelope with tracking along with the application. If using FedEx, please ensure that the Consulate is not listed as the sender of the shipment. Other form of mailing will be rejected. Please take note of the tracking number before shipping it. If the application is missing the return envelope, the passport will not be shipped back but it will be picked up in person. Please provide the declaration for mailing your passport: Declaration for mailing.
There have been several issues with the mail service in the past, thus it is strongly recommended to pick up your passport in person when it is ready. In case of impossibility, please provide not less than a priority EXPRESS prepaid mail label, which is more trustworthy. If the passport gets lost in the mail, please do not inquire about it with the visa office but rely on the mail service that you used.
It has frequently occurred that, due to a delay in the delivery of the package, students — acting out of concern— have reported their passport as lost and requested a replacement. This is a practice we strongly discourage, as statistics show that the passport is eventually delivered, with the visa enclosed. Therefore, should you find yourselves in a similar situation, we strongly advise against taking such action and recommend that you patiently await the regular delivery of your passport.
Please address any question regarding the Declaration of Value to houston.education@esteri.it
Students who need a Tax Code for university pre-registration can obtain it automatically through the UNIVERSITALY portal during the pre-registration application. The Tax Code assignment can be completed at the Single Immigration Office or the Police Headquarters when applying for a residence permit by non-EU students; at the Agenzia delle Entrate by submitting the AA4/8 form for EU students.
Please check the General information page for other useful information.