# Student Visa and Apartments



## Kadin.T.Goldberg (Oct 26, 2012)

Hi everyone!
I am moving to Florence, Italy in April and starting at a small art school. I just have a few questions that I was hoping you all could help me out with.

As far as the student visa application goes, do I need to find an apartment prior to arriving in Florence or can I just show up and look for a place once I arrive? (I am from the U.S.)

Second, I am looking for a room in a house to rent with local Italian people. I would prefer a house with 2 or more other Italians that are around the age of 25. If anyone can tell me where I should be looking to find a place such as this, I would appreciate it more than ever.

Thanks SO much to anyone that can help me.

Kadin


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## rubenjesse9 (Sep 4, 2012)

Hi Kadin. Regarding the visa, you will need to show them an address of where you will be staying as well as confirmation from the people you'll be living with (this is the case for people in a living situation not affiliated with the school which seems to be your situation). In that confirmation declaration you'll need 1) the "ok" from them in writing 2) a signature from the person/people you'll be living with (the signature of one person worked in my case) 3) the amount of time (date to date as well as overall time stated. For a student visa one year should be enough to write down because any longer doesn't concern the embassy given that the visa will expire in a year. But write what you'd like of coarse) and 4) a photo copy of their carta d'identita'. I just created this document myself as the ones I found online were way to long and serious looking for me, but you might want to ask your embassy if they have a document already made for all of this. Those four things worked for me, and I went through the LA Embassy. 
As far as housing is concerned there are plenty of websites full of people looking to rent out rooms etc. and a lot of them are in English (that was my experience in Milan. I don't know how it would be in Florence). I hope this helps, and that your student visa process goes smoothly (much smoother than mine went anyways lol)! Ciao!


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## rubenjesse9 (Sep 4, 2012)

Oh yeah I forgot. I did ask the embassy one time if I could give them a confirmation from a hotel for a certain amount of time until I found a place, and they didn't tell me yes or no. Which I guess means it's a possibility (maybe). If that interests you, you could ask them that too.


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## Kadin.T.Goldberg (Oct 26, 2012)

Hi Ruben,
Thanks for the info! 

It seems somewhat crazy to me that I am supposed to find a place to live, commit to a year of living there, and get a signature from the people renting to me and do this all over the internet without meeting anyone or seeing the apartment! Wow.

I think I will contact the embassy and see about just staying in a hotel until I find a place to live. Hopefully I can do that as it seems somewhat overwhelming to do so much over the internet!

If someone wanted to make a good business they would help foreign students find cheap housing and charge small finders fees. I could really use a trustworthy person to help me....

Kadin


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## rubenjesse9 (Sep 4, 2012)

Yeah it's a strange process, and I didn't find out about this stuff until I was already at my visa appointment and they told me my info was incomplete. What may help you as well is the fact that they only need to "see" all of this info on paper... Well take care. If you have any questions along the way feel free to contact me through Skype rubenjesse9.


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## Rider of Rohan (Oct 19, 2012)

Dear Kadin,

I just went through the student visa process and had some of the same questions regarding the apartment -- I wasn't about to make a year lease sight unseen! As it turns out this is something that is definitely able to be waived by the consulate. I rented a place for two months via airbnb and presented that contract to the consulate. I think the consulate was more interested in my financial statements to prove we can afford rent for the year. Talking to other students at my school they had similar experiences -- they found something for a couple of weeks and didn't commit to a rental contract until they arrived for school. 

I've heard good things about easystanza.it for finding roomates, but in Florence there should be a lot, to include tons of postings at the school. Best of luck to you!


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## jingenespaña (Jul 23, 2011)

Hi!

I came across this thread because I was looking for an indication of what constitutes "good enough" as a financial capability to live in Italy. I'm also applying for a student visa for Italy for a 1.5 year course, it's a master's program. And in their requirement, they would like a proof that I have sufficient funds to live 18 months in italy. However, they do not and will not specify a daily amount required. For example, is it USD30 a day for the 450 plus days i intend to be there?

I wonder if a dollar amount was specified by the embassy in your country (I'm applying in Singapore btw).

Thanks!




Rider of Rohan said:


> Dear Kadin,
> 
> I just went through the student visa process and had some of the same questions regarding the apartment -- I wasn't about to make a year lease sight unseen! As it turns out this is something that is definitely able to be waived by the consulate. I rented a place for two months via airbnb and presented that contract to the consulate. I think the consulate was more interested in my financial statements to prove we can afford rent for the year. Talking to other students at my school they had similar experiences -- they found something for a couple of weeks and didn't commit to a rental contract until they arrived for school.
> 
> I've heard good things about easystanza.it for finding roomates, but in Florence there should be a lot, to include tons of postings at the school. Best of luck to you!


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## Rider of Rohan (Oct 19, 2012)

Dear Jingenespaña -- On the Los Angeles Italian Consulate website they specify $1000 US per month. But since the most (I think) time that a visa can be granted for is for 1 year, I should think that the maximum amount that they could expect you to have in your bank account would be the equivalent of $12,000 US. (We were granted a 1yr visa, and from here on we can renew our visa from within Italy -- much easier!) Also, if you're receiving income of any kind (grant, stipend, help from parents or family, etc) they can take this into consideration. Also, if you can clearly show that you will require a lesser amount, for example, they should be willing to work with you. They just want to make sure you have funds to cover your stay because you're not supposed to be working on a student visa. This is the website for the Los Angeles consulate specifying the student visa requirements: CONSOLATO  GENERALE  D I hope this helps and best of luck to you!


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## jingenespaña (Jul 23, 2011)

Hey thanks! Very helpful information. I did not know that one can renew a student visa from Italy. 

Grazie!




Rider of Rohan said:


> Dear Jingenespaña -- On the Los Angeles Italian Consulate website they specify $1000 US per month. But since the most (I think) time that a visa can be granted for is for 1 year, I should think that the maximum amount that they could expect you to have in your bank account would be the equivalent of $12,000 US. (We were granted a 1yr visa, and from here on we can renew our visa from within Italy -- much easier!) Also, if you're receiving income of any kind (grant, stipend, help from parents or family, etc) they can take this into consideration. Also, if you can clearly show that you will require a lesser amount, for example, they should be willing to work with you. They just want to make sure you have funds to cover your stay because you're not supposed to be working on a student visa. This is the website for the Los Angeles consulate specifying the student visa requirements: CONSOLATO* GENERALE* D I hope this helps and best of luck to you!


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## Rider of Rohan (Oct 19, 2012)

Prego! We are just learning this now from the other students at the school. When we applied at the consulate they told us we'd be renewing with them each year. But when you come to Italy you'll report to the questura within the # of days indicated on your paperwork (something like 8 or 11.) Actually, this, for us, consisted in having an agency fill out paperwork for us (no charge) and then filing this at the post office -- talking to other students about this the moment you arrive is invaluable. At the post office we were given an appointment date and time at the questura later in the month. Then about a month later we each received our Permesso di Soggiorno in the mail. This is what we'll be renewing each year and allows us to stay in Italy over 90 days. I don't know if the paperwork inside our passport is actually ever updated or renewed -- we are still learning. Best of luck!!!!


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