HYDERABAD: Indians seeking type D visa (long term visa for over 90 days) of Italy will be required to schedule individual appointments for fingerprinting at Italian consulates from January 10, 2025.
This change, aimed at enhancing security, adds to the administrative and financial burden on students seeking long-term study visas.
The study visa also falls in the ‘type D’ visa category. This visa option is for applicants who wish to study or do research in Italy for a duration of more than 90 days — this includes both undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
Indian students applying after January 10 need to visit consulates for fingerprinting, marking a shift from previous processes that allowed group applications or batch processing.
According to government data, the number of Indian students with study visas in Italy are increasing. The number of Indian students with study visa in Italy was 4,791 in 2029 which went up to 3211 in 2020 and 3008 in 2021. The number grew further to 5,196 in 2023 and 6,017 in 2024.
The recent decision comes a year after the Italian government announced that Indian students hoping to stay in their country after the completion of their degrees would be allowed to stay for an additional 12 months.
As per the agreement, Indian students wishing to gather initial professional experience, after completing academic or vocational studies in Italy may be granted a temporary residence for up to a year.
Earlier, those holding a PG or PhD degrees were eligible to stay back in Italy after their studies for 12 months.
The Italian government has reserved a quota of 5000, 6000 and 7000 non-seasonal Indian workers for 2023, 2024 and 2025 under the current Flows Decree (total reserved quota stands at 12000 for non-seasonal workers).
Additionally, the Italian side has reserved a quota of 3000, 4000 and 5000 seasonal Indian workers for 2023, 2024 and 2025 under the current Flows Decree (the total reserved quota stands at 8000 for seasonal workers).
Meanwhile, several countries have urged the Italy government to allocate more resources for visa processing and consider alternatives, like fingerprinting at local police stations or honorary consulates.