Visa & documents
This is where most delays happen — not because the paperwork is hard, but because which document goes where, and in what order, genuinely depends on which country issued it and which Italian consulate is handling your case.
Declaration of Value (Dichiarazione di Valore)
A Declaration of Value is the Italian consulate’s own statement that your diploma or degree corresponds to a real, recognised qualification in your home education system — most universities ask for it before they’ll finalise your enrolment. It has to be requested from the specific consular office that covers where your qualification was issued, and the requirements (which documents, translated how, legalised how) differ by country. We tell you exactly what your consulate wants and in what order to get it, rather than a generic checklist that assumes every country works the same way.
Apostille or consular legalisation
This is the single most confusing step for applicants outside the EU, and it splits cleanly by country: if your country is a party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, an apostille stamp from your own government is enough for a document to be recognised in Italy. If it isn’t, the same document instead needs full consular legalisation — your government’s foreign ministry authenticates it, then the Italian embassy or consulate legalises it on top. Getting this step wrong, or doing it in the wrong order, is the most common reason a document gets rejected later. We check this against your specific country before you request anything — see the process for your country.
Proof of financial means
A Type D student visa application needs evidence you can actually support yourself for the length of your course — bank statements, a sponsor’s declaration, or a combination, meeting the threshold your specific consulate applies. We tell you what counts, what doesn’t, and how far in advance to prepare it so it isn’t rejected as stale at your appointment.
The Type D student visa application
Once Universitaly pre-enrolment is confirmed, the actual visa appointment is booked at whichever visa application centre — or, in some countries, the embassy directly — handles Italian national visas for your country. We help you assemble the appointment file (passport, pre-enrolment confirmation, proof of accommodation, financial means, insurance) in the order your specific office asks for it, and confirm your appointment slot with you directly, since availability and the exact document list can genuinely differ by consulate.