Visas and Permits of Stay

APPLYING FOR A VISA

All Students Planning to study in Italy during the Fall Semester must acquire an Italian visa prior to departure. In order to apply for a visa, you must have a passport. You must send your passport together with the visa application to the Italian Consulate in Philadelphia. Please consult the following websites and do not delay in requesting a visa.

VISA INSTRUCTIONS AND DETAILS:

http://www.esteri.it/visti/index_eng.asp

MAILING ADDRESS AND GENERAL INFORMATION:
Italian General Consulate
1026, Public Ledger Bldg
150 South Indipendence Mall West Suite 1026
Philadelphia, PA 19106 - 3470
Tel.: 215 592 7329
Fax: 215 592 9808

Website: www.consfiladelfia.esteri.it

E-mail: Filadelfia.archivio@itawash.org

http://www.consfiladelfia.esteri.it/Consolato_Filadelfia

PERMIT OF STAY OR DECLARATION OF STAY

All students participating on the semester program need a permit of stay. The Decree passed on the 11th of December 2006 by the Italian Minister of Internal Affairs regarding the new procedure instituted for the request for the "permesso soggiorno" (permit of stay) for all purposes - tourism, study, work, family etc. has remained unchanged. The permit of stay is a mandatory document and especially necessary for all students who wish to travel in Europe while in Italy. The legalization of all students coming to LDM through the student visa and subsequent permit of stay processing is mandatory in order to attend the fall program.

Students are assisted in the processing of the documents for the permit of stay by Platform 3000.

Students are advised to consult the following link as soon as possible:
www.platform3000.com/LDM/Fall2009.

Please note that ALL students must register on the Platform 3000 link before departure for Italy. Although a credit card number is requested, no money is debited from the card until after the collection of the documents for the Permit of Stay during the first week of the Fall Semester.

The costs for the permit of stay are as follows:

Registered letter containing permit of stay documents	Euro 30,00
Cost of the permit of stay	Euro 28,50

The total cost of Euro 58,50 to be paid in cash/credit card by each student when consigning the documents required for the permit of stay. These documents are as follows:

1. 1 FULL PHOTOCOPY OF YOUR PASSPORT including ALL THE PAGES (blank pages included). PHOTOCOPYING OF YOUR PASSPORT SHOULD BE COMPLETED BEFORE DEPARTURE. ONLY THE COPY OF THE PAGE CONTAINING THE STUDY VISA STAMP MUST BE MADE AFTER ARRIVAL IN ITALY AS IT WILL CONTAIN THE CUSTOMS CONTROL STAMP.

2. A COPY OF YOUR INTERNATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY (this health insurance is ONLY valid if your policy specifically says that you are covered abroad). Students who do not have International Health Insurance must purchase an Italian Emergency Insurance Policy. This will only cover Emergency medical services in Italy.

3. A copy of the ORIGINAL LDM acceptance letter which you presented to the Italian Consulate or Embassy bearing their official stamp or seal. This letter should have been returned by the Italian Consulate together with your passport and with your visa in it.

4. A Revenue Stamp Euro 15,00 (this will be issued by LDM). The sum of Euro 42,00 covering the processing fees will be debited from each student

DECLARATION OF STAY (SUMMER ONLY)

LDM FLORENCE

Law No. 68 of 28th May 2007 regarding the permit of stay for periods of stay inferior to 90 days which was passed and came into force on the 2nd of June 2007 after publication in the Official Gazzette and once again modified by a Decree on the 26th of July 2007 is still in force. All persons who come to Italy for a period of less than three months for visits, tourism, business and study no longer require the Permit of Stay, but necessitate a Declaration of Presence as follows:

If a foreigner comes directly from a country which does not adhere to the Schengen Agreement (i.e. a US student comes directly to Italy), he is not required to make the declaration of presence in that his passport will be stamped by frontier police. It is important for students to ensure that their passports have been appropriately stamped by the frontier police.

If a foreigner comes from a country where the Schengen Agreement is applied he is required to make a declaration of presence within 8 effective days of his arrival at the Questura in the province he is residing in.

The Schengen Countries are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.

This applies therefore to all students attending Summer Sessions and January Intersession. If a student has to make the Declaration of Presence he will be assisted by Platform 3000. All students who do not come directly to Italy from the US but through a country adhering to the Schengen Agreement must register on the following link before departure for Italy :
www.platform3000.com/LDM/Summer2009.

The Declaration of Presence processing for the students who have to do the Declaration of Presence (i.e. flight from the US to a Schengen Country (see above) and then to Italy) will be announced together with the orientation schedule.

Only a photocopy of the front page of the passport is required for the Presence of Stay.

Platform 3000 will assist these students in completing the Presence of Presence module and accompany students to the "Questura" in order to have their Declaration of Presence registered and stamped. The Platform 3000 fee for this registration service will cost each student Euro 15,00 which will be debited from the student’s credit card.