A Guide to Get Student Visa to Study in Sweden

With an advancement in technology and a myriad of opportunity available across the globe, more and more students are opting for studying abroad. Amongst many countries, Sweden happens to be one of the most preferred option for candidates for studying in a foreign land. If you have made up your mind to study abroad and selected the destination then there are many more key points that students must think about.

International students have to get student visa if they wish to Study in Sweden. Students might be confused about how they can avail student visa easily. Here is a general guide on how you can get Student Visa.

To begin with, a student can apply for two different types of Visa when planning to go to Sweden. This includes Schengen Visa and the other is Residence Permit for Sweden. A Schengen Visa is applied in case you are intending to travel the country for a stipulated time period of 3 months. However, in case you are planning to go to Sweden for study purpose, then it is necessary to apply for Residence permit. This is a long-stay visa that is a necessary point for studying in Sweden.

What is Residence Permit?

The Residence Permit is a long-term visa that is an essential criterion in case you are planning to Study in Sweden. The permit is issued by the Swedish Migration Agency. However, the processing of the permit is done by the Swedish Embassy and Consulates in India.

What is the Processing time?

All the visa applications are foremost sent to Sweden for processing. The total time taken for processing the visa is approximately 90 days. However, the processing may take a little longer. Students are advised to apply for the same through online mode as it takes much longer time to process the offline or paper application. In addition, it is recommended for students to start their admission process as soon as the Visa is approved to avoid any delay. If students delay to start their admission process, they might suffer from a lot of issues.

Fees for Visa

The total fee for Residence Permit for Study procedure in Sweden costs SEK 1,000 as per the current exchange rate. The payment of the fee must be made through the online mode either by Visa or MasterCard. Debit Cards, as well as Credit Cards, can be used for making the payment.

However, when making the payment the candidate must ensure the card used for making payment must have requisite balance for making international payments. It is recommended to speak to your issuing bank before making the payment.

Necessary Points to Know for Student Visa for Sweden

• Keep two sets of documents of original as well as attested copies carrying signature on the copies. It is required for Paper Applications.
• If you are opting for Online Application, upload the scanned copy of all the original documents. The documents uploaded must be original and not photocopies.
• The document size for the attached documents must be the mentioned size in the acceptable formats.
• The files must not be larger than 2MB and should be uploaded in either pdf or JPEG format. The other approved formats are the doc, docx, jpg, png, RTF and txt.

Documents for Applying for Residence Permit

• Students applying for Residence Permit for Sweden are required to provide the following documents which are mentioned below:
• Valid Passport with validity of 6 months from the time of application.
• The passport must not be issued earlier than 10 years at the time of applying for the Visa.
• Candidates must take an enrolment letter from the University of Sweden which states the complete duration of the program along with the payment status of the first installment of fees.
• Proof of financial capacity. This is required for the reason stating the candidate has the required funds needed for enrolment to the course as well as to support their stay in the country.
• The financial capacity can be in the form of Scholarship or student loans. It can also be own funds that are equal to SEK 8,190 each month for staying in Sweden, calculated for their stay with a minimum of 10 months every year stay in the country.
• Proof of Health insurance. This is required in case the stay is for less than 10 months.
• In case you are applying for residence permit then it is mandatory for the candidate to provide health insurance when you reach Sweden.
• Marksheet and Certificate of Class 10th, Class 12th, and Bachelor’s Degree.
• Candidates will be asked to submit a 1000 character or 150 words Essay as to why they have chosen Sweden as the country for their higher studies. This has to be submitted along with the Application form.
• There is no specific format for writing the essay. However, the candidate must provide a specific reason as to what they believe Sweden offers which their home country doesn’t.
• Candidates are not required to submit all the documents. You will only have to provide the document of your latest qualification or work experience. In case you are wanting to submit documents of all previous qualifications they must be provided in the relevant format with relevant documentary proof.

Steps to Apply for Swedish Student Visa

Students are required to have complete knowledge about the steps they need to follow while applying for student visa to avoid mistakes. Following are the steps for applying for Swedish Student Visa:

• Confirm your admission in the applied University of Sweden
• Ready all the necessary documents required for submission
• Confirm your health insurance
• Login at Migrationsverket website and fill your residence permit form
• Upload the mentioned documents and click on submit
• Pay the fees of SEK 1,000 through online mode using either Debit or Credit Card.
• You will receive a confirmation from the consulate or embassy
• Submit your biometric information along with the latest photograph at the nearest embassy or consulate office of Sweden after receiving confirmation.