Admission Calendar for Italy: Universitaly, Visa Deadlines and Quotas

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

Italy has no single national application date for international applicants. It has one national visa deadline, one national portal and a set of dates that each university chooses for itself. This guide explains how those pieces fit together, based on the ministerial procedures for international students for 2026/27 and 2027/28 published on Universitaly. Check each university's page for the exact dates of the programme you want.

Two years in one document

The Ministry of University and Research (MUR) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in April 2026 that the procedures for entry, stay, enrolment and recognition of qualifications are valid for the two academic years 2026/27 and 2027/28. From 2026/27 they have a two-year validity. The rules below are the same for both intakes, with different visa deadlines.

The national visa deadlines

For bachelor's, master's, and first- and second-level academic diploma courses, including single-cycle degrees, visa applications must reach the Italian consulate no later than 30 November 2026 for the academic year 2026/27, and 31 October 2027 for 2027/28.

Other kinds of course follow a looser rule. For university "Master" courses (the postgraduate type), doctorates, Erasmus, single courses and foundation courses, there is no time limit for the visa application, but it cannot be later than the start of teaching.

These are the last possible dates. The procedures say universities set exact dates for each course on their own portals, based on when teaching starts, and these dates can be earlier than 30 November or 31 October. In practice your real deadline is the one on the university's page.

Step one: pre-enrolment on Universitaly

The pre-enrolment request for the visa must be submitted exclusively through Universitaly, the official, free portal of the ministry. The student visa guide for Italy explains what follows: validation by the university and the consular application. For the calendar, remember three rules:

the dates for pre-enrolment are defined by each institution and published on its website, except for programmes with limited places
for programmes with a numerus clausus, such as those that need an entrance test, you register for the test through Universitaly and must do so by the deadlines of the national calendar for those courses. Registering for the test does not exempt you from applying for the visa. See IMAT and TOLC admission tests
universities must publish, for each course, how they assess and pre-accept candidates, the deadlines, the number of places and any admission test

Places for international students

Italian regulation requires each university to set, by 31 December each year, the number of places for foreign students for the next academic year. From 2026/27 an institution can validate no more pre-enrolment requests than its places for international students plus 20 percent. That is one reason not to leave your application for the last week.

ITS Academy courses

The online pre-enrolment procedure on Universitaly does not apply to higher technical institutes (ITS Academy). You apply to the institute directly, by its own deadlines, and the visa procedure is the same as for degree courses.

After you arrive: two dates to keep

Within eight working days of arriving with a national type D study visa, you request the residence permit.
You renew the permit for the whole year at least 60 days before it expires. The renewal depends on exam credits: in the first year you must have passed one assessment, and in later years at least two. A permit cannot be issued for more than three years beyond the length of the course.

Working backwards from the visa

Choose programmes in autumn, and check each one's Universitaly deadline and test dates.
Prepare your qualification documents and language certificate early. See declaration of value and CIMEA.
Submit the pre-enrolment as soon as the portal opens for your course.
After validation, book the consulate appointment, with the financial and housing proofs described in the visa guide.
Keep 30 November 2026 (or 31 October 2027) as an outer limit only.

Where to look next

How to get into university in Italy
How much it costs to study in Italy: our catalogue lists 2,751 programmes at 295 institutions, 233 of them taught in English

Official sources

Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.