Do You Need a Student Visa to Study in Europe? EU and Non-EU Rules Compared
Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.
Whether you need a visa to study in Europe depends first on your passport and only then on the country. This overview compares the seven countries in our catalogue as of October 2026 and links to a detailed guide for each.
If you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen
You need no visa and no work permit in any of the seven countries. You still have duties:
- Register if you stay longer than three months. The office differs: the residents' registration office in Germany, the Central Register of Foreign Nationals in Spain, the municipal registry in Italy, the town hall in Portugal, the commune in Switzerland within 14 days. France requires no registration. Czechia asks you to report your presence within 30 days.
- Health cover. Bring a European Health Insurance Card and check whether the country expects students to join its own system.
- Sufficient means. A declaration is usually enough.
If you are not
You need a long-stay national visa or a residence permit for study, obtained before you travel in almost all cases. A tourist visa, or visa-free entry as a tourist, does not let you stay to study. The common elements everywhere:
- admission to a recognised institution
- proof that you can pay for your stay
- health insurance
- accommodation
- a clean criminal record, in several countries
- documents legalised and translated
Proof of funds compared
Each country defines the minimum in its own way. The amounts below were current at the time of writing and change regularly.
- Germany: tied to the maximum student grant; €992 a month, normally deposited for a year in a blocked account. Germany.
- France: 47% of the gross monthly minimum wage since August 2026; €877.50 a month. France.
- Italy: set in the ministry's yearly procedures; €10,179.85 for the 2026/27 academic year. Italy.
- Spain: 100% of the IPREM index; €600 a month. Spain.
- Portugal: set by government order with reference to the minimum wage, with exemptions for many higher education students. Portugal.
- Czechia: a formula based on the existential minimum: fifteen times for the first month and twice for each further month. Czechia.
- Switzerland: set by each canton, commonly around CHF 2,000 a month. Switzerland.
Tuition fees are on top of these amounts.
Work limits compared
- Germany: 140 full days or 280 half days a year.
- France: 964 hours a year.
- Italy: 20 hours a week, up to 1,040 hours a year.
- Spain: up to 30 hours a week.
- Czechia: no limit for full-time students of accredited degree programmes.
- Switzerland: 15 hours a week during the semester, for non-EU students only after six months.
- Portugal: allowed under conditions that include informing the migration agency.
Do not build your budget on a student job. Consulates assess your funds without it, and finding work takes time, particularly before you speak the language.
After you arrive
In every country the entry visa is only the first step. You convert or validate it within a set period: within three months online in France, within eight working days in Italy, within one month for the TIE card in Spain, before the visa expires in Germany, within four months in Portugal. Missing the deadline can make your stay irregular.
Travelling within Europe
All seven countries are in the Schengen area. A valid long-stay visa or residence permit from one of them lets you travel to the others for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, but not to live or study there.
Timing
Count backwards from the start of term. Admission letters arrive in spring or summer, visa appointments can take weeks to obtain, and decisions take from one month to three. Prepare the slow documents first: legalisation, translations and the criminal record certificate. Our guides to apostille and legalisation and sworn translations explain how.
Official sources
Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.