VU Amsterdam needs to apply for a long stay entry visa (MVV) and residence permit (VVR) when you are a non-EU citizen from a country not specified on the top of this page. In case you hold a valid residence permit of another EU Schengen country, you are exempted from an entry visa and need to follow the Residence permit (VVR) procedure above.
How to apply
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam will apply for a visa/residence permit when you have been (conditionally) admitted. In order to apply for a visa and a residence permit, please follow the steps below. You need to upload your required documents before 1 June if you are starting in September (before 1 December if you are starting in February). From April 1st onwards, it is possible to upload your required documents to our immigration portal called 'VisaCare'.
Please note that if you have not been (conditionally) admitted yet or still have deficiencies, you won't be able to start the visa/residence permit application process.
Step 1: Confirm your participation
The visa section in your VU Dashboard will only open once you confirm your participation in the study programme. You have to confirm your participation in your Dashboard in the COMPLETE APPLICATION section.
Step 2: Submit the online visa form in your VU Dashboard
Now that you confirmed your participation, the visa section will become available in the COMPLETE APPLICATION section of your dashboard. Here you can fill out a visa form which is a short questionnaire.
Step 3: Pay the visa fee
Students need to pay for their residence permit by using the online payment tool in their VU Dashboard. We need to have received the fee before we can submit the application. The costs are specified as follows:
- Residence permit (VVR) costs €275*.
- Residence permit (VVR) when you have a valid residence permit of a Schengen member state costs €275*.
- Extension residence permit (VVR) for study purposes costs €275*.
* These fees are valid as of 1 January 2024 and are subject to change.
We strongly recommend that you use the online payment tool in VU Dashboard to transfer the visa fee. Please note that it may take a few days before the tool is activated in your Dashboard after you have started the residence permit procedure. In case you wish to transfer the fee the old-fashioned way, the bank details are as follows:
Account name: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Name of bank: Deutsche Bank
Address of bank: De Entree 99-197, 1101 HE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
IBAN: NL49DEUT0488004470
BIC: DEUTNL2A
Please state your name and S+ student number (e.g. s1234567). When paid from abroad, all banking costs are to be paid by the applicant. You can pay your visa and housing fee in one transaction.
Step 4: Complete your application in VisaCare
After submitting the visa form and paying the visa fee you will receive an email from us with instructions on how to access VisaCare. You will need to log in to VisaCare and check your student details. You can then proceed to your To Do's page where you will need to upload your visa documents.
The following documents are needed to complete your immigration procedure:
- Copy passport including your signature and any stamped pages. Your passport needs to be valid for at least 6 more months.
- Antecedents certificate signed by hand (on paper). At 2.4 you have to fill in your date of signing, not your date of birth again.
- TB Statement. Whether you need to submit this document depends on your nationality. Please note that you do not have to take the test in your home country, but will need to undergo the TB test within 3 months of your arrival in the Netherlands. VU Amsterdam will inform you about the TB test prior to the Practical Matter Days. Please be aware that the TB test costs €51.
- Proof of financial means. In this manual, you will find detailed information and the requirements concerning the proof of financial means. Please note that Option 5 "Proof of Loan" applies to US and Canadian students only. In the case of a sponsor, the sponsor(s) need(s) to sign the Financial Statement form, which you can find here. Please be aware that the current monthly minimum for the living expenses is €1400 (as of 1-1-2024).
- Indicate in your personal dashboard on vu.nl at which Embassy or Consulate you would like to collect your entry visa. Before you submit your choice, please check whether the representation issues long stay entry visas (MVV) on this website. N.B. when you choose a representation that does not issue long stay entry visas, we will choose another Embassy/Consulate for you. Therefore please check before you submit your answer in your dashboard. Please note it is not possible to change the choice of Embassy or Consulate once the application has been submitted to the IND.
- Finally, your International Student Advisor needs to have verified your English language test results before we can submit the visa application to the IND. Therefore please make sure that your English test results are received by VU Amsterdam before 1 June as well.
The documents do need to meet some strict requirements so please make sure that they do before you upload them in your dashboard. You can use this checklist to double-check that your documents are correct. We strongly recommend that you do so. N.B. your documents cannot be older than 2 months. Additionally, we can only accept documents in English. Documents in any other language will have to be translated into English by an official and certified translator. Finally, please note that we only accept PDF files. We will reject the documents if they are uploaded in any other type of format.
Step 5: Collection of your MVV (long stay entry visa)
Once your visa application has been approved, you will have to schedule an appointment at the Dutch embassy you previously chose in your application. You can find more information about this process and what to bring to the appointment in the information section in your VisaCare To Do list (step 1) regarding visiting the embassy. You will have 90 days from the date of approval to collect your visa at the embassy, and it will be valid for another 90 days from the date of collection. Please make sure to travel to the Netherlands before this 90 day period is over.
You will provide your biometrics (fingerprint and photo) at the embassy. Once you've provided your biometrics, they will often take your passport for a few days, after which you will go back to collect your passport with your visa sticker in it.
Please be aware that your visa (MVV) has to still be valid when collecting your residence permit card (VVR) in the Netherlands, so please make sure not to collect your visa too early.
Step 6: Collection of your VVR (Residence permit for the purpose of study)
The IND (Dutch Immigration Service) has organized 3 central collection days in Utrecht for students to collect their residence permit. The dates are:
24 August: 10:00-17:00
14 September: 10:00-17:00
5 October: 10:00-17:00
Once your residence permit is ready to be collected, you will receive an email from us. In this email we will provide you with further details about how the collection days are organized, along with more detailed information on how to schedule an appointment.
Please note that it is not allowed to schedule your own separate appointment with the IND to collect your residence permit. The IND will cancel these appointments.
Deadline
The deadline for completing the residence permit procedure is 1 June for the first semester and 1 December for the second semester. Please keep in mind that the application procedure takes approximately 6 to 8 weeks, so please make sure you upload your documents in time!
N.B. While we have to submit the application to the IND, it is at all times your own responsibility to complete the procedure before the deadline and to provide documents that are correct. Please also note that VU Amsterdam cannot guarantee that a visa is granted by a certain date, or at all. The timeline as sketched under the section TYPES OF IMMIGRATION PROCEDURES AND TIMELINE depends on how quickly you correctly submit your documents, and the time it takes for the IND and the Dutch Embassy/Consulate to process your application. As a result, VU Amsterdam can never guarantee that your visa will be approved by a certain date. The procedure cannot be expedited as all visa applications are already submitted using the priority procedure for students.
Strict requirements of the IND
As an educational institution, we need to apply for residence permits for study purposes on behalf of all our non-EU students. We act as your legal sponsor as soon as the IND has approved the residence permit application. As such, we are liable and bound by the strict and specific requirements set by the Dutch Immigration Service (IND). Not meeting these requirements means we will not submit your application. When we have submitted your application and it is rejected by the IND, or you decide to no longer study at VU Amsterdam, your visa fee will not be refunded. So please make sure that your application is both valid and complete!