Are you planning to study at TIAS and coming from abroad? If so, there are several practical matters you’ll need to take care of before your program begins. These include visa and residency procedures, registering with the municipality, and finding suitable housing. On this page, you’ll find all the information you need to prepare for your stay in the Netherlands and ensure that your start at TIAS goes as smoothly as possible.

(Non-)EU/EEA students

Non-EU/EEA students need an entry visa and/or residence permit, which TIAS will apply for.
EU/EEA students only need to register as a new resident of the town where they are going to live.

Your visa application

We are happy to assist you with your Dutch immigration process. Our Immigration Office will help you with the application for your visa and/or residence permit for study purposes and will guide you through the process. You may not submit a visa application independently. Only an authorized referent can submit your application to the IND. When you are admitted, the Immigration Office will invite you to start your visa application in the spring. Your visa application is done through our online application portal.

Immigration fee

The Dutch Immigration Service (known as the IND) charges for the processing of your application, depending on the procedure applicable to you. The amount of that fee is indexed each year.

After you have gone through the entire process in the online application portal, you can make the application fee payment online. TIAS Business School will collect this fee on behalf of the IND. Without the payment, we cannot submit your application to the IND.
Please note the visa/residence permit fee is non-refundable, once the application has been submitted to the IND.

Residence permit

Non-EU students must have a residence permit for study purposes in addition to their visa. A pre-condition for obtaining a residence permit is having valid health insurance. Our Immigration Office will gladly guide you through the process or advise you further.

What we need from you

To successfully process your visa and residence permit application we need the following:

a copy of your acceptance letter (provided by us);
a copy of all relevant passport pages;
proof of sufficient funding, either by you, a third party, such as a parent or a company.

Sufficient funding: you will have to demonstrate that you have sufficient funds to support yourself during your studies at TIAS for a stay of a full academic year. In addition to the living expenses, you will have to prove that you have sufficient funds to pay for your study costs. The required amount to live in the Netherlands is indexed each year and can be found here.

If you need information regarding the immigration process, please contact immigration@tias.edu.

You can also find more information about visas, insurance, permits and other procedures, applicable to your personal situation on the websites of Study in Holland and Dutch Immigration Service (IND).

Housing

Utrecht is one of the most popular student cities in the Netherlands. Because of this, the demand for student housing in and around Utrecht is extremely high.
Many students find it difficult and time-consuming to search for housing. It is a good idea to anticipate the time and effort it may take you to find a room, and start your search several months in advance, even prior to your admission. Finding a place to stay is very important because you need a legal residence in the Netherlands in order to register with the municipality and obtain a citizen service number (BSN).

We are pleased to provide our international full-time students with a number of housing options in Utrecht. TIAS is a partner of HousingAnywhere, whereby TIAS students receive a 20% discount on the subscription fee of the HousingAnywhere platform for TIAS students. To sign up through TIAS, please click here.

TIAS has arrangements with the SSH (rooms with shared facilities) and Canvas Utrecht (individual studios) for a limited number of furnished places with facilities, all nearby the city center of Utrecht and the TIAS campus.

If you need information regarding finding accommodation, please contact housing@tias.edu.

Orientation year for graduates

If you wish to stay in the Netherlands after graduation at TIAS, you have to apply for a different residence permit.

As a TIAS graduate you can make use of the orientation year for graduates. With your permit for the orientation year you have one year to find a job in the Netherlands, for example as a highly skilled migrant. You can also apply for a start-up residence permit. This gives you one year to start an innovative company.

The purpose of the so-called ‘Orientation Year’ for highly educated persons is to retain and attract foreign talent for the Dutch labor market. During this ‘Orientation Year’, you can move freely on the Dutch labor market. This means that your employer does not need to obtain a separate work permit for you. You can find more information in the ‘FAQ Orientation year’.

Immigration & Housing