VISA Procedure – Information for full time students from India

Please note that a VISA can only be obtained via the Maastricht University VISA office.

Step 1 : Admission
The first step in the application process for a VISA is being admitted for a program or PhD position at Maastricht University. When you are admitted, the admission officer of the respective faculty will send your application file to the VISA Office. The VISA office will send you information by email about the procedure. When you are applying for certain PhD positions, you will be treated as a Maastricht University employee and therefore assisted by the Maastricht University Knowledge Center for International Staff.

Step 2: The combined visa
If you will be staying for longer than three months (90 days), you will need a ‘provisional residence permit,’ called a MVV ('Machtiging tot Voorlopig Verblijf“) to enter the Netherlands. You must decide if you want a usual MVV or a combined MVV. This is a sticker placed in your passport at the Dutch embassy or consulate in your home country or in a third country where you are legally residing. A combined visa, also know as a D+C-visa, is a special kind of MVV which allows you to travel in and out of the Netherlands during the first 90 days after the visa was issued. Also, this combined visa allows you to travel through the Schengen area during these 90 days. The Maastricht University Visa Office advises Indian students to apply for a combined visa.

Step 3: Sending the correct documents to the VISA Office
In order to complete your VISA application, the VISA office needs the following documents. Because it can take some time to collect them, it is wise to start collect well in advance!

1. Acceptable proof of sufficient financial means

You are required to prove the availability of 800 euro’s for every month you going to be registered. This can be done either by a) Making a deposit of the required amount of money into the UM Visa Office bank account or b) Sending proof of a scholarship. When you deposit the amount at the bank account, it will be treated as payment for the tuition fees.

2. A proof of payment of the fees for the VISA application procedure

This can be done by sending the proof of payments of the VISA and Resident Permit (433 Euros in total). The transfer should show your full name & date of birth. These fees are determined by the Dutch Government, not by the VISA office.

3. A copy of the identification pages of your passport

4. A completed and signed Consent form

This is a one-page form sent to you by the VISA office. You should fill in your personal information and possibly scholarship information.

Step 4: Receiving your visa
After you have sent all the required documents and payments, the Visa Office will directly apply for a MVV at the Dutch immigration via the ‘accelerated VISA procedure’. This procedure will take 5 weeks at most. Once approved, you can pick up your VISA at the Dutch Embassy in Delhi or the Consulate General in Mumbai. Here, you can also indicate if you would like to have a usual MVV or a combined / general MVV.

Step 5: Residence permit
In addition to an MVV, all non-Dutch students wishing to reside in the Netherlands for more than three months are required to obtain a residence permit. Maastricht University will assist you in obtaining the residence permit once you have been admitted and are in the Netherlands and have arrived in Maastricht.

If you have any questions about residence permits or visas, you can e-mail the Visa Office. For more information you can also visit the Netherlands Immigration and Naturalisation website