Get prepared
Insurance
If you do not require a residence permit, you are free to select any student insurance company.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION If you only have a EHIC card, you are not sufficiently insured. EHIC card is only valid for a short period and provides limited cover.
Fontys recommends the international student-minded insurance company InsureToStudy. As a Fontys student you will get a discount! Populair is the Master Plan which covers healthcare (existing conditions are not covered), extraordinary costs, repatriation, liability, accidents, legal aid and baggage & household goods. ITS also reimburses if a student consults a digital doctor. If you use this link you will be forwarded to an application portal. If you fill in the institution code "FONTYSITS" you will automatically receive the Fontys discount. Note you have to use your student.fontys.nl email address.
The Master Plan+, covers the same as the master plan but also covers the existing health conditions.
If you require an entry visa and/or residence permit, insurance will form a part of the immigration procedure, which Fontys will arrange on your behalf. Fontys offers a low cost, tailor made insurance called InsureToStudy. Master Plan+ is a package which covers healthcare including existing conditions for instance asthma, diabetes, eczema, migraines, but also disadvantages have continued from previous operations, extraordinary costs, repatriation, liability, accidents, legal aid and baggage & household goods. ITS also reimburses if a student consults a digital doctor. Fontys will apply this insurance on your behalf. InsureToStudy will contact you about the payment of the premium.
During your stay in the Netherlands you are obliged to be insured. You are free tough to extend this insurance (InsureToStudy) or to change the insurance company after the first year.
The Fontys Master of Architecture is a part-time study combining study and work experience. International students having a residence permit STUDY must adjust their ITS student insurance by combining it with the Holland Zorg basic health insurance. Contact InsureToStudy for more information about this combination. All students combining study and work can make use of this offer and combine the InsureToStudy insurance with the Holland Zorg basic health insurance. This combination makes it easy to switch from work to no-work, even daily.
You are not allowed to take out a public Dutch health insurance if you are in the Netherlands for study purposes only.
More information about working while studyingVisa information
Start your preparations early
The Fontys University of Applied Sciences has an agreement with the Dutch Immigration & Naturalisation Service (the ‘IND’) to apply for Entry Visas and Residence Permits on behalf of its students. The required procedure will be commenced before you travel to Holland. Although the ‘IND’ generally processes applications within two-three weeks, we recommend that you start the process early, i.e. approximately three months before you plan to enter Holland, as it may take some time for you to gather all of the required documentation. You will find more information in this brochure: Coming to study in the Netherlands.
Disclaimer Fontys University of Applied Sciences retains the right to refuse to apply for a student visa/residence permit if there are significant concerns about the applicant's intended purpose of stay in the Netherlands. In this regard, Fontys reserves the right to require an additional motivational letter/ questionnaire and/ or (online) interview.
The Dutch immigration service (IND) will grant you a residence permit which is valid until three months after the expected end of your study program. In spite the expiry date on your residence permit card these additional 3 months are only valid after graduation and will be effective starting from your graduation date ( BA / MA) or final date of Exchange.
To enter the Netherlands for the purpose of studying, you may require a visa and/or a residence permit, depending on the following factors :
- Your nationality, i.e. as stated in your passport.
- The duration of your stay, i.e. for less or more than three months.
- The purpose of your stay, i.e. we assume that you intend coming to the Netherlands to study, or for a preparatory year.
All non-EU/EEA students entering the Netherlands will require an Entry Visa (‘MVV’), except nationals from Australia, Canada, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK, the USA and Vatican City State. This Entry Visa is a sticker that is placed in your passport and is issued by the Dutch embassy or consulate in your country of origin.
Read more about the Dutch Embassies abroadChecklist
For all international students, EU and Non EU-students
Important documents / useful items
- Valid passport (including visa, if needed);
- Sufficient funds for the expenses that you will incur during the first month of your stay. You will need to take into account payment for your accommodation (including a security deposit) and your general living expenses;
- Medical records;
- Arrange health, liability and repatriation insurance (for EEA students);
- Important addresses and telephone numbers (e.g. contact numbers for Fontys, your accommodation, your country’s embassy, et cetera);
- The original diploma and certified copies diploma and grade list both in original language and translation (if applicable, joined by a translation made by a sworn translator);
- Arrange accommodation (only if you haven't applied for accommodation via Fontys);
- Proof of vaccination.
Important documents you will need to register at the City Hall
- Proof of civil status only in case you are married, divorced or a widow(er);
- Rental agreement for the room in the Netherlands;
- Copy of admission letter of Fontys University of Applied Sciences;
- Original birth certificate or original legalised true copy of the birth certificate (not older than six months) If your birth certificate was not issued in the Dutch, English, French or German language, you will also need to submit a sworn translation.
Additional stamps, from the government of the country which issued the birth certificate, might be required. In order to confirm which legalisation you are required to have, visit this website. Please check www.netherlandsandyou.nl to find details of your local Embassy or Consulate.
- Your passport, including a ‘Machtiging tot Voorlopig Verblijf’, or ‘MVV’ (an ‘Authorisation for Temporary Stay’) if you are a student hailing from a country for which an Entry Visa is required;
- Print of the approval letter of the Dutch Immigration Service (IND) (if you have applied for a Dutch residence permit STUDY);
- Print of your InsureToStudy insurance policy. Save the attached scan in your cell phone Please note: Fontys has arranged this student insurance on your behalf. InsureToStudy has sent you, beside the pre-policy, a link to pay the premium digitally. You have to pay for the insurance offered by InsureToStudy before your departure to the Netherlands. The Dutch Immigration Service requires a student insurance beside your residence permit for the Netherlands. The insurance card and the overview of the cover of the policy will be sent to your Dutch room address. The insurance company will contact you after your arrival in the Netherlands to ask your room address. Look at their website (downloads) for more information about the cover: https://www.insuretostudy.com/en/;
- Instructions to locate your country’s embassy/consulate.
- The Tuberculosis test referral form (if applicable). Please print it and fill in all data before you travel to the Netherlands;
Undergo a tuberculosis examination at the Municipal Health Service:
Your study department will arrange an appointment for you at the Municipal Health Service (GGD) or you have to do it yourself. Contact your study department first.
You must print, fill in and bring the Tuberculosis Examination Referral Form (you will receive this form attached to your final email from Visacare), completed as much as possible (Section A) and your passport to the appointment with the Municipal Health Service (GGD). Bring your ID.
The examination requirement does not apply to citizens originated in the following countries.
For students studying in Eindhoven : Immigranten en expats - GGD Brabant-Zuidoost (ggdbzo.nl)
| For students studying in Tilburg | For students studying in Venlo |
|---|---|
| Reitseplein 5 5037 AA Tilburg Zij-ingang - verdieping 5 088 368 7100 Ma t/m vr: 08:30 – 16:30 uur | GGD for TBC check: Oranjelaan 21, 6042 BA Roermond 088-1191716 |
Legalized notarized declaration which includes family name, given names, date of birth, place of birth, name of father and name of mother and a notarized certified true copy of the document or documents on which the notary has based his statement regarding the birth and the data of the parents.
The following documents will be accepted:
- Hukou of the parents in which the birth of the child is registered;
- Declaration of the hospital which explicitly states that this statement can be used for the registration of the birth in the Hukou registry;
- A statement from the Public Security Bureau where the requested data prove out;
- Notarized certified copy of the updated and complete Hukou of the child itself.
This should be done as soon as possible, as the legalisation process can take a number of months.