Due to outsourcing issues at the Italian Embassy, ​​Iranian students face long delays in applying for visas

Iranian students in Italy are facing a delay in applying for their study visas due to management problems in outsourcing services.

On September 19, 2024, the Italian Embassy in Tehran issued a statement announcing that the Visametric booking portal was closed due to high demand and lack of available appointments. However, applicants who submitted their booking requests before September 20 are entitled to a visa appointment and would be summoned before November 29, Schengen.News reports.

Reservations for Student Visa Applications – Enrollment for the 2024-25 Academic Year are now closed. Due to the very high demand for this type of visa, all available appointments have been filled until November 29th, the deadline for submitting visa applications for university enrollment. Students who are already on the waiting list will be called gradually in the order in which they booked, provided they have been assigned an appointment by November 29th.

As the deadline passes, the number of applicants invited to their appointments remains low, as nearly 200 students have not received any notification from Visametric or the Italian Embassy.

The Italian Embassy’s inaction jeopardizes the academic future of hundreds of Iranian students

Several institutions, including the Italian Embassy in Tehran, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of University and Research, have been contacted on the matter, but no response has yet been given.

This situation has impacted Iranian students, causing both financial and emotional harm. Milad Arjmandkia, a master’s student at the University of Milan, reveals that Iranian students have to pay significant sums to afford to apply for a visa or submit their applications to foreign universities.

This problem will cause several financial problems for Iranian students. Many of them lost their student housing and their scholarships. Many of them have flights and temporary accommodation booked, as well as many additional costs such as language tests; Costs for translating the documents.

These issues have also impacted the mental health of students, who are increasingly worried about their future. As Arjmandkia reveals, many of them have planned one to two years in advance, while others have even completed their entrance exams.

Italy is increasingly becoming a popular destination for Iranian students, becoming the leading non-EU country for students in Italy in 2023. According to an Istat report, the number of Iranian students in Italy increased from 973 in 2015 to 4,209 in 2023, a difference of 300 percent.