Starting January 10, 2025, visa Type D applicants – which includes students on programs longer than 90 days – will have to secure an individual appointment at an Italian consulate for fingerprinting, increasing administrative demands on consulates and prospective students.
“In addition to the increased expense, many students will incur travelling to a consulate and the likelihood of massive wait times for visa appointments, I am concerned that this new requirement will impact students’ decision to spend a full semester abroad,” Melissa Torres, CEO of Forum on Education Abroad told The PIE News.
“The policy change also effectively eliminates the option for ‘batch’ processing, which many US institutions have used to help their students secure visas in a timely fashion and increases the administrative demands on each Italian consulate,” explained NAFSA deputy executive director of public policy Jill Allen Murray.
In 2022/23, Italy was the most popular destination among US students, attracting 15% of those studying abroad and seeing a 37% increase on the previous year.
Stakeholders in the US have warned that the policy may cause students to opt for alternative destinations and could exacerbate the existing trend of students gravitating towards shorter study abroad programs.
According to Torres, several study abroad providers in the US have already confirmed they are looking at shortening programs if the fingerprinting requirement makes the visa process untenable. She also warned of the increased financial demands on organisations if they are not able to carry out batch processing.
NAFSA is concerned that this new stipulation creates a costly burden for students who want to study in Italy
Jill Allen Murray, NAFSA
NAFSA and the Forum on Education Abroad have penned a joint letter to the Italian ambassador to the US expressing these concerns, urging the restoration of batch processing, the allocation of more resources for student visa appointments and to allow fingerprinting by honorary consulates and local police departments.
Both bodies have emphasised that there are unlikely to be enough appointments for consulate staff to satisfy demand in the short term, urging students applying for D Visas do so as soon as they can, prior to January 10, 2025, when the changes come in.
In 2022/23, the total number of US students who studied abroad increased by 49%, with Europe hosting 64% of the students.
The rules for visa-free travel to Europe are changing in mid-2025, with the launch of the European Travel Information and Authorisation system (ETIAS), which will require nationals from 60 countries, who currently do not need a visa to travel to Europe, to apply for ETIAS travel authorisation before their trip.
