“How I got my Irish student visa” by; Mehmet Orcan is a short yet, informative blog about the process Mehmet had to take to obtain his student visa to study in Ireland. Mehmet is a full-time student originally from Turkey has made his way to Cork, Ireland to study at the Cork Institute of Technology, (formerly the Regional Technical College). The institute has 17,000 students in art, business, engineering, music, drama, and science disciplines.
“As it is known in Ireland, if you enroll in a full-time language course for 25 weeks or more, you may be granted an 8-month Irish student visa. During the school term, you can have the right to work part-time up to 20 hours a week.
You found your school in Ireland, you registered, you paid the fee and you arranged your accommodation. now all you have to do is prepare the rest of the documents listed below and, wait for your school to reach out to you. The documents you will need to prepare are:
- Two recent colour passport sized photographs
- Passport and a full copy of any previous passports
- A signed letter of application including your full contact details (stating the reason you want to come to Ireland)
- Letter of Acceptance from the college/university
- Evidence accounting for any gaps in your educational history
- Proof of payment of the registration and tuition fees
- Copies of all academic qualifications, exam results required for university study
- English language proficiency certificate
- Proof you have sufficient funds to support your stay in Ireland without recourse to public funds, or the reliance on casual employment
- Medical Insurance
- Commitment to leave Ireland on the expiry of your visa
The estimated costs of living in Ireland for a student during one academic year is 7,000 EUR. Non-EEA students who are studying for a period of fewer than 6 months are required to prove that they are able to support living costs of 500 EUR/month.
If you have a brokerage firm dealing with these, they will tell you everything you need. After all the documents were ready, I applied with the visa fee at VFS global Istanbul branch, they are checking them to see if there are missing documents, etc. Your visa will result in an estimated 1-2 weeks wait time.
At the end of a week, I received my passport via UPS cargo. My excitement still comes to mind while opening the envelope. When I opened the envelope, my mother and siblings were with me. First, I took out my diploma, then I took my passport and opened it slowly. Yes, I saw the Irish visa with the green harp logo on the first page. Then I opened The Cranberries from Spotify and I started to prepare my suitcase for Ireland”
