Personal Guide
Admission Process And Requirenments
Documents required for application process
- Academic Transcripts: 10th, 12th, Semester wise mark sheet, consolidated mark sheet and the degree certificate (Bachelor’s & Master’s if applicable)
- English language requirements: IELTS / TOEFL / Duolingo score
- Work experience certificate (if applicable)
- Resume
- Statement of purpose
- Two letters of recommendation (LOR) from academics (professors) or work place (employer / manager) who knows the student and comment on their abilities
- Portfolio (if applicable according to the course)
- Any additional certifications
- Passport copy (front / back)
Application Fees:
Application fees are charged by certain universities and the student needs to pay the fees
Steps for the application process:
- Selection of college and course
- Cross check the website of Universities and colleges to check the course in detail
- Filter the Universities and courses which match the requirements
- Take the English language exam (Ielts / Toefl / PTE / Duolingo English test)
- Write Statement of purpose
- Request letter of recommendation from academics or work place
- Complete Documentation to be sent to ‘Study Ireland’ team for further process
- Application filing through the university portal
- Program co-ordinator of specific university might request the student to attend the interview
- After getting the visa, student can start collecting the documents for visa application with the help of ‘Study Ireland’ consultants
English Language Requirements
English language score is required to apply for any program in Ireland. It is a pre-condition for immigration and is a mandatory requirement while applying for the visa. The commonly accepted English scores for Ireland are IELTS/TOEFL/PTE/Duolingo English test. Duolingo English test is accepted on a temporary basis due to Covid pandemic.
Each University have their own requirements. ‘Study Ireland’ consultants will explain about the requirements in detail according to the course chosen. In most of the Universities, the minimum requirement for Undergraduate courses is 6.0 overall score in IELTS with minimum of 5.5 in each band. In relation to post graduate courses, the minimum IELTS requirement is 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each band.
Students can apply for the Universities without the language score card. In that case, they will be issued with a conditional offer citing ‘English language requirement’. At a later date, once they submit the score card the full offer will be provided by the University/ Institute. ‘Study Ireland’ consultants will ‘follow-up’ with the respective Universities and keep the student updated.
Intakes
January intake
January and April–Only few colleges are open for this intake.
September intake
September-All the Universities, Institutes and colleges are open. It is the main intake where all the courses are open with all the Universities.
Tuition Fees & scholarships
The tuition fees in Ireland is cheaper in comparison with other developed countries. Education system in Ireland is world class and portrayed for the research investment and grants provided by the Government to these Universities.
- The tuition fees for the research courses starts from 7,500 euros after scholarship and it moves up to 24,500 Euros for Taught courses.
- The Tution fees charged by the Universities are much higher compared with the Institutes and colleges
- Once an offer is issued by the University or Institute, the student needs to pay the deposit within a mentioned timeframe otherwise the offer becomes invalid. On payment of the deposit, the tuition fees less the deposit needs to be paid.
- Some Universities require at-least half the Tution fee to be paid before applying for the visa and for some Universities Tution fees needs to be paid in full before applying for the visa.
- As per the immigration requirement, at-least half of the fee or 6,000 Euros needs to be paid in advance to the University before applying for the visa. As a documentation requirement, the fee receipt needs to be submitted for visa application.
Scholarships
There are various scholarships offered by Universities & institutes. The levels of scholarships vary according to the academic merit of the students.
Some universities issuescholarship at the time when the offer is released. Some Universities might issue the scholarship at a later date for which the student needs to submit a separate application. ‘Study Ireland’ consultants will help you out with each & every aspect of the application to make sure that the student application is made without any flaws including the scholarship application.
Different types of scholarships available with each University
There are various scholarships available in different Universities. Award of scholarship by the university depends on different factors which include candidate’s academic criteria, social work, experience and other factors which it deemed to be necessary.
Scholarships may be classified for EU and Non-EU students. The students from the 27 member Euro zone may apply under the EU category. The students from other countries can apply under Non-EU category. The students from India should apply under Non- EU category.
SOP And LOR Drafting
SOP is an important piece of document for a student application. It gives the ‘program co-ordinator’ an understanding of the academic back ground and interests. ‘Study Ireland’ consultants will provide with the necessary supports for preparing the SOP. We will provide several samples of ‘SOP’ where the student can take references from them and start drafting the SOP. Students need to mention about the motivation to apply for the course, interest, goals and what they want to achieve upon completion of the course.
We will make necessary changes to the ‘SOP’ and advise the student on any changes if required. Some Universities require SOP which is mandatory for application submission. Some institutes and colleges don’t require an SOP for application submission however it is always an asset for the application.
Reference letteror letter of recommendation is similar. Students need to get the LOR from the college where they had studied or from the work place. Most of the Universities require academic reference letter and it’s the preferred one. It will provide admission officers with an insight on the quality of the candidate. Universities will also send an email directly to references for verification and it’s the student’s responsibility to intimate their reference to reply to the mail.
Points to note while preparing the SOP
- What motivates you to apply for the course?
- Mention in brief about Academics and extracurricular achievements, skills and Hobbies
- What’s your future goal and how the course will benefit the student in achieving the goals?
- Get to know more about the department and University in particular. Put the knowledge and related skills which you have developed in the past and try to relate to the modules which you intend to study in the course which you are applying.
- If you look forward to pursue research in a similar area, then you can mention in detail about it and how the course will benefit you.
- Try to keep the achievements within the required word limit.
- USP (Unique selling point) will make you stand-out of the crowd. It will give the programme co-ordinator a positive thought on the applicant.
- Sequencing is vital part for an SOP and connecting the sentences should be as smooth as possible.
- Try to give much information on ‘When and where you have lead a team’ or ‘you have been guiding several people under your leadership’ to accomplish a specific task and what skills you have used to achieve those.
- ‘Reviewing’ the SOP is an important part as nothing could be right at the first time. You should proof read the whole document and rectify the mistakes. You can take a look at the word count to reduce if it has crossed the limit. At last you can ask friends to review it as they might be able to point out any mistakes which you might not be able to recognise. These mistakes can be rectified and read through the SOP again to give a final touch.
- ‘Study Ireland’ consultants are available to provide you with the necessary supports in reviewing the SOP and making changes to it if required.
Points to note while preparing the SOP
- Name and Designation of the person providing reference should be mentioned clearly.
- Official e-mail id of the person providing the reference letter should be on the letter and personal email-id will not be accepted.
- The Date should be mentioned on the letter.
- ‘LOR’ should be on a company letter-head with the seal and signature.
- Academics – Try to get reference from the head of the department or professors who can assess your ability.
- Work place – Reference from the Manager grade (level) or Team leader would be preferred one.
- LOR from the academics are preferred in most of the Universities and the work place references are second to academics. If the students have many years of experience, then they can get the reference from the work place.
- Most of the Universities will cross check the reference and it’s good to double check the contact details and intimate the references on the same as they might need to respond to the mail.
Visa And Immigration
Notes on Visa application
- Give the accurate information.
- Original documents should be submitted for verification.
- Important: ‘False’ and ‘Fraudulent’ information should not be submitted. Utmost care should be taken by the student.
- ‘Photograph’ should be affixed as per the guidelines issued by the immigration department.
- It is important to Sign the documents wherever it’s necessary.
- Apply well in advance for the visa as it will give enough time for the students to plan their travel arrangements.
- All education qualification related docs should be submitted with notarized copies if required.
- Any ‘Visa’ refusals should be declared on the visa application form.
- ‘Misrepresentation’ in the visa docs is an offence which will result in rejection of visa and may also disqualify the candidate from applying for visa for a specific period of time.
- Any information specified on the visa application should be supported by valid documents. It is important to submit all the documents else the visa decision might get delayed.
- Note:
- In the case of ‘Approval in principle’ scheme, the students who are yet to receive the final exam results can submit the visa applications to the embassy. The visa office shall make the decision on the basis of other docs and once the ‘pending docs’ are submitted, the visas will be approved.
- Visa applications for Sep intake should be submitted well in advance as the number of the student applications will be more.
Student Visa process for Ireland:
- There are various conditions which the student must prove as part of the visa process.
- Intention: Students intention in Ireland should be to study and the visa officers should get convinced on that statement. Various documents like Statement of purpose, Cover letter, education certificates and offer letter of the student can prove whether a student is genuinely coming to Ireland for study purpose.
- Financials: Students financial background is a vital part of the visa application. If the student cannot show sufficient financials to cover both the Tution fees and Living expenses, the visa may be refused. In most cases, blood relatives of the student can be sponsors and evidence is required for the same. Apart from the Tution fee mentioned on the offer letter, 10,000 € – 12,000 € is required for living expenses. If the University / Institute is based in Dublin, 12,000 € is required and for other counties the required amount is 10,000 €. Most of the visa application denial is due to the lack of financial evidence and incomplete documentation. Even though, the student may earn income through both part-time & full-time jobs the funds will not be taken into account while filing for the visa.
- Offer letter: Students must get an offer from an approved institution which is recognized by govt of Ireland. Most of the institutions fall under QQI (Quality and Qualifications Ireland ) and HEA (Higher Education Authority ).
- Return to Home Country: Students should provide sufficient evidence to prove that they will return to the home country on completion of course. While preparing both SOP and Cover Letter, they should mention about the advantages of studying towards the chosen course. Also the student should convey the Visa officer on how the course could help in achieving their career goals in the Home Country.
Visa application fees:
The current visa application fee is 17,210 INR. The fee includes Multiple-entry visa category, VFS- verify and check service, courier fee and SMS fee. Additional charges are applicable if the student wants to purchase additional services from VFS which are non-essential.
Immigration:
Once the visa is granted and when the student is ready to travel to Ireland, they need to make sure that they have all the documents which include academics, offer letter from the college, medical insurance, bank statements and other related documents which were submitted for visa application. On the border entry point, the student may be asked to provide the documents for verification.
Once the student gets registered with the college they can request a bonafide certificate. The same certificate needs to be submitted with the local immigration office at the time of appointment. The initial visas will be only granted for a period of 3 month time and the student extend for a period of 1 year by showing the relevant documents like offer letter, bonafide certificate, bank statements and medical insurance copy. The fee payment of €300 to be made to the immigration office and the immigration residence permit (IRP) card will be posted to the students address within a month’s time. Students will get ‘Stamp 2’ visa which will be mentioned on the resident permit card.
Work Permits
On completing the course with the university and securing the job offer with the company, the student might be able to secure ‘General skills’ or ‘Critical skills’ employment permit. Labour market test is required before issuing the permit under ‘General skills’. In order to secure the critical skills permit, the specific occupation should be listed on the ‘skill shortage occupation list’. There are several underlying facts underthe specific job which can decide on whether the candidate will be issued with either of the permits. There are several categories of permits which our ‘Study Ireland’ consultants will be able to explain in detail.
Safe & Security
Safety is an important aspect which the student needs to look at. Ireland is a very safe country and the crime rate is very lower compared to other European countries. It is good to take some safety precautions. It is better to avoid waking during late nights in the street and avoid having conversation with the people who are drunk.
Accommodation and living in Ireland
Accommodation is the vital part for the student in making a comfortable stay for them until they completetheir studies. There are various types of accommodation which includes Homestay, co-living, private student accommodation and family sharing. Depending on the students comfort and budget, they can choose either of them for their pleasant stay.
‘Study Ireland’ team highly recommends the students to choose to live with their fellow students as the cost will be low and there are several advantages. Family sharing is where a student can live with a family and the expense is also low in this case. They will be sharing common amenities. In case of Private student accommodation, there are several accommodation providers who provide accommodation exclusively for students in an apartment style complex. It’s expensive compared to other type of accommodation.
The accommodation in the capital city is very expensive compared with other cities and remote places. Shared accommodation is one of the best ways to find an accommodation where it is cost effective as well. In case of catering, the best way to reduce the cost is to prepare food on their own.
Accommodation in capital city (Dublin) is expensive and the cost per person would be in the range of 400-800 euros per month. In other cities like Galway, Cork and Limerick the cost would be around 300-600 per month. For groceries, the cost would be in the range of 100-150 Euros per month. It’s important to make a note that, the living cost depends on the student’s way of living.
‘Study Ireland’ consultants will provide the help and reference of the students who are already in Ireland which will help in securing the accommodation easily. It’s helpful for the students as they can make the contact with them which will help them in securing an accommodation.
Major Websites where students can find accommodation:
1. Daft.ie
2. Rent.ie
Medical Facilities
The medical infrastructure in Ireland is one of the best in the world. All the students who are enrolling with higher education institutions in Ireland need to have medical insurance. It is also a requirement to submit the proof of health insurance while applying for the visa. Once the students enter Ireland, they need to get registered with a local GP and in case of any emergency they can visit them to get treated. There are different health insurance policies and according to the terms the claims can be made with the respective provider. In most of the Universities, there is an in house-GP where they can contact them in case of medical emergency.
