Applying for an Irish student visa

Before you apply make sure that:

• You are enrolled on a privately funded course involving at least 15 hours of organised daytime tuition each week
• You have paid the full fees to the college
• You can demonstrate that you have the academic ability to follow your chosen course and a level of English language sufficient to do so (except in the case of an application which is solely for an English language course)
• You have immediate access to at least €7,000. This is the estimated cost of living in Ireland for a student for one academic year. You must also demonstrate that you or your sponsor has ready access to an amount of at least €7,000 for each subsequent year of your studies, in addition to the course fees for each of those years
• You have private medical insurance
• You can account for any gaps in your educational history
• Your intention is to return to your country of permanent residence following completion of your studies in Ireland

For full details of the student visa requirements, visit
http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/Student_Visa_Guidelines

How to apply for your student visa

For higher education institutions in Ireland:

With the exception of colleges in Northern Ireland, application for most full-time undergraduate courses is made through a Central Application Office (CAO). The CAO provides you with an application pack with a handbook that lists all the courses on offer and gives information on how to apply.

Contact:
Central Applications Office
Tower House
Eglington Street
Galway
Tel:+353 91 509800
Fax: +353 91 562344
Website: http://www.cao.ie
Email: help@cao.ie

You can also apply to some higher education institutions directly. For a list of these institutions, please visit
http://www.educationireland.ie/how-to-apply/application-procedure.html

Applicants to these universities must contact the Admissions Office of the ones they are interested in, to enquire whether they should apply through CAO or directly to them. Please note that different HEIs may have different policies.

Postgraduate entry

To apply for postgraduate courses in Ireland you should contact the admissions office or international office of the relevant institution directly. Closing dates may vary depending on course and institution. For research opportunities, contact the relevant department for further information.