Moving Overseas With An Educational Visa

Can university classes be your ticket overseas?

In the article “Can You Just Move Overseas?“, I wrote that one possible way to live overseas is with an educational visa.

Here’s some more information on that subject.

The positives of living overseas on an educational visa

Without some type of visa, or residency, you can usually only stay in a country up to 30 through 90 days as a tourist. There are exceptions to this, but you’ll normally need to find a way to stay in the country for longer than that.

When you have an educational visa, you can often stay for a year. Renewing it for your next year of studying is simple.

Thailand is one place where people will become students, attending language and culture classes on an educational visa. That way, they don’t need to leave the country frequently, in order to come back on a new, short tourist visa.

With an educational visa, you may also get assistance from the school with on filing your paperwork.

Many people who think about moving overseas are concerned about getting the proper forms filled out correctly, with the correct stamps, by the right people. So we hire residency assistants or lawyers, which is money out of our pockets. If a school focuses on getting foreign students, they may have people on staff who can assist you with your paperwork.

Attending school is a great way to immediately start meeting new people. No need to be stressed out over wondering where you’ll meet people. You’ll be in classes with dozens of other students. The school may also have group activities and social clubs for you to join.

You may also be eligible for some other student benefits – affordable housing or meal plans.

If you’re from the US, you may be surprised at the low cost of universities overseas. In fact, in Germany, you may be able to study free, in classes taught in English. You can find out more about German international programs here http://www.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/07535.en.html

The negatives of living overseas on an educational visa

Of course, there are some negatives to doing this.

When applying for some of these visas, you may be required to show you have some money saved, and won’t become a financial burden to the state. It’s usually not very much, compared to what you may need to show for a residency visa. However, you may need to show you have up to ten thousand dollars (US) in savings.

While some programs are free, or low-cost, other universities may charge you as much as you’d pay back home (or more).

If you are applying for a serious degree, you may need to qualify. Yes, just like when you were eighteen years old. And it’s possible you may not be accepted. This won’t happen if you’re applying for a school that only teaches language and culture classes to foreigners. However, if you are hoping to earn an engineering degree, the school may want to make sure their program is filled with qualified students.

Much of your time may be taken up with classes and studying. If you’ve already gone through that stage of your life, are you willing to go through it again?

You may not be permitted to work, while on an educational visa. Or, you may only be allowed to work a few hours per week. If you’re looking to earn a living wage while going to school, that may be difficult. Especially if you need to find a job in a country where you don’t speak the language.

An educational visa doesn’t necessarily lead to permanent residency. In some cases, you may be able to look for work for a limited time after graduating. But then you’ll need to find a company that is willing to get you a work visa.

You’ll need to renew these types of visas. It will probably be just once a year. However, if you plan to live in the country for the rest of your life, you should consider getting permanent residency some way.

My views on using an educational visa to live abroad

If you want to attend university, regardless of where you live, then an educational visa can be great. It lets you get what you want (the classes) and gives you the opportunity to become familiar with a new country.

However, if you’re only taking the classes to get the residency, I’d suggest you only do that if it’s a country where you really want to live, and you can’t find another way to live there. The extra expenses and regular renewals of the visa will become tiring after a few years.