Dear Students,
The vibrant community of Indian students in Italy is growing at a rapid pace as Italy offers a number of opportunities for higher studies. The Consulate General of India in Milan is receiving an increasing number of requests from Indian students and parents for assisting in finding accommodation, expediting stay permit in Italy, etc. Although, these functions are outside Consulate's remit, the Consulate is happy to bring you a general guide to help you start from the first step to join Italian educational institutions, required documentation, Italian scholarships, locating accommodation, opening a bank account, filing an application for the stay permit, safeguarding yourself against frauds and useful contact numbers. The Consulate would like to stress that the information appearing in the following guide has been collected from various sources, and does not reflect the views of the Consulate or of Government of India. The Consulate would not be responsible in any way if use of this information results in any material or monetary loss or for any disputes arising out of such use. Students are advised to exercise their discretion while using the information provided in the guide.
The Consulate would like to caution Indian students aspiring to study in Italy to exercise abundant caution while making payments (even through bank transfers) for accommodation or other services, without ensuring their actual existence on ground. There have been cases reported to the Consulate in which Indian students have faced financial losses to fraudsters. Such agreements made through contacts on social media platforms always call for extreme caution. It may be underscored that it is highly unlikely to recover the money lost in such international transactions.
Such fraudsters also try to extort money from Indians living in Italy through spoof telephone numbers of the Indian Consulate in Milan, Indian Embassy in Rome, Italian Foreign Ministry, Italian Police/Immigration authorities with the threat to either pay up money or face deportation/arrest. The telephone number appearing on the phone may be of any of these offices. Further, in order to lend credibility to their claim that they are calling from any of these offices, they may even tell the call recipient that he/she can check through internet search that the number appearing on their mobile phone belongs to one of these offices. In case one receives such calls, it is advised not to panic. Just ignore the caller, and report the above to the Indian Embassy in Rome or to the Consulate General of India in Milan. Please remember that Government offices do not ask for money by calling people on their phones.
The Consulate would also urge you to be careful with your belongings i.e. passports, money and other valuables. Be very careful of the situations around you (such as somebody accidentally dropping his/her suitcase or purse from which the things scatter on the floor and you may try to help the person putting them back etc,.) which may have been created on purpose by a person or a syndicate working together to distract your attention to steal your valuables.
We would request all Indian students who are residing in Northern Italy to register at the link https://www.cgimilan.gov.in/student_register.php. The Consulate operates a 24X7 helpline (3881647527) which can be reached in case of any emergency. For general enquiries you may reach us at cul[dot]milan[at]mea[dot]gov[dot]in. Your feedback on the guide will help us improve it further.
We, at the Consulate General of India in Milan, wish you a safe and pleasant stay in Italy.
(Lavanya Kumar)
Consul General
