EU announces new rules to accommodate non-EU students

The European Commission wants to make studying in the European Union easier for non-EU students. The commission hopes to solve problems troubling non-EU students currently.

Multiple problems were revealed by an EU-survey. For instance, the rules for obtaining a visa or residence permit are unclear and vary among European countries. Students have problems with funding their education, as current laws only allow them to work a maximum of ten hours per week. And even if they best the maze of bureaucracy, it can take a lot of time for the students to actually receive a visa: European countries do not have a time constraint in dealing with such applications.

Solutions

But changes are afoot: the European Commission wants to create ‘one common set of admission conditions and requirements, as well as clear rights and opportunities.’ They want to improve the laws concerning non-EU researchers and students who stay in the EU longer than three months. The commission wants to speed up the processing time of visa applications by limiting this time to sixty days. This limit is further reduced to thirty days for students or researchers in ‘mobility programs’, like Erasmus Mundus.

Non-EU students will be allowed to work more, as they will obtain the right to work for a maximum of 20 hours per week. The plans also include an option for students or researchers to stay in the country for a year after graduation, allowing them to find a job.