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UK in Nigeria🇬🇧🇳🇬 on Twitter “🚨UK STUDENT VISA UPDATE Beat the August rush! Although processing times for student visas have now been reduced from 5 weeks to 3 weeks, we recommend that you apply in July if able to do so rather than waiting until August. ”

Study destinations Australia and New Zealand back in the game

If you are going to study abroad, you need a plan, a letter of admission, the ability to finance your studies, and, for many students, a visa. That last-but-critical step is proving to be an unexpected hurdle for some students this year, with significant visa processing backlogs being reported in many leading study destinations. The immediate effect is that it is taking some students longer to have their visa applications turned around, and the delays are introducing a lot of uncertainty and confusion in the marketplace.

ICEF Monitor

Finland makes it easier for international students to work and stay
27 Apr 2022
Short on time? Here are the highlights:

Going forward, international students will receive “continuous” residence permits for the duration of their studies that will make it easier for them to remain in the country after graduating
Students’ families will also receive continuous permits
The number of hours students can work while studying moves from 25 to 30 hours per week
International students can now look for jobs in Finland for two years after graduation (up from one)
Finland is attracting a diverse mix of nationalities to its universities
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Finland has expanded work opportunities for international students and made it easier for graduates to stay in the country to pursue careers and immigrate. The government’s new reforms, which went into effect on 15 April 2022, represent a new competitive advantage for Finnish educators recruiting in non-EU markets. Speedy visa processing, high visa approval rates, and Finland’s consistently high rankings on quality-of-life indicators are other reasons that international students are drawn to this Nordic study destination.

Road to permanent residency will be easier
International students – and their families – will now receive “continuous” permits valid for the duration of programmes rather than “temporary” permits granted for only two years. This will mean that students will not need to apply for extensions during their studies, and it will also make it easier for them to obtain a permanent residence permit after graduation. This is because permanent residence permits are only granted to foreigners who have held a continuous residence permit for four consecutive years.

To obtain their residence permit, international students must demonstrate that they have adequate financial resources to fund the first year of their studies: €560 per month or €6,720 per year.

The importance of family ties
The decision to include students’ families in the new permit allowance is important; it may have been informed by research showing that students are more likely to choose to immigrate if they have family in Finland. A multi-year tracking study by researchers Charles F Mathies and Hannu Karhunen among more than 13,000 international graduates of Finnish universities found that those students who had family ties in Finland were more likely to choose to migrate there. The researchers noted that “Choosing to migrate is not a choice made in isolation. Often, families (parents, spouses, children) are directly and indirectly a part of the process.”

More work hours during studies
The government also announced that it is extending the number of hours international students can work while studying to 30 per week (up from 25) and extending the duration of the “jobseeker’s permit” for international graduates and researchers from one year to two years. Students can apply for the permit up to five years after graduation, and they can even apply from outside of Finland – a significant detail for those graduates who have left the country in the past few years after running out of time in which to find a job.

Announcing the changes, Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen said,

“With seamless permit practices, the Government wants to make it easier for international students and researchers to stay in Finland. The new law will enable those who have studied here to look for work and will make Finland a more attractive destination for international experts.”

Finland faces labour force issues that include employers not being able to find qualified workers for open positions. In 2019, more than half (56%) of businesses surveyed by the government said that they had been looking to hire employees in the past 12 months and 44% said they had difficulties finding suitable candidates. Smoothing the pathway for international students to enter the workforce is in line with an effort to fill skills gaps in the Finnish economy.

Educators applaud the reforms
Finnish educators have been eagerly awaiting these immigration reforms. While the reforms were in the proposal stage, Esko Koponen, an international education specialist at the University of Helsinki, told Finland-based Yle News that,

“[The reforms] will facilitate the permit process and remove uncertainty about continuing studies and living in Finland until graduation. Additionally, [the reforms] would improve opportunities for foreign students to find work in Finland after finishing their degrees, which is the goal of many international students.”

Maija Kuiri, the director for study and international affairs at Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), told Yle that the “reforms would send a positive signal to prospective students who were still deciding about which country to study in.”

While international students generally provide high ratings for their studies in Finland, finding a job after graduation has long been a top frustration. In 2017, about half of international students in Finland surveyed for i-graduate’s International Student Barometer said they wanted to remain after graduating but had trouble doing so.

Applications grow despite imposition of tuition fees
There was some speculation that international student numbers would fall in Finland after the government introduced mandatory tuition fees for non-EU students enrolling in English-taught bachelor and master’s programmes in 2017. However, enrolments have fallen only marginally in the years since. Just over 20,000 non-EU students enrolled in Finnish higher education in 2018/19 compared with just over 21,000 in 2016/17, and application volumes rose significantly in 2021 over 2020.

Non-EU students’ applications to Finnish universities jumped by 141% in 2021 – from 1,756 to 4,233 – according to the Finnish Immigration Service, and the vast majority (93%) were approved.

The bulk of applications came from Russia and China, but universities also reported a significant volume of applications from Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India. In recent years, Finland has been building a more diverse international student body. In 2019, 31,913 students came to the country from both EU and non-EU countries, and the following chart from IIE shows top sending markets.

Data from the IIE, in partnership with the Finnish National Agency for Education, show that Germany (2,579 students), Russia (2,494), Vietnam (2,428), China (2,193), Spain, (1,249), Nepal (1,052), India (830), Netherlands (796), Bangladesh (773), and Estonia (736) were the top sending markets for Finnish higher education institutions in 2019.
Visa processing and approval rates competitive advantages
Finland is processing students’ applications more rapidly than many countries – in the January–August 2021 period, the processing time for a first residence permit (the permit needed for studies in Finland) was 12 days or less. Research has shown that students consider visa processing delays/difficulties to be a major barrier to study abroad, so Finland’s quick processing of permits is likely helping educators there to recruit students who might be considering more than one destination. By way of comparison, the current visa processing average for Canada is 13 weeks and 3–8 weeks for the UK.

That 93% of non-EU students’ first residence permit applications for study in Finland were approved in 2021 is also noteworthy – it’s a very high approval rate relative to Canada and also higher than the rate in the US (85%). European governments in general are approving more non-EU study visas at higher rates than in North America (e.g., 96.5% for the UK and 92% for Germany).

Asian students go to Finland more than to other Nordic destinations
Finland is attracting more students from Asia than many other European destinations. The OECD notes,

“Among international students in Finland, 39% come from Asia, which is more than in other Nordic countries like Denmark (10%), Iceland (16%), Norway (31%) and Sweden (29%).”

The impressive range of Asian countries represented in Finland’s tertiary student population will be important going forward, as Finland’s ability to recruit in China and Russia may be affected by the Ukraine invasion and by whether Finland decides to apply to NATO as a result of increased Russian aggression.

List of Switzerland Scholarships without IELTS

1. Swiss Excellence Scholarships for Foreign Scholars and Artists

Each year, the Government of Switzerland awards scholarships to promote international exchange and research cooperation between Switzerland and over 180 other countries. The Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships are aimed at young researchers from abroad who have completed a master’s degree or PhD and at foreign artists holding a bachelor’s degree.

2. ETH Zurich Excellence Scholarships in Switzerland

Currently ranked seventh in the world is ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Switzerland’s top university, the only non-European European university in the top ten. Awarded for masters studies in Switzerland, it provide supports to students in form of scholarships, mentorship and a network of the ETH Foundation covering the full study and living costs during the master’s programme. The ETH-D Scholarship contains a partial stipend as well as additional offers by the Department (assistantship or additional scholarship). Other scholarships awarded by ETH Zurich include the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship and the E4D Continuing Education Scholarship.

3. University of Zurich Scholarships for International Students

The University of Zurich is the largest university in Switzerland, with about 25,500 students, and offers the most academic options in the country. The National Ranking of University of Zurich is 2nd among all the Switzerland Universities. It is now rated as 78 in the world and conducts teaching and research on a larger topic than ETH Zurich and the special EPFL, with facilities scattered near Zurich. This university provides scholarship opportunities to international students applying for a full-time study programme in eligible programmes.

4. University of Bern International Scholarships

The University of Bern is known to offer high quality educational and research services. It is famous for its high quality of teaching, has a good environment, and has an indistinctly connected campus social, economic, and political life. The National Ranking of the University of Bern is 6thamong all the Switzerland Universities. Its educational and scientific organization is proud of its diversity, as evidenced by its five National Competence in Research.

5. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Scholarships

The Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) offers international students many scholarship opportunities to choose from. The scholarships range from bachelor’s scholarships to masters to doctoral scholarship opportunities. The university is the second of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, was founded before ETH Zurich, in 1853, and follows behind on world-class tables. QS World University 2019 ranks 22nd in the world while ranking 11th in engineering and technology and 13th in natural science at QS World University Rankings in the ranking.

6. University of Basel International Scholarships

The University offers scholarships through the scholarship committee of the Senate in addition to any cantonal education contributions. International students are advised to explore and find out what scholarships they are eligible for. The University of Basel is healthy and innovative, located in the heart of Basel, and draws on art-based art. It was founded in 1460. It is the oldest university in Switzerland. The National Ranking of University of Basel is 3rdamong all the Switzerland Universities.

The university is proud of its 500-year tradition of excellence in teaching, learning, and research, in which they have taken a forward-looking approach to new scientific advances in order to provide quality education and support our right reputation as a university that can attract staff and students from all over the world.

7. University of Lausanne Scholarships

There are several scholarships available for students wishing to study at the University including merit-based scholarships, Swiss Government Scholarships, World Bank Scholarships etc. The University of Lausanne is a higher teaching and research institution composed of seven faculties where approximately 15,600 students and about 3,900 research, teaching et technical staff.

The University’s research activities focus on three main themes: human and social sciences, life sciences and medicine, and environmental sciences. UNIL lays great store by the quality and innovation of its teaching. This is characterised by a highly interdisciplinary approach which is even reflected in the organisation of its faculties.

8. University of Geneva Scholarships

The university holds and actively pursues teaching, research, and community service as its primary objectives. University of Geneva (UNIGE) is dedicated to teaching, research and public speaking. With more than 17’000 students from 150 different nationalities, it is the second-largest university in Switzerland. Like the city of Geneva itself, the University has a strong international reputation, both for its research quality (it ranks among the top institutions within the League of European Research Universities) and for its academic excellence. International students can take advantage of the several scholarship opportunities available at the University to attend to their financial needs.

We got this piece from world travel markets place about 5 Things Every Travel Agency Should Do To Boost Business. We immediately asked some of our clients to do a quick survey for us😄 We got all areas checked💃

1. Specialize ✅
2. Give a personal touch✅
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