Extending Student Visa!

I am not a legal expert but this is my view:

1. Student visas are issued as-is, they cannot be extended. If you need to get another student visa, you will need to do so from your country of nationality.

2. The permesso is completely different to the VISA. A visa gives you access to the country, the permesso allows you to stay. If your visa expires, you are not able to remain in the country legally, regardless of whether you have a permesso or not.

3. No, as mentioned the permesso and visa are totally different.

4. In regards this, there are a number of routes to follow. Firstly, if you go and study at an Italian university for 3+ years, you can change your student visa to a work visa. I have forgotten the link but it will appear if you Google it. If you find work and need to get the VISA sorted, you'll need to do that from your home country.

5. Personally, I'd say it will be best for you to go back to your home country and get the correct work VISA. This will prevent any bullshit you'll get for not having the correct paperwork.

Ooh. Wow, Okay! Makes sense.. I still question why I'd still need the visa if I have the Permesso di Soggiorno (which is what I need to actually stay...) But, I understand overall. Thank you so much for responding!

I'll have to disagree with a few things in rpeck's response.  While the visa is the document that allows one to enter Italy legally for the purposes of remaining for longer than 90 days, the permesso di soggiorno is not only the document that allows one to stay, but states for how long.  It is the expiration date of the permesso di soggiorno, not the visa, that determines how long one can stay in Italy.  You can extend the student permit under VERY strict guidelines, which includes proof of subsequent enrollment at the SAME university, as well a providing proof that you are a student in "good standing," meaning you have passed your classes, and all of the other requirements that were in place when you first applied.  It is possible, but very, very difficult, to change a student permit into a work permit.  Because of that, many companies will not hire a person who does not already have a work permit, but one can not get a work permit without a work contract.  It's a "catch-22" issue, which complicates the matter.  The other complication are the quotas set by Italy as to how many foreigners can be employed each year; the "window" has just opened and will close when quotas are full.

Hello,

I'm not an expert on this,just want to share my experience. I'm an non eu citizen,came here with a student visa for 18 months master program. Got my permesso for study as soon as i got here. After i finished with my study i changed the permesso for study into cerca lavoro.

Not long process just take a whole day. Need to come to this place,forgot the name but looked like a student center,filled in form and wait for couple of hours to present your documents,but the most important thing is your diploma.

Then they will give you a piece of paper called stata occupazionale,and bring it to the questura to apply for the cerca lavoro (searching for job) type of permesso. If they granted you the permesso,it will valid for 1 year and will not be able to extend. You need to find a job within the validity period of your cerca lavoro permesso and change it into work permit.

But i have to say I'm not sure about what kind of diploma that's acknowledged by them to get the stata occupazionale.like mentioned by rpeck's,for undergraduate you need to finish 3+years to get any kind of extension from your student visa and 1+ year for master program. So i don't know if the 5 months program you will enroll will qualified you to get that crucial paper to apply for your cerca lavoro permit.

Hope it helps

Andi