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Ready to get moving?
We’ve put together all the essential information you need to think about before you head our way, including important enrolment and migration documents.
Your pre-departure checklist
Make sure you go through this checklist carefully when getting ready to come here.
If you need more detailed information for each step, just go take a look at the relevant section below and remember to come back to your checklist to make sure everything is ready before your departure!
- Check the requisites for enrolment on your Enrolment Handbook
- Apply for the Statement of Comparability
- Ask about visa requirements – we recommend contacting the Italian Consulate in your current country
- Apply for your visa (this is for non-EU students only)
- Get health insurance for your stay in Italy
- Organise accommodation, which you can do either privately or through our providers
- Prepare the documents for your permit of stay application, which you’ll need to file once you arrive in Italy (again, this is for non-EU students only)
- Tell us your arrival date (before you get here)
- Budget for your stay
- Book your orientation session with our ISO, which will happen when you arrive
Accommodation
We recommend that you think about your accommodation several weeks before you arrive here at POLIMI GSoM.
You can book a place to stay through one of our agreed providers, or otherwise you can arrange accommodation by yourself. If you’re looking for short stay accommodation, just get in touch with the ISO to find out what’s available
Money matters
You should make financial arrangements so that you have enough money to cover all your living costs when you get here.
Keep in mind that it can take at least two weeks to open an account if you’re an EU student – or even a few months if you’re a non-EU student since a permit of stay card will be required. It also takes a long time to process bank transfers, so we really recommend that you plan to have enough money to cover all your expenses in the first few months.
Your Upon arrival Checklist
Make sure you go through this checklist carefully when getting ready to come here.
- Ask us for an upon arrival call
- Book and attend your Orientation session with the ISO
- Share key info with the ISO when you get it. This includes the address of where you’ll be living, your health cover info, and your Italian phone number.
- Apply for your permit of stay, your Italian tax code, and your public transport card, with the help of the ISO
- Share your permit application documents (for non-EU students only) with the ISO
- Enrol in the Italian National Healthcare System
- Go to your permit of stay appointment at the Immigration Office
- Share your permit of stay (for non-EU students only) with the ISO
- Register in the population registry
The Italian Healthcare System
By enrolling in the National Health Care System (NHS), you will be able to enjoy the same benefits as Italian citizens. This includes free medical checks at a chosen general practitioner, lower fees for prescription medicines, and lower fees for medical checks with specialists.
If you’re a non-EU student, you can enrol in the NHS after you’ve applied for your permit of stay. It’s not compulsory, but we do strongly recommend it.
If you’re an EU student, you’ll be covered by your European Health Card (EHIC), which you can get from the health authority in your country.
With it, you can see any general practitioner here and get any necessary medical treatment for free or at a reduced cost. If you want complete health coverage though, you should get the S1 form from the health authority in the European country where you’re currently entitled to healthcare.
If you don’t have an EHIC or S1 form, you can buy any private health insurance you want, or you can register with the Italian National Healthcare System (NHS). You’ll need to pay a subscription fee and follow the same procedure as non-EU citizens.
Public transport
You’ll be surprised at just how easy it is to get around with Milan’s extensive transport network.
It has metro, bus, and tram lines covering basically the entire city, and it’s pretty cheap too.
All the buses, trams and underground trains are operated by the same company,ATM(Azienda Trasporti Milanesi).
If you live in the urban area of Milan, you’ll be able to take advantage of Milan’s fixed-cost Urban Travel Card, which you can buy monthly or you can even get one that covers the whole year. This card gives you unlimited travel throughout Milan, which definitely cuts down your transport costs.
The monthly card will let you travel on all forms of transport in the city limits, including trams, buses, the metro and the underground railway. It costs €22 (if you are under 27) or €39 per month (if you are 27 or older). If you’d like some more information on the Fare System, just take a look at the STIBM webpage. If you live outside of the urban area of Milan, the transport pass will cost more.
Last but not least, Milan’s position puts it in easy reach of breathtaking cities like Venice, Rome and Florence. Just pop on the train and you’ll be there in no time. All you need to do is take one of the underground rail lines that run through Milan, connecting it with the outlying Italian cities.
Opening a bank account
You will get a Politec5nico di Milano student card called Policard, when your enrolment is finalised. It might take a while to get it though, as it could come a little while after the beginning of your classes.
Your Policard does two things: it functions as an access card (we call it a “badge” here) for getting into several buildings and the libraries, and it also functions as a prepaid MasterCard with an IBAN, giving you the chance to do your main banking operations free of charge or with only small fees.
Politecnico di Milano issues you this card in cooperation with the Banca Popolare di Sondrio. You can activate it through Politecnico di Milano Online Services. If you want to use it as a bankcard, you will also have to activate it at the Banca Popolare di Sondrio.
Aside from the Policard, the Banca Popolare di Sondrio can offer you other banking options. At the moment, one of the cheapest services they provide is a prepaid card, which is called +MA. The plus sign is “più” in Italian, so you say this name like “piuma”, which means feather. It is a card with an IBAN that allows you to do all your main banking operations.
If you are interested in getting this card, please write to the ISO.
For the activation of both the Policard and the +MA card, you will need your Italian fiscal code if you are an EU student. If you are Non-EU student, you will also need your permit of stay card.
