I have been accepted to the Design Academy Eindhoven which apparently does not help out with the visa application at all. Because of this, I am told the visa application can take 3-6 months to process. I was only accepted recently, so could only apply last month.
According to this warped process, I could potentially arrive in Holland 3 months into my course. I cannot obtain any information about my application and have no idea what to do other than to sit and wait for their reply. In the meantime, I need to make plans for housing, tuition payment and flights to the Netherlands. It is all very frustrating. If anyone can help with advice or similar experiences, please help.
Just recently I had to get a short stay visa (u.s. citizen) to do an internship in france. I had about three weeks to complete the whole process, which i was told would take between 6 - 8 weeks. I was able to explain my situation to the U.S. Embassy and we sped up the process significantly by resorting to fax instead of mail. I think all in total it took maybe two weeks. However this is going outside the protocal and i have no idea how it would work in other countries under different cirsumstances. But my advice would be to contact your embassy soon, and explain that you urgently need your visa to make the rest of your arrangements. Hopefully they will be as equally helpful. good luck
I heard it is easiest to dye your hair black, grow some scruff and jump our southern border with Mexico than going through the legal process- it is a shame but the honest truth.
The way it worked when I was there (2000-02) was that as long as the application was in process then you were OK to stay. Things may have changed since then, due to tightening of student visa requirements.
Try calling the school (which can be hard because it’s summer) and see if you can get the name of another student or alum from the same country as you. They will have the best information what to do.
Another option is to call the TUE and talk to them about visa requirements. They are a much bigger school and are better organized when it comes to foreign students.
The trick is to be polite and persistant with the Dutch. Getting angry over the phone has no effect, but persistance pays off.
As far as the housing, well thats another story altogether.
One last thing- The school sometimes will let you work at home and start late. I’d suggest against it. The whole worth of going there is to be able to work with the instructors face to face.