International Students - Before you arrive to Ireland

Accept your offer of a place at DCU

If you are an Erasmus, Exchange or Study Abroad student visiting DCU for a semester or a year, you will have already accepted your place at DCU and no further action is needed.

If you enrolling in DCU for a degree, and require a visa to study at DCU, please only complete your online registration after your visa has been issued and you are permitted to travel and study in Ireland.

Having secured your visa, ensure all key information is sent to you after you receive your offer by completing the following steps:.

• Undergraduates: email uginternationalapplications@dcu.ie to confirm you are accepting your offer
• Postgraduates: accept your offer online through the Student Application Portal 

Additionally, if you are a CONDITIONAL OFFER holder, submit any remaining documentation to the Assessment Team.    

Pay the full tuition fee to DCU

• Students enrolling for a degree are required to pay at least 60% of their total tuition fees prior to registration.  Information on how fees can be paid can be found here.  Please ensure timely payment in order to avoid any potential problems with immigration or registration. Ensure you keep records of all payments you make.

Register as a DCU student

• Undergraduates & postgraduates: please register online.
• Erasmus, exchange and study abroad students: we will register you so you don’t need to register.
• International Foundation Programme students: we will pre-register you so you don’t need to register.

Join us for the International Orientation to find out more about settling in as an international student in DCU.

The General Orientation will be available via the Orientation Hub soon.

Accommodation in Dublin is always a challenge, and it's best to start your search early. Make sure you organise accommodation before the start of term. Please note, on-campus housing is unfortunately heavily oversubscribed.  As there are typically several applicants for every room, it is important to plan for an unsuccessful lottery outcome. Make sure you explore off-campus accommodation options, and if you are offered a room off-campus, you are strongly advised to accept it.

 Visit the international students accommodation page to learn more about your options.

If you need to open a bank account, consult Citizen's Advice about the main types of bank account, what to consider when you are choosing an account and describes how to open an account.

You may need a letter from DCU to confirm your student status. To request a letter, email Registry with details of the purpose of the letter. Please note, Registry will not provide a letter for visa purposes; your offer letter from DCU should suffice.

Before you leave home, check you have the documents you’ll need. You may be asked for them by the immigration officers at Dublin Airport when you arrive.

 Non-EU Students

• Passport
• Entry visa (if applicable)
• Evidence of private health insurance
• Offer letter from DCU
• Evidence your fees are paid (Please note: DCU does not provide fee receipts for immigration purposes)

 EU/EEA students

• Passport
• European Health Insurance Card
• Acceptance letter from DCU Registry 

In addition to general living and student expenses, international students may have extra expenses such as an IRP card (immigration registration) and health insurance. 

You must have health insurance for your entire stay in Ireland. Immigration officers may ask you for proof of this when you arrive. 

Students from the EU 

If you are from the EU, make sure you get a European Health Insurance Card before you leave your country, which you can use for necessary care.

Other insurance requirements

Students from outside the EU 

Non-EU students must obtain private health insurance prior to arriving. Students are advised to read their policy documents carefully to make sure that it complies with the requirements of the Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) and is valid in Ireland and any other countries you plan to visit.

For newly arrived first year students in Ireland, travel insurance may suffice where:

• The insurance covers the student for one full year or where the student is staying in Ireland for less than one year for the entirety of their stay
• The insurance coverage covers the student at a minimum of €25,000 for accident and €25,000 for disease
• The insurance coverage covers the student for any period of hospitalisation.

Where a non-EEA student intends staying in Ireland for more than one year, and where they were covered by travel insurance for the first year, that student is required to source private medical insurance in Ireland for their second and any subsequent years.

Health insurance providers who offer plans for international study include AON, Swisscare and Study & Protect. Please note to obtain health insurance from an Irish provider, you must be living in Ireland already, but to enter the country, you need to have insurance already in place!

If you are coming to Ireland to study on an academic course of more than one year, you are deemed ‘ordinary resident’ from the moment you arrive in Ireland, and therefore require more comprehensive health insurance. Travel insurance will no longer suffice. 

ICOS, the Irish Council for International Students, has advice on what to expect from the Irish health system, and how to prepare for it.

If you have a long-term illness, such as diabetes, bring at least 3 months of medication.

As soon as you come to Ireland, you need to apply for a PPS number. When you get your PPS number, you can then apply for a long-term illness card. 

Within four weeks of arriving in Ireland, please contact the DCU Health Centre (either on the Glasnevin campus or the St Patrick's Campus) to make an appointment with the doctor and have bloods done.

The long term illness card will need to be stamped and signed by the GP, and the Health Centre at DCU can help you with this paperwork.

When the DCU Health Centre get your blood results, you will be referred on to a consultant for further expert management of your care where necessary.

Students from the US with an ADHD diagnosis who are being treated with Adderall, please be aware this medication is not available in Ireland. Within four weeks of arriving in Ireland, please contact the DCU Health Centre to make an appointment with the DCU doctor so we can support you in the management of your condition. 

Please bring all documentation relevant to your diagnosis to Ireland with you.

You should have completed all immunisation courses appropriate for your age as recommended in your home country, at least eight weeks before you arrive in Ireland. The MMR and Meningitis C vaccines are specifically and strongly recommended for anyone coming to live in Ireland.

Depending on your nationality, you may need a visa to live and study in Ireland. Most students who are citizens of countries outside the EU or the European Economic Area (Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein), Switzerland or the UK need a visa before they can enter Ireland. To see if you need a visa, please visit the website of the Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) (formerly the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, or 'INIS'). 

Find out more about visas and permission to remain from the Citizens Information Service. Your local Irish embassy or consulate can also advise you about study visas.

Applying for a visa

If you need a visa, you can apply online here (ISD has published a guide to completing the visa application form, which you may find useful.)

Remember the visa application process can take between six weeks and three months, depending on the time of year, so apply as early as you can.

 After you arrive in Ireland

If you are a citizen of country outside the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK (whether or not you need a visa), you must:

• report to Immigration when you arrive at Dublin Airport 

• register with the ISD in Dublin city centre after you arrive, even if you don’t need a visa.