Other Practical Arrangements

The students selected for student exchange do not pay any tuition fees but at least travel causes extra expenses during the student exchange. Furthermore accommodation may be a little more expensive in some countries and/or places than in Finland. On the other hand, accommodation expenses may be much lower in some countries than in Finland. You should also remember to take health and travel insurance and to get visa which is required for some countries. Some institutions require students to buy their course books by themselves and for example in some Canadian partner schools students need to purchase the student exchange school's own insurance policy. Some institutions also charge for a student card and for a library card. The grants are aimed to cover part of these extra expenses arising from studying abroad. Student exchange should be considered as an investment in a student himself and in his future.

Travel Preparations

An outgoing exchange student can get general information about the student exchange from the International Office but a student has to find by him-/herself the additional information about travel preparations, public financial aid, health care, visa application, etc. An exchange student should be prepared to get to the destination by him-/herself. If someone will meet you there that will be a nice surprise! You should find out where to go and who will be your contact person at the host institution. And plan your arrival to take place during working hours!

A student has to make price inquiries and reservations for travelling by him-/herself. It makes sense to make the travel reservations and preparations well in advance. And it is worth comparing prices of different travel agencies.

Health Care and Insurance

An outgoing exchange student must take a travel insurance which covers the whole student exchange period abroad and which reimburses, among other things, expenses for medical treatment and/or home transport in case of a sudden illness, accident or death. It is important to take an insurance which covers also your luggage. You should read through the insurance conditions very carefully even if they, in the main points, are very similar among different insurance companies. An insurance reimbursement does not cover cases of illness or accident that can be considered to have been caused by alcohol or drug use or by medicine abuse.

Finnish citizens going on student exchange to another European Union member state are usually covered by the Finnish Health Insurance system and can apply for an European Health Insurance Card. A holder of the European Health Insurance Card is entitled to necessary medical treatment in any EU or ETA country and also in Switzerland. Each country gives medical treatment within the framework of its laws and systems. A student is entitled to be provided the same medical treatment and services on the same excess costs as the citizens of a country in question.

An outgoing exchange student is advised to investigate the medical treatment system of the host country before going on student exchange. At the moment KELA is collecting information about the medical treatment privileges in the new EU countries and the procedures you need to follow to get medical treatment in these countries. Regarding the old EU state members, Estonia and Latvia, this information is available in the KELA leaflet ”Jos sairastut ulkomailla” (available only in Finnish; please see www.kela.fi).

But you should notice that the reimbursement rate and the standard of public health care may not always be at the same high level abroad as they are in Finland. This is why it is worth taking a travel insurance even if you travel to an EU country.
You should apply for the European Health Insurance Card from KELA before going on exchange. For further information please see www.kela.fi.

You should advise KELA about your stay or working abroad unless it is question of a usual holiday trip. The information should be given by using the KELA form Y 39. For further information please see www.kela.fi.

The European Health Insurance Card is unfortunately for no use outside the EU so you definitely need to take an insurance!

The students going on student exchange through the Erasmus and Nordplus student exchange programmes are entitled to get discount from the insurance of the Insurance Company Eurooppalainen on the basis of the agreement that was negotiated by the Centre for International Mobility (CIMO). More information about these insurances you will get from CIMO or directly from the Insurance Company Eurooppalainen.

If you take any specific medicine regularly you should take it in a sufficient quantity with you because your host country usually does not reimburse medicines for continuous use and they may not even be available for sale in the host country.

Vaccinations

An outgoing exchange student should find out about the health risks in the student exchange destination well in advance. If the outgoing exchange student is in good health he can be vaccinated from one to two months before going to Asia and couple of weeks before going to South Europe.

Make sure that you will be vaccinated well in advance. Those who go to Malaysia, for example, will need several vaccinations and because many injections can not be taken at the same time you should reserve time enough for taking them. Please take the vaccination certificate with you to the student exchange.

You can seek for advice on vaccinations at your local health centre. The health care staff gets medical advice on international travel, in the first place, from infectious disease nurses and heath centre doctors but also from infectious disease doctors of hospital districts and from the Vaccination Advice and Service of the National Public Health Institute.

Residence Permit or Visa

All citizens of the European Union member states are entitled to stay temporarily on the territory of any EU country. If you stay in another EU country longer than three months you must apply for a residence permit. You have to submit the application to the relevant administrative official in the host country (for example to police authorities).

You are required to show a valid identification card or a passport when you apply for the residence permit. If the applicant is a student he must be registered at an educational institution.  This can be proved with a registration certificate (a Student Identity Card) which is in English. The student must also prove that he has the appropriate health insurance and the Certificate of True Statement of Financial Condition (the Erasmus Exchange Certificate will do in the EU/ETA countries). You can get very useful information about residence permit issues from the following address on the Internet http://europa.eu.int/citizensrights/signpost .

A visa is needed at least to Canada (citizens of Finland: only for a period of study longer than six months), Malaysia, China, Thailand and Russia. You can get the visa from the embassy/ consulate while waiting or it will be delivered within a couple of weeks or months. You need a so called invitation letter from the host institution. The letter need to be attached to the visa application. You should also check whether any other documents need to be attached to the visa application. Some host institutions provide help in applying for a visa. Therefore it is worth asking from the host institution first what to do in order to apply for a visa.

An outgoing exchange student is responsible himself for applying a visa and/or residence permission and responsible for the costs related to them.

A student who is a citizen of Finland, going on exchange to another Nordic country does not need to apply for residence permission even if the stay will last for longer than three months. If a student will stay for longer than 6-12 months he needs to have an Inter-Nordic Migration Form with him. You will get the Migration Form from the population register office (or from the local register offices (maistraatti) in major communities) and it needs to be submitted to the local authorities responsible for the population register in your new place of domicile within a week after you have moved in. Specific information about moving arrangements in each country and general information about exchange study in another Nordic country is available on the Internet www.hallonorden.org .

Non-European Union citizen should find out already before applying for student exchange what kind of traveling documents one might be needing in order to go for student exchange in the countries one is interested in applying to. This is because the application processes for a visa(s) can take even up to 6 months and the conditions can vary depending on which country one is from and to which country one is going.

PLEASE NOTE that an outgoing exchange student should always check the local practices of the host country with the consulate or the embassy because regulations may have changed after this text was written.

Money Matters

An outgoing exchange student needs to find out how much it will cost to live in the host country (accommodation, food, hobbies, travel, leisure, etc.) and plan how to finance his stay abroad besides the financial student aid and grants. You can get information about cost of living in the host country, for example, on the official pages of the country on the Internet or from country specific guides published by CIMO. These guides are available at the International Offices/libraries and also on the CIMO pages on the Internet (www.cimo.fi; availabel only in Finnish).

You should find out well in advance what would be the best way to take care of your money matters during the exchange period. If the exchange period is long it is usually recommended to open a bank account in the host country. However this is not always necessary and sometimes not even possible. You should at least get a Visa Electron card, a credit card or make some other arrangement in order to be able to draw money in the host country from your domestic account in Finland. You can ask for advice at your bank.

Accommodation

The International Office of EVTEK is not responsible for organising accommodation for its outgoing exchange students. There are as many accommodation arrangements as there are partner institutions of EVTEK. Most partner institutions help students to find accommodation or they organise apartments for their exchange students. Students have to organise accommodation by themselves in some exchange destinations but they often get advice from the International Office at their host institution. An outgoing exchange student should carefully find out how accommodation is organised at the host institution and what he should do in order to get an apartment through the host institution. You can ask for information about accommodation directly from the host institution.
The most common types of accommodation are halls of residence and shared student apartments. Accommodation in a host family is available in some destinations, too.

You need to be very careful when signing a lease. If you do not know the local language well enough to be able to understand the written text you should ask, for example, a student tutor for help before signing the lease. You should also check the following details: the price of the rent, the condition of the leased apartment, the return of the rent guarantee, the lease terms, the lease period, whether electricity/water/waste management are included in the rent or do you have to pay separately for them and when do you pay the rent.

You should not expect the standard of accommodation to be as high as the student accommodation is in Finland.

Living together with students from several different countries is usually a rewarding experience but it can also be full of surprises and therefore you should take it open-mindedly. Capability to make compromises and to be tolerant is needed here!