Is Cyprus a really good choice to consider for your Higher Education Studies?
It depends on three things.
- Your intention after coming to Cyprus is to study.
- You intend to earn money and not focus on your studies.
- You want to do both, i.e., study as well as earn money.
If your intention is to study and complete your degree, I suggest you come to Cyprus.
As a matter of fact, Cyprus provides certain benefits to international students, which other European countries usually don’t do.
But, if your intention after coming to Cyprus is to earn money rather than study, then don’t come.
[ I repeat, don’t come. ]
International students aren’t allowed to work for more than 20 hours a week. You won’t be able to make any money here.
Today in this article, I will guide you through everything you need to know about the Cyprus student visa before coming to Cyprus.
Before we continue, here is what you are going to learn from this article today.
- Why should you choose Cyprus for your higher studies?
- Why won’t you be able to make any money in Cyprus?
- How agents or your own relatives/friends fool you so that they get a commission from the college?
- How much is the actual college fee for Bachelor’s Degree?
- What kinds of jobs are available in Cyprus for International students?
- How much can an international student earn in Cyprus?
- Can you go to other European countries from Cyprus?
- What are the Cyprus student visa requirements?
- How long does it take to get a Cyprus student visa?
- Cyprus Student Visa Interview Questions and Answers
- Cyprus student dependent visa
- Cost of living in Cyprus for international students.
I will be explaining all these points in detail.
So I suggest you stick to the article until the end.
Why choose Cyprus for your higher studies? (Only if your intention is to study)
As I said before, Cyprus provides benefits to international students that other European countries usually don’t.
Some of the good things about Cyprus for international students are as below.
- Studies Gap Acceptance
Cyprus accepts the study gap and doesn’t create an issue over the age limit. - The high visa success rate
The Cyprus student visa success rate is almost 100% if you have proper grades on IELTS, and you don’t fail the interview. If your documents are genuine, you are highly likely to get a visa for sure. - Basic entry requirements
The preparation of documents is easy, as it doesn’t require a lot of documentation. - Easy process to apply
- Affordable
- Reasonable living cost
- European Country
You can read here in detail about why choosing Cyprus on a student visa might be the best option for you.
Why making a lot of money in Cyprus as an international student is quite impossible?
Legally, an international student can only work for 20 hours a week, and that also after six months of arriving in Cyprus.
Let me explain it to you.
Till six months after arriving in Cyprus, you aren’t allowed to do any kind of job.
Why?
Because you are only allowed to work after you get your work permit, and it takes six months for your work permit to arrive.
Even after you get a work permit, there is no guarantee of a job.
You are a full-time student in Cyprus, not a full-time worker. You need to keep that in mind.
You can’t do a full-time job in Cyprus as an international student.
If you get a part-time job, you are only allowed to work 20 hours a week.
They pay you around 5 Euro for an hour’s work. Sometimes less than that.
Twenty hours X 5 Euro = 100 Euro a week, which means you can earn around 400 Euro a month.
Now, if your parents can support you with your college fee, 400 Euro is a good amount to money to survive.
But if you are all on your own, and your parents can’t support you, you can’t survive student life in Cyprus with 400 Euro a month.
To understand it better, I suggest you read this article about how much can an international student earn in Cyprus?
How agents fool you and make you fall into their trap.
The first moment you plan on coming to Cyprus, you go to visit an agent.
Now, as you think, they know everything; you trust all the nonsense they say.
Most of the time, they lie to you.
Here are some of the things agents say to you that are completely nonsensical.
- You can work as much as you want in Cyprus.
- The college will provide you with a 50% scholarship in the next year.
- You can easily earn 1000 Euro a month.
- We will help you find a job.
- You can work full time as a student in Cyprus.
- You can easily transfer your course credit to other countries.
All these statements agents say are a bunch of lies. I suggest you read this article about things agents say about Cyprus that you mustn’t trust. I have explained in detail all the points mentioned above, plus there are some more.
How much is the actual college fee in Cyprus for international students?
Your agent will tell you that the college fee for Bachelor’s degree is 4600 Euro a year.
When you ask college, they also say the same thing.
But is it really the actual college fee?
No, it is not.
Out of that 4600 Euro, the college gives almost a 50% commission to the agent.
This means the actual and real college fee is just 2300 Euro.
I can see your eyes are wide open right now.
Read this article on the Cyprus student visa’s actual college fee to understand more about what I am saying.
The college fees vary from 4600 Euro to 5000 Euro.
I have said 4600 Euro because most of the colleges have put that amount as a threshold.
What kind of jobs are available in Cyprus for International students?
I have always been completely honest with my readers in every article I have written.
Most of the time, people ask me the same question, i.e., can I do a Tie-Suit job in Cyprus?
I feel sad to say to them that they cannot.
Usually, international students are allowed to do jobs like gardening, cleaning, dishwashing, caregiver, manufacturing labor, and so on.
I don’t say you won’t get a high profile job. But to get that kind of job, either you would have to be highly experienced in that field or have a connection with some high profile people in Cyprus.
To understand better, read this article:
Types of jobs allowed doing by International students.
Can you go to other European countries from Cyprus?
Your agent might have told most of you that going to other European countries from Cyprus is very easy.
Let me tell you something.
That’s just bullshit.
It’s tough to visit other countries from Cyprus being on a student visa.
Even though Cyprus is a European nation, it still hasn’t joined the Schengen Zone.
This means if you want to go to France or Germany from Cyprus, there is very little chance for you to get a visa.
When will Cyprus become a Schengen country?
Nobody knows.
No one can guarantee that.
You can go to some of the European countries like Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia from Cyprus. As they are also not in the Schengen Zone, you get a tourist visa from Cyprus to those countries.
Read here in detail about can you visit the EU countries with a Cyprus student visa?
Are you still with me?
If you have read till here and also the linked articles, I am sure you know a lot about the Cyprus student visa now.
I guess you know now that the agents lie, students can’t work for more than 20 hours a week, white-collar jobs aren’t for international students, and going to other European countries from Cyprus is almost as impossible.
After reading all this, if you still want to come to Cyprus, then I can tell your intention is to study, not to work after coming to Cyprus.
Having that thought in mind, let’s continue with our article.
What are the Cyprus student visa requirements?
If you have previously applied for other countries on a student visa, then you already know how tiresome the documentation processing is.
But you will be surprised to know that it’s not the same in the case of Cyprus.
For the Cyprus student visa, the documents are easily preparable, and the visa requirements are pretty basics.
Here are some of the compulsory documents you need to prepare for the Cyprus student visa.
- Academic documents
- Offer letter from your college
- Medical Reports and Certificate
- Police Report / Police Clearance Certificate
- Bank Statement
- NOC (No Objection Certificate) from Foreign Ministry
- Attested certificates from Cyprus Embassy or Cyprus Consulate
If you wish to read in detail about the process, you can read it in the following article.
Cyprus student visa documents requirement
Also, if you happen to be from these below-mentioned countries, you can directly check the step by step guiding articles from these countries.
How did I manage to write articles about all these different countries?
I got help from students from these countries that are currently in Cyprus. We sat together and wrote the step by step guide articles so that we could help people like you.
How long does it take to get a Cyprus student visa?
It takes somewhere from 2 to 3 months for your Cyprus student visa to get issued.
Agents will say they can provide you a visa in a couple of weeks or a month. Don’t trust them.
Read the following article to understand more.
How long does it take to get a Cyprus student visa?
Do I have to give an interview to get a Cyprus Student Visa?
Usually, No.
Most of the time, colleges don’t take interviews, but sometimes they might.
If they are confused with your documents or some other processing faults, they might ask you to be present in the interview.
What kind of questions will they ask?
The questions will be straightforward. They will ask you about yourself, your intention to come to Cyprus, your preferred college, your preferred course, and so on.
If you want to know more about this topic, I suggest you read this article on Cyprus student visa interview questions and answers.
Can I bring my wife with me on a dependent visa with my Cyprus student visa?
Unfortunately, No.
Cyprus doesn’t allow international students to bring their spouses on a dependent visa.
But there are some other ways you can try.
Read here in detail about how can you bring your spouse with you to Cyprus if you are on a student visa?
How much does it cost to live in Cyprus for international students?
One thing about Cyprus is, it’s not so expensive.
Daily required things in Cyprus are cheap and easily affordable.
Comparing to other European countries, Cyprus is less costly to live in for international students.
Even with 20 hours a week’s work, you can easily afford accommodation, food, and transportation in Cyprus.
To get a clear picture, read this article on living costs in Cyprus for international students.
Conclusion
I hope I have given you a detailed guide on the Cyprus student visa.
Hundreds of students message me to ask questions about Cyprus every month.
Most of them want to come to Cyprus on a student visa to earn money and become rich.
My only answer to them is, “Don’t come.”
Obviously, you can earn some amount of money in Cyprus. It’s not that you can’t. You still have 20 hours a week work.
But if you wish to work for more than 20 hours a week, that would be illegal.
As I said, if your parents can afford your tuition fee, you don’t need to worry about anything. Just come to Cyprus, study hard, finish your education, and get a degree.
But coming to Cyprus to earn money on a student visa might be a terrible idea.
That’s my opinion.
You might be thinking, who is this guy to tell us what to do?
Well, my name is Aashish Poudel Genuine, and I am from Nepal. I also came to Cyprus on a student visa.
My intention of coming to Cyprus was to earn money too. But I couldn’t.
I am giving you a suggestion from what I have experienced.
If you wish to know more about me, click here: About Aashish and Cyprusandaxi.
Now it’s up to you.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me in the comment section below. I would be happy to reply.
If you want to learn more about Cyprus, I suggest you read the following articles.
I wish you all the very best.
Steps to follow by a student after coming to Cyprus to become a registered student
How to find a room or flat in Cyprus?
Pros and Cons of Studying in Cyprus
Where to look for a job in Cyprus as an international student?
How to Apply For Cyprus Student Visa Without Paying Lot to An Agent?
Florence ocden
Thank for the vital information.
If a student is good in sport especially in football.,is there any prospect in Cyprus after completing studying?
I actually don’t have any idea about it but hey, if you are good at something, the doors always open for you.
Hey bro thanks for the detailed report it has really been helpful to me but i have a question on what if you come to cyprus on a working visa instead of a student visa,can you actually earn more money by so doing?
Hy Aziz. I am glad you found the article helpful. Of course, when you come to Cyprus on a working visa, you would definitely earn more money than a student because in Cyprus international students barely earn any money. Now, how much can you earn on a working visa, it really depends upon your skills and field of expertise. Usually, your company would provide you food and accommodation, so you would have a good chance to save some money. But don’t forget, Cyprus doesn’t have many big industries and factory sectors. You would have to work in a hotel, or on a farm unless you are a professional in your field.