Marco Polo Project

Thanks to an agreement between the People's Republic of China and the Italian Republic in force since 2006, Chinese students can apply for an entry visa to study the Italian language in Italy (from November to August). They can subsequently enrol in a study programme (upon passing an admission test, if applicable) without coming back to their home country to apply for a new visa.

Access to a degree programme is granted exlcusively to applicants who have successfully passed the Italian language assessment test planned at the end of the language course (level B1/B2 CEFR), the admission tests and/or in possession of the entry requirements as requested by the degree programme regulations.

The university where they attend the Italian language course can be different from the one they chose for the degree programme. The list of degree programmes and the number of places available can be consulted in the Admission notices published on the dedicated page.

  In China

The procedures and deadlines to register are fixed yearly by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and published in the relevant website. The deadline is generally set within the end of June or July, depending on the duration of the Italian language course (10 or 11 months).

Chinese students applying for the Marco Polo Project must:

  • Choose a degree programme from the course catalogue, checking whether it has places available for candidates applying to the Marco Polo project, its entry requirements and deadlines, as indicated in the Admission notices;
  • Pre-enrol online through the Universitaly platform indicating:
            - the Italian Embassy/Consulate of reference and by the set deadline, generally by the end of July/August (around three or four months before the start of the Italian language course)
            - the University where they intend to enrol;
            - the institution where the Italian language course will be held;
  • Contact the Italian Embassy/Consulate selected for visa purposes following the procedures provided by the same;
  • Register for the Italian language course according to the procedures provided by the chosen institution (we remind you that the University of Padua does not offer such course).

  In Italy

Once arrived in Italy, students must:

  • apply for the residence permit (within 8 working days), as required by the Italian Ministerial Guidelines published yearly in the website;
  • Check the application procedure, entry requirements and dealines provided on the university’s website;
  • Register and submit their application on the portal apply.unipd.it (if required by the degree programme):
            - For bachelor’s degree and single-cycle degree programmes, if applicable, take the relevant admission test, according to the set calendars. Please note that the calendar is intended for all students based on dates established by the University, or by the Italian Ministry of University in case of admission to programmes managed directly by the Ministry;
            - For master’s degree (2nd cycle) apply for the assessment of minimum entry requirements by the programme’s Teaching Committee and take the relative admission test, if applicable.
  • Upon admission and succesful completion of the Italian language course, eligible applicants must present the original documentation to the Admissions and Welcome unit of the Global Engagement Office by booking an appointment here, selecting the option "Enrolment desk for international students".

Please note: students who have sent their pre-enrollment to another Italian university and wish to enrol in a degree programme offered by the University of Padua, can also apply for admission by following the procedures described above.

The deadline for admission to the degree programmes managed directly by the Ministry (Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary Medicine, Dentistry, Building Engineering and Architecture) has been brought forward to July.

Eligible applicants, who are not in the quota reserved to the project of the chosen University, can request to be assigned to another programme within the same University or to another University.

Students who

  1. do not meet entry requirements,
  2. fail the admission test
  3. are not granted any reassignment

must leave the country no later than the visa or residence permit's expiration date, unless they possess another residence allowing them to remain legally in Italy beyond that date.

  Required document

Bachelor's and single-cycle degrees

Students admitted to the chosen degree programme must present upon enrolment:

a) Secondary school final diploma, translated in English or Italian, and legalised;
b) Certificate of having successfully passed the National College Entrance Examination “Gao Kao” with the minimum score required by the Italian Ministry Circular:
c) Declaration of Value of the high school final diploma, released by the competent Italian Embassy/Consulate. This document must further states the completion of 12 years of schooling.

 

Master's degrees

Students admitted to the chosen degree programme must present upon enrolment:

a) Bachelor’s degree diploma (or equivalent) translated in Italian or in English and legalised;
b) Transcript of Records released by the competent academic authority, stating passed exams and the relative grades. The Transcript must be translated in Italian or in English and legalised;
c) Declaration of Value of the bachelor’s degree diploma, released by the competent Italian Embassy or Consulate.

The Declaration of Value of your Secondary School or Bachelor’s degree final diploma can be supplmeneted by the Statement of Comparability issued by CIMEA (Italy’s Credential Information System). A special agreement between the CIMEA and the University of Padova allows students to obtain such certification (upon payment) through a personal account on MyDiplome. Enrolled students will be automatically reimbursed through the second instalment of university tuition fees, unless they benefit from full tuition fee-waivers or scholarships of any kind.

Global Engagement Office - Admissions and Welcome Unit

Palazzo Anselmi
Lungargine del Piovego 1 - 35131 Padova

Get in touch with the Global Engagement Office.

For academic related information, please contact the programme coordinator/secretariat.

tel. +39 0498273131