A Blog about Education Abroad

Category: Semester Exchange Postings

Blog Postings by Returning Stellenbosch University Students

  • Marina at Ghent University

    Marina at Ghent University

    Pre-departure :

    I would advise anyone making the trip to Belgium to A: get your police clearance forms ready/sent away and B: make an appointment at the Belgian consulate the moment you get accepted to do an exchange. I found the most helpful sources to be two friends who had done an an exchange the previous semester who sent my the right documents.

    Some practical advice:

    1. Be over-prepared when you go for the Visa application, rather take more copies of everything than less.
    2. Do NOT wait for your police clearance for before making the appointment at the consulate, they don’t need the certified one for the appointment, this can always be scanned and sent later.
    3. Make sure the visa payment is made correctly to their bank IN BELGIUM. I made the mistake of paying it into their South-African account. This overseas payment is a MISSION and once again semi-archaic (…could someone please spread the good news about PAYPAL??)
    4. I found Bidvest to be the cheapest way of handling money in the beginning before opening a Belgian bank account.

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  • Corneli at the Kühne Logistics University

    Corneli at the Kühne Logistics University

    Pre-departure:

    Preparing for an exchange is a long, but rewarding process. About a year before I departed I started to look for universities. Due to the fact that the options are overwhelming I had to decide on a strategy to work through all possible universities in order to identify a manageable number of possibilities. It was difficult to decide on a strategy.

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  • Carla at Leiden University

    Carla at Leiden University

    Pre-departure:

    Having a South African passport doesn’t make travelling abroad very easy – it requires a lot of emails back and forth and many forms to be filled in. Although this takes a lot of time it definitely makes you excited for what’s to come as it keeps your upcoming exchange on your mind constantly. With regard to the visa application the Netherlands will only grant you a 3 month Visa, from the date of your application for it, and upon your arrival you have to go to Town Hall for an appointment after which a few weeks later you will receive a residence permit (MVV). You only receive this about 3 weeks into your stay therefore it is crucial not to apply for your VISA too early as it may expire before you receive your residence permit.

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