Student Visas

GCC students don’t need a student visa to enter or live in the UAE. However, they need to apply for an Emirates ID card and health insurance. Therefore, GCC students are kindly asked to visit the visa office as soon as they arrive at Sorbonne Abu Dhabi.

If you are resident in the UAE, then you are not obliged to change your sponsor unless you would like to.

Firstly, Sorbonne Abu Dhabi recommends that all students avoid travelling to the UAE without a student visa as the immigration services charge 700 AED to change the visa status and, in some cases, students arriving in the UAE with a tourist visa may have to leave the UAE to obtain a student visa.

You can request a student visa under Sorbonne Abu Dhabi’s sponsorship if you have cancelled your tourist visa. However, Sorbonne Abu Dhabi doesn’t guarantee that the application will be accepted by the immigration services.

Visa fees are included in the administrative fees that you pay yearly. Therefore, you don’t have to pay to the visa office any specific amount for your visa request.

If you haven’t sent the below documents while doing your admissions’ application, please send them to mohamed.anes@sorbone.apps.plana.ae as soon as you receive your acceptance letter:

• Visa application form (click here to submit the form online)
• Passport copy (should be valid for more than 6 months)
• Passport size photo (white background)
• For students below 18 years old, a letter from your father or legal guardian providing authorisation for you to study at Sorbonne Abu Dhabi and confirming that you shall stay at the university dorms. The document should be translated in Arabic, certified and attested by the concerned authority in your country (Foreign Affairs Ministry and UAE embassy)

We provide you with medical insurance valid in Abu Dhabi for the duration of your stay. However, your health insurance card may take 3 weeks to be ready. This is why we recommend that you to arrive on campus with valid medical insurance from your home country and extended for one month in the UAE as we can’t apply for your medical insurance before your arrival.

The entry visa can take up to 4 weeks. Therefore, make sure that your application is complete and payment is sent one month before the beginning of your academic programme.

Your visa application is subject to the decision of Abu Dhabi immigration services. Sorbonne Abu Dhabi is not responsible for any rejection from local authorities.

Once your entry visa is ready, we will send you a copy of your document. Please make sure you have settled the 1st installment to enable us send you your visa copy. You have to print a colored copy of your online visa and keep it inside your passport. Make sure to send us a copy of your flight ticket so that we know when you are planning to arrive.

We strongly recommend that you buy your flight ticket after your entry visa is ready. Sorbonne Abu Dhabi is not responsible if you buy your flight ticket and the visa is not ready by the date of your travel as we can’t know in advance when the visa will be issued from the Abu Dhabi immigration services.

You just need to follow the instructions given. At the point of entry, make sure your visa copy is inside your passport as the UAE officers need to stamp your visa copy. Keep your passport and stamped visa in a safe place as we can’t finalise the residency process without it. We recommend that you buy a UAE sim card to have a local mobile number (having a local mobile number is mandatory to apply for the Emirates ID and finalise your residence visa).

Upon your arrival at Sorbonne Abu Dhabi and after you finish checking into your dorm, you have to visit the visa office within 24 working hours in order to finalise the residency process. Make sure you provide the visa office with the following documents:

• Original passport
• Stamped visa
• Your UAE mobile number
• 4 passport size photographs (white background)

This is to enable us apply for your Emirates ID card and health insurance. Once we apply for your Emirates ID card, you have to complete a medical test and finger printing. The university will assist you to complete this process.

Yes, you are required to complete the residence process (medical test and finger printing) within the 1st week of your arrival in the UAE. Abu Dhabi immigration services and your health insurance company may calculate fines starting the 2nd week of your stay and Sorbonne Abu Dhabi is not responsible for any fines payable to immigration department or to the insurance company due to the late action of students.

You are advised to renew your student visa 3 weeks before the visa expires.