Foreign students who want to study in Ukraine first have to overcome a mountain of bureaucracy.
The government promised that soon, this problem will be solved.
The Ministries of Digital Transformation, Education and Science will launch a new e-platform for foreigners to apply to Ukrainian universities, they announced on June 16.
Starting in September, the admission procedure will become more automatic, less bureaucratic and faster overall, said Dmytro Zavhorodnii, the adviser to the deputy minister of digital transformation.
He expects the changes to make Ukraine even more attractive as a center of learning, boosting its economy and global reputation. Over 76,000 foreign students from 155 countries already study in Ukrainian universities.
Today, the application procedure is fairly complicated. A foreigner who wants to study in Ukraine can apply to universities directly, through intermediary agencies or the platform Study in Ukraine.
If a university accepts an applicant, it sends him a paper invitation. Then the applicant must bring all the documents to the consulate for a visa. Then, the consul must run these documents past the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) if the applicant is from the list of risk countries.
“Many (governmental) bodies are now involved in the process, but they don’t exchange data (among themselves),” Zavhorodnii said. “We are making a real digital transformation of this process, when technologies allow (us) to make the process convenient, transparent and automatic.”
The new system will be based on Study in Ukraine but greatly simplified and embedded in the Diia mobile app.
An applicant will only have to file all necessary documents to the new system. Afterwards it will automatically send all data to the universities, the SBU, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, eliminating the need to send all the documents separately.
If the application is approved, the foreigner will receive the invitation online instead of getting hardcopy in the mail. Border guards will also check the invitation online.
“The university entrant will see the whole process, which will provide transparency and ease for him and reduce the role of intermediaries in the market,” Zavhorodnii said.
Later the State Migration Service will be allowed to extend or terminate the temporary residence permit automatically in case of a student’s expulsion or other reasons.
Zavhorodnii believes that these changes will attract more students and more revenue.
According to recent estimates, foreign students combined bring over $3 billion to Ukraine during a typical 5-6 year stay. They pay the tuition fees — usually over $4,300 — and spend money on rent, food and entertainment.
Ukrainian medical universities are the most popular among foreigners. Medical students typically spend the most money – $8,500 per year compared to $6,000 per year spent by other students.
Indian students are the most numerous foreigners in Ukrainian universities: Over 18,420 Indians are currently studying in Ukraine.
Ukrainian universities have also gained popularity among students from Morocco, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Nigeria, Turkey, China, Egypt, Israel and Uzbekistan.
“Convenience and transparency can affect the number of international students (in Ukraine) and, of course, money in the (Ukraine’s) economy,” Zavhorodnii said.
