Extending Degree Study Period
According to the UT Study Regulations, full-time students can apply for the extension of studies to eliminate academic lagging. This means that the final date of the study period can be postponed up to 12 months so that the student can make up for insufficient academic progress. Part-time students can extend studies by the time spent studying part time.
Before the study period can be extended, the percentage of completion of the curriculum is assessed. Based on that, the student will be transferred to the extension year either as a full-time or part-time student. The study load cannot be changed during the extension period.
Rules of the payment of tuition fees during the extension of studies
If you take academic leave during the extension, you must always submit an application for continuing the extension before the academic leave ends.
The nominal period of study of students who have graduated from a school where the language of instruction was not Estonian will be extended pursuant to the volume of language learning (please see www.ut.ee/et/oppimine/suvendatult-riigikeele-oppimine). The extension will be done at the end of the initial nominal period of study.
The nominal period of study will be extended by the semesters spent at a foreign university if the student studied abroad for at least three months and completed the courses at a foreign university to a value of at least 15 ECTS per semester. From academic year 2019/2020 there is no three months requirement any more. The nominal period of study is extended after returning from the foreign university.
Temporary Residence Permit (TRP) and extension of studies
As you know, the extension of studies can be due to studies abroad or for some other reason. The students holding TRP for studies and considering the extension of studies need to know the following:
1. If you are continuing with the full-time workload after the extension of studies (having collected at least 75 % of the maximum credit load by the time your studies get extended), you can apply for the extension of TRP. Your TRP can be extended only after your study period at SIS (ÕIS) has been extended. For the extension of studies, you need to contact your dean’s office or institute. Please note that the extension of studies can be registered in SIS once all courses of a particular semester have been completed and the results are available.
In turn, TRP for can be extended once there is new, a renewed date of the end of your studies in SIS. As the extension of studies is usually registered at SIS in August, you will have less than a month until your current TRP expires. There is no reason to worry, since everyone having their TRP expiring on regular basis (just ending on time) can have an extended time of stay for 270 days in Estonia. That a 270-day extension of stay is given automatically by the PBGB, no additional application is required. So, you can extend your TRP also later and there is still a legal basis for you to stay in Estonia after the expiry of the current TRP. If you need to travel during the that “extended time of stay”, please apply for the relevant sticker to your passport, which then allows you to travel and indicates that you have a legal basis for staying in Estonia (it acts like a visa).
Further information on an extended time of stay is here https://www.ut.ee/en/welcome/non-eu-citizens-residence-permits-and-visas#extensionofstay
For TRP extension, please fill in the following form, but do not do that before the extension has been registered in SIS.
2. If you are continuing with the part time workload after the extension of studies (having collected 50-75% of the maximum credit load), TRP extension is not possible. Once your studies have been extended and part-time work-load has been assigned (also indicated in SIS), please inform us by sending an email to studentvisasupport [ät] ut.ee. As you know, students studying with part-time work-load cannot have TRP. We advise you to apply for the D-type visa, though you can also use your extended time of stay (270-day period given after the expiry of TRP) for staying in Estonia. Still, as an extension of studies is usually given for a year, then this 270-day extended time of stay is not sufficient and D visa should be applied.
If you decide to use your extended time of stay to complete your studies at UT, please apply for a sticker to make sure you can travel.
The procedure is described as https://www.ut.ee/en/welcome/non-eu-citizens-residence-permits-and-visas#extensionofstay. The D-type visa application process is also described here https://www.ut.ee/en/welcome/non-eu-citizens-residence-permits-and-visas#dvisa Make sure you take a certificate of being a student of UT (request it from the dean’s office) along when going to the PBGB. Please also inform us of your D-visa application by writing to studentvisasupport [ät] ut.ee