INTERNATIONAL STUDENT
Who can NOT be considered an International Student?
a) Nationals of a Member State of the European Union;
b) Family members of Portuguese citizens or of nationals of a Member State of the European Union, regardless of their nationality:
a. The spouse of a European Union citizen;
b. The partner with whom a European Union citizen lives in a de facto union, legally recognized under the law, or with whom the EU citizen maintains a permanent relationship duly certified by the competent authority of the Member State of residence;
c. Direct descendants under the age of 21 or who are dependents of a European Union citizen, as well as those of the spouse or partner referred to in the previous subparagraph;
d. Direct ascendants who are dependents of a European Union citizen, as well as those of the spouse or partner as defined in subparagraph b).
c) Those who, while not nationals of a European Union Member State and not covered by the previous point, have been legally residing in Portugal for more than two uninterrupted years as of January 1st of the year in which they intend to enter higher education, as well as their children (direct descendants under the age of 21) who legally reside with them. For this purpose, periods of residence under a study residence permit are not considered.
d) Those who, as of January 1st of the year in which they intend to enter higher education, benefit from equal rights and duties under an international treaty signed between the Portuguese State and their country of nationality;
e) Those applying for admission to higher education through special access and admission regimes regulated by Decree-Law No. 393-A/99, of October 2nd, as amended by Decree-Law No. 272/2009, of October 1st;
f) Those who are attending a Portuguese higher education institution within the framework of an international mobility program, for the purpose of completing part of a study cycle from a foreign higher education institution with which the Portuguese institution has an exchange agreement for that purpose.
3. Students who are admitted to higher education under the terms of this regulation retain the status of international student until the end of the study cycle in which they initially enrolled or to which they transfer, even if, during the course of their studies, they are granted equal rights and duties under an international treaty signed between the Portuguese State and their country of nationality.
4. Exempt from the previous point are international students who acquire the nationality of a European Union Member State during the study cycle they are attending.
5. The end of the application of international student status due to the provision in the previous point takes effect in the academic year following the date of acquisition of nationality.
6. Admission to higher education institutions by those covered under paragraphs a) to f) of item 2 is carried out under the same terms as Portuguese nationals.
Access and admission conditions
Access Requirements
1. International students may apply for enrollment in the Bachelor’s degree programs at NOVA FCT if they:
a) Hold a qualification that, in the country in which it was obtained, grants them the right to apply and be admitted to higher education in that country, validated by a diploma or certificate issued by a competent authority of the country in which it was obtained;
b) Hold a Portuguese secondary education diploma or a legally equivalent qualification.
Admission Requirements
1. International students are eligible to apply if they cumulatively:
a) Have an academic qualification in the fields of knowledge required for the study program they are applying to, corresponding to the entrance examinations established for that program, as stated in the application notice;
b) Possess the required level of language proficiency for the study program they are applying to, as specified in the application notice.
2. Students who have completed secondary education at institutions with which NOVA FCT has signed a cooperation agreement (Brazil) may also be admitted.
3. Applicants who have successfully completed the Pre-University Program of NOVA University Lisbon and meet the prerequisites for the study program to which they are applying, as established in the application notice, may also be admitted.
Vacancies and Application Deadlines
1. The Special Admission Contest takes place in accordance with the notice (edital) issued annually by NOVA FCT. The notice includes:
a) A calendar covering all actions related to the application process;
b) Number of available places per study program;
c) Rules for verifying candidates’ academic knowledge;
d) Prerequisites per study program;
e) Recognized foreign exams for academic knowledge verification.
Application and Required Documents
1. Applications are submitted online through NOVA FCT’s academic management platform (CLIP), by completing the application form and uploading the required documents, including:
a) Foreign identification document, indicating the applicant’s nationality;
b) Declaration, under honour commitment, stating that the applicant meets the requirements of International Student status (Decree-Law of August 6), and is not covered by the exclusions outlined in Article 2 of the Regulation;
c) Document certifying qualifications for access, duly validated by the competent authority of the issuing country:
a. The secondary school completion certificate (or equivalent) must include the final average grade, detailed subject grades, and grading scale. This document must demonstrate that the applicant passed curricular components related to the subject areas covered by the academic knowledge exams required for the intended study program;
b. If the final average grade is not available, it will be calculated as the simple arithmetic average of the yearly averages. If these are also not available, it will be calculated based on the simple arithmetic average of all subject grades;
c. International students who completed secondary education in Portugal must upload their Portuguese secondary school certificate or legally equivalent qualification.
d) Certificates of any other exams taken for access to higher education in the applicant’s country of origin, including the respective grades and grading scale;
e) Proof of language proficiency in the language of instruction of the program to which the applicant is applying;
f) Any other documents deemed necessary for assessing the application, according to the prerequisites of the study programs, as outlined in the application notice.
2. Documents referred to in items b) to f) above must be translated into Portuguese or English if they are not originally issued in Portuguese, English, French, or Spanish.
3. Before enrollment, documents referred to in c) and d) above must be either:
• Recognized by a Portuguese diplomatic or consular authority; or
• Presented with a Hague Apostille issued by the competent authority of the country where the document originated; or
• Authenticated by another certification method validating the diploma’s authenticity.
4. Each year, applicants may apply to a maximum of three study programs, which must be listed in order of preference.
5. The application is subject to the payment of a fee as specified in the Fee and Charges Table of NOVA University Lisbon. The application will only be considered valid after the fee has been paid.
Academic Evolution in Portugal
Higher education in Portugal is part of the European Higher Education Area, thus adopting a system of transferable and cumulative credits (ECTS), based on three study cycles:
European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)
ECTS is the qualification system of the European Higher Education Area that facilitates the mobility of students between countries and the recognition of their academic qualifications and periods of study abroad.
A full year of study or work is equivalent to 60 ECTS credits. In a normal academic year, these credits are generally divided into several modules (subjects / subjects). A 1st cycle diploma (bacharelato) consists of 180 or 240 ECTS credits.
Participating institutions publish their course catalogs on the Internet; they include detailed descriptions of study programs, curricular units, university regulations and services for students.
Course unit descriptions include ‘learning outcomes’ (ie, the knowledge that students should obtain and the skills that they should acquire) and the volume of work (the time that students need to achieve those results).
Learning outcomes are expressed in credits. A student’s workload varies between 1500 and 1800 hours per school year and a credit usually corresponds to 25-30 hours of work.
The ECTS User Guide describes the system and how it is used in more detail.
Source: European Commision