Regular Visiting Students

Regular visiting students are students enrolled at a recognized foreign higher education institution (BA/undergraduate, MA/graduate, PhD/postgraduate) who want to take courses for credit at UZH for one or at most two semesters.

1. You are enrolled at your home university as a regular student during the whole duration of your stay at UZH (e.g. no leave of absence).
2. Your home university has no exchange agreement with UZH in your field of study. (see: Application Procedure)
3. You have studied the subject you plan to take courses in at UZH for at least two semesters at your home university.
4. Your home university must recognize and credit your stay at UZH. 
5. You are required a full workload of 20 to 30 ECTS per semester at UZH.
6. Visiting students must respect the official semester and examination dates.
7. The departmental coordinator in charge of your subject at UZH approves you as a regular visiting student. 
8. A certified language level of at least B2 in the language of instruction is required.

As a regular visiting student, you will be enrolled for one or at most two semesters at UZH and can book modules as well as earn ECTS credits. At the end of your stay, you will receive a transcript of records, but you cannot earn a UZH degree.

There is no general right to be granted admission.

1. Contact your home university to make sure there is no exchange agreement with UZH in your field of study. You can also check our Mobility Online Portal for this.
2. Fill in theLearning Agreement (PDF, 105 KB). Use ourOnline course catalogue as a reference (Instructions here (PDF, 313 KB)). Pay attention to the important information on the second page of the Learning Agreement. A full list of courses for the following semester is available from the beginning of April or mid-October, respectively.
3. Obtain Confirmation of Enrollment and Recognition (PDF, 74 KB) from your home university.
4. Fill in the application form: Application Form Mobility Online
5. You will receive a confirmation email with your login name and password for our application portal: Mobility Online 
6. There you can upload your application documents.
7. Your application will be assessed by Global Student Experience after the deadline, and you will be notified about the outcome within 3 to 4 weeks.

Please note that we cannot consider incomplete applications.

• Copy of your passport / identity card
• Passport-sized photograph, which will be used for your UZH student card. Make sure that the photo fulfills the following requirements: current photo in color (your head should be photographed in a frontal pose against a neutral background providing good contrast, and it should take up about 80% of the photo), aspect ratio 3:4, image size at least 400x533 pixels.
• Learning Agreement (download here (PDF, 105 KB))
• Confirmation of enrollment and recognition at your home university (download here (PDF, 74 KB))
• Letter of motivation describing your study plans of between 1 and 2 A4 pages
• Curriculum vitae
• Current transcript of records; if applicable also a Bachelor or Master diploma (diplomas issued in any other language than German or English should be accompanied by a certified translation)
• If you intend to take courses taught in German: Proof of proficiency in German (not older than 2 years) at level C1 (according to the Common European Framework), issued by the Goethe Institute.
• If you intend to take courses taught in English you are required to submit proof of good English language skills (not older than 2 years): TOEFL iBT 90, IELTS 6.5, Cambridge Proficiency (CPE), Cambridge Advanced Certificate (CAE).
• To be admitted to courses at the English Department, you must fulfill the Department's requirements: www.es.uzh.ch

Application for the fall semester: April 1 until April 30

Application for the spring semester: October 1 until October 30

If you pay the full semester fees at your home university for the duration of your stay at UZH, you will be exempted from paying semester fees at UZH. You will have to show proof of payment of the semester fees at your home university by August 15 or January 15, respectively.

If you do not pay the full semester fees at your home university,  you will have to pay the semester fees at UZH (including the surcharge for foreign students).

Students with a non-EU/EFTA nationality may need to enter Switzerland with a valid visa. If you are not sure whether a visa is really necessary, please consult the link below. Regular visiting students have to apply for a visa on their own. 

Entry and Residence

Overview of visa provisions according to nationality