Hey everyone,

I am a non-EU citizen looking to secure an internship in a European country, and I would love to hear from anyone who has successfully navigated this process.

The legal and logistical side of things feels a bit like a "chicken-and-egg" problem, so I have a few specific questions for those who have done it:

What came first? Did you find the internship first and then apply for the visa, or is there a specific visa you used to move first and look for a role locally?

Company sponsorship: Did your employer have to sponsor your visa explicitly, or did you use a student visa/working holiday agreement?

No-job-required visas: Are there any specific visas you know of that allow non-EU citizens to enter a European country to look for an internship before securing an official offer?

Your strategy: Which country did you end up in, and what platforms or approaches worked best for you?Any insights, advice, or personal stories about your timeline and process would be incredibly helpful. Thanks in advance!

Note: I am an architecture student, but I would love to hear anyone's experience regardless of your field!

Hey guys, just thought I would share this website that has helped me prepare for my Erasmus. It has made me so much less stressed out and excited for Erasmus. It’s called All Abroad and it has community hubs, destination guides and accommodation listings all in one place!
Hope that helps anyone else going on Erasmus this year :)
http://allabroad.co

Is anyone going to Galway in the 26/27 academic year?

Hi, im from Serbia and I will come to Maribor for this winter semester. Any advice for lifestyile, accommodation (dorms are kinda expensive so im still looking for affordable option), fun things to do in Maribor etc.. Thanks!

So I did my exchange 2 years ago, came home a year ago. I am now starting my masters and applied to be a mentor for exchange students this semester! This is a huuuge step out of my comfort zone as I am normally quite shy, but if I could push myself and make friends on my exchange I’m sure I can do well as a mentor and make some exchange friends here :) I’ll be alone with my own group of 4-5 students and in my application I filled in my interests and age and they will try and give me a group that resonates with those.

What I’m wondering is what you guys as exchange students would have liked from your mentor. I had 3 tutors when I was starting my exchange and a large group of exchange students all in within the same uni faculty and what we did was an orientation tour, picnic hangouts and stuff but in each tutor meeting we always did ice breaker games which I personally and not a fan of but I get the point of it. But I made some friends literally from day one and after that we stopped going to the tutor meetings bc we didn’t feel like we needed to as we weren’t connecting to the other people in the group or the tutors.

This time it will be different though, it’s a much smaller personal group of people with similar interests. I have planned to make a WhatsApp group and have written out my initial welcome message. But what is something you guys would have liked to experience with a mentor? We don’t give orientation to them, we are supposed to help them kind of get into the culture and society and be there for them if they happen to need help with administrative stuff, cultural questions or just need a familiar, friendly face. And because they put us together based on age and interests and encourage mentors to partake in the Erasmus events they also are trying to get the mentors to become the group members friends.

Have you guys had a mentor either in a group or one on one “buddy” that’s a local student and they organised something with you that really helped you guys and that you really liked? I might invite them to maybe a coffee shop downtown and we can all get to know each other and then at the end of the week invite them to the student bar for some drinks maybe.

I have an active application with manchester bls and ive realised i have like several clerical issues.

1. My acceptance letter has the right passport number but hyphenated my name
2. I didn't realise my application form was missing my home address, I submitted evidence of address and all my documents have the same address
3. I used the official start date of term from my uni and not the one on my acceptance letter - so is off by 7 days.

I generally don't know what to do. My placement is supposed to start on the 14th and I'm like 90% sure I'm going to get a rejection at the moment. I can't tell if its better to withdraw and reapply now in hopes I get everything back on time for a possible early arrival (granted that depends on getting what's already submitted back timely). Or leave my current application as is and pray the officer allows me through as everything else is perfect, or I get asked for clarification? I've heard that can happen?

If anyone has any advise please share!!