International Applicants

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Applicants with International Pre Education

The information in this section is relevant for all applicants who have obtained a secondary school leaving certificate or academic degree in a country other than Austria and are now seeking admission to the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences.

Details on the necessary documents can be found at the website page Admission and Application at the study programme, you are interested in. Please be aware, that these informations in detail may only be provided in German language, if language of instruction of the choosen study programme is German.

Do I have to have my documents/certificates issued abroad certified?

Depending on the country of issue, foreign documents require certification in order to be used in Austria.

One of these 3 regulations applies to your documents:

Either the documents

  • are exempt from any certification, or
  • require certification in the form of an apostille, or
  • require full diplomatic certification.

Here you will find information on the individual states and the respective certification modes: https://www.bmbwf.gv.at/en/Topics/school/legislation/risq/cr.html

Where can I have my documents certified?

If an apostille is required:

The respective Ministry of Foreign Affairs or another authorised authority in the respective state is responsible for issuing the apostille. The authorities in the respective states authorised to certify documents in the form of an apostille are specified in the instruments of ratification (see: http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.authorities&cid=41#I).

If full diplomatic certification is required:

In this case, the domestic certification procedure in the respective country must first be completed (last stop: respective foreign ministry), so that finally the competent Austrian representative authority in the respective country (embassy, consulate, honorary consulate) can issue an over-certification.

Thus, several steps have to be completed:

  1. certification by the competent ministry (e.g. Ministry of Education) of the respective country
  2. certification by the foreign ministry of the respective state
  3. over-certification by the Austrian diplomatic representation authority in the respective country (embassy, consulate, honorary consulate).

A notary cannot provide a document with diplomatic certification.

The certification must confirm the issuer of the document (school headmaster, rector of the university, …); not the signature of a notary.

Do I have to have my documents translated?

If the language of the document is neither German nor English, the documents must be translated into either German or English. The translation must be done by a sworn and court certified translator.

The original document should already have all the necessary certifications so that these can also be translated. The translation must be permanently attached to the original document by the translator.

When applying for a place at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, both the original documents and the translations must be submitted via the online application.

Step by Step

  1. certification of the original document in the required mode
  2. translation of the certified original document by a sworn and court certified translator

Before applying, please check carefully whether the certifications you have correspond to the criteria mentioned here. Documents that are not or not correctly certified cannot be considered for your application.

The certification of a copy or duplicate is only provided if the legal order of the issuing State does not enable the use or the authentication of the original or duplicate, or only accepts authentication of the translation of the document or the authentication of the original and/or duplicate of this document is generally not possible or not reasonably possible. This applies specifically to cases where it is indeed impossible to affix an authentication note to the relevant document, for instance when documents have been shrink-wrapped (https://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/travel-stay/documents-and-authentications/authentication/authentication-abroad/ ).

Preparing application documents
Herunterladen Preparing application documents

Information Sheet (ENGLISH): Preparing application documents


(pdf, 90 KB)

Application Deadlines

For the concrete application dates for the academic year see Deadlines at the website page Admission and Application or Dates and Deadlines.  We strongly recommend that non-EU/EEA citizens and/or applicants with international pre education submit their documents, translated and legalised if applicable for your country, as soon as possible, but at latest by 31 March so you can start the visa/residence permit process in time. This process may take up to 6 months.  Please note that in some programmes the final application deadline may be even earlier.

For EU/EEA citizens with a previous school leaving or bachelor certificate issued outside Austria

Please consult the website of your study programme of interest for the final deadlines for the application and (if applicable) the admission to the programme-specific entry exams.

Our online application for wintersemester opens on November, 1: Online Application

For non-EU/EEA citizens with a previous school leaving or bachelor certificate issued outside Austria

Please consult the website of your study programme of interest for the final deadlines for the application and (if applicable) the admission to the programme-specific entry exams. In order to guarantee that you can start your visa/residence permit in time we strongly recommend to keep the following deadline:  March, 31

Until this date please have online application completed and all required documents in appropriate format uploaded. If it is possible for you, please submit the required original or legalised documents translated and (over-) legalised according to the country requirements to us. Please note that if this is not possible for your or in case the final school leaving or bachelor exam takes place after the application deadline you must submit these documents in the original and properly legalised and translated (if applicable) as soon as possible but at latest at the beginning of your studies.

Please note that your provisional study place will be withdrawn, if your certificate does not meet the prescribed requirements.

Please also take into account that the visa and/or resident permit process may take up to 6 months, so it is in your own interest to submit your application as soon as possible. As soon as you have your  provisional or final admission decision, you may start the visa or residence permit process. A provisional admission decision will only be issued, if you have proven that the exam dates for your school leaving or bachelor certificate are later than the deadlines for application.

Deposit on the tuition fee

Deposit on the tuition fee for prospective students with previous education from a third-country

The FH Salzburg collects a deposit on the tuition fee from interested students with previous education from a third-country (all states except EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland). Prospective students who take up studies at the FH Salzburg will have the deposit credited to the tuition fee (tuition fee and student union fee/ÖH fee) for the first semester, otherwise  the deposit will be refunded. All further regulations can be found in the Guideline for the deposit on the tuition fee (PDF).