Incoming Exchange Students

 

After Applying

Congratulations, you’ve applied to be an exchange student at NUS!  This section will cover all of the necessary things to do before and after receiving your acceptance.  Please read all of the information to ensure you’re properly prepared for your life-changing experience in Southeast Asia.

 

I've Applied. Now What?

You’ve followed all the instructions, applied online and sent in the hard copy supporting documents by the deadlines, now what do you do?

The NUS Registrar’s Office will check to see that you’ve been nominated by your home university’s international office and then process your application and supporting documents.  You will be contacted via email to confirm that your documents have been received, or if something is missing.  Please be sure to check your email, including your spam folder, carefully during this period and if something is missing please send it immediately.

If your documents are received on time, your application will then be reviewed for course selection.  Course requests will be considered based on availability and pre-requisites and cannot be guaranteed.  Students must be successful in obtaining a place in a minimum of three courses per semester (or 15 MCs) in order to be enrolled on a Student Pass at NUS.  If you are not given at least three courses then the Registrar’s Office will contact you via email to select more courses until you are successfully enrolled in three.  As courses in our NUS School of Business and Department of Economics are extremely oversubscribed if you are not successful in gaining a place in these courses during the first round of course selection we recommend that you do not try to request any of these courses during subsequent rounds of reselection to avoid delays with your application.  Students who wish to ‘drop’ courses or try to ‘add’ new ones beyond what they were given should wait until the first two weeks of the semester when the ‘add/drop’ period occurs.

If you are given a minimum of three courses then you will be notified of the outcome of your application by the first week of June (for those coming in August) or the first week of November (for those coming in January).  Your notification will be sent to you by email at the address listed on your application, as well as to your home university exchange coordinator.  This letter of offer will include a link to the modules offered to you, your registration guide and accommodation instructions and you will be expected to follow the instructions in the document, most importantly for your accommodation and visa arrangements. 

 

Accommodation

Applicants who have marked “YES” on their online application for housing will be notified about accommodation in their letter of offer.
If you are not successful in obtaining accommodation through NUS, you should review the Office of Student Affairs’ Hostel Admission Services guidebook and list of contacts and resource references  to help you facilitate your arrangement of alternative accommodation.

If you are successful in obtaining NUS accommodation, you will be informed of the housing registration period and payment details in your letter of offer.   This process will be done via the University Housing Management System (UHMS).  Please be sure to read and follow all instructions and deadlines, as there will be a window of time to log in to the system to submit your details and pay the mandatory accommodation application fee of S$26.75, and then a second window of time to log in to the system again once you have been given a housing offer (via the housing system approximately a week after you make the application fee) to pay the advance accommodation payment of S$200, if you accept the offer.  Afterwards, a confirmation email will be sent to you with details of the allocated hostel or residence and room type.  Please print and bring this copy for submission to the accommodation Management Office during check-in.

Complete information on the housing application procedure, including descriptions of NUS accommodation choices, meal plan fees, vacation stay, late & early check-in, and check-out information, can be found on the Office of Student Affairs’ Hostel Admission Services site.

If you have a housing-related enquiry you can read the database of Frequently Asked Questions or send your own new enquiry on the UHMS site.

 

Health & Travel Matters

Every international student must take up the compulsory NUS Group Medical Insurance Scheme.

Premium (per academic year): S$117.70
Premium (per semester): S$58.85

These fees may be subject to revision from time to time.

Click here for details of the scheme.  Please note that not all health services are covered by the scheme so you may wish to enroll with a private health insurance organisation that offers services not covered by the scheme.

 

Immigration Matters

International students studying in Singapore are required to have a student visa or, as it is called in Singapore, a “Student's Pass”. 

NUS will apply for the entry visa and an In-Principle Approval (IPA) letter for all international students through the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) Student’s Pass Online Application and Registration (SOLAR) system.  All international students will then be required to fill out an online eForm 16 and print a copy to be brought to Singapore.

For international students who do not require entry visas to Singapore they will receive their stamped IPA letters during registration.  These students will only need to show their passports and disembarkation cards to get through Singapore immigration and will be given their IPA letters at registration.  For international students who require entry visas to Singapore, NUS will send the IPA letter via email after the application has been approved by ICA.  The IPA letter will serve as a single-trip entry visa upon arrival in Singapore.  Upon arrival at NUS for registration, another IPA letter will be stamped and issued to the students before they proceed to collect their Student’s Pass.

All incoming international students who are applying for Student’s Pass for 6 months and above are required to do a medical examination (details will be provided in your letter of offer). Please also note that all non-graduating international students are required to read a minimum workload of 12 Modular Credits (MCs) i.e. approximately 3 modules or pursue full-time research during regular semester in order to qualify as a full-time student and be issued with a Student’s Pass. Please note that your offer of admission is conditional upon your successful application of your Student's Pass.

 

Cost of Living

Below is a list of estimated expenditure a single student may likely incur during his or her stay in Singapore. These amounts will vary accordingly depending on the student’s personal needs and lifestyle pattern. You are advised to refer to the sample data as a rough guide for planning your expected individual living costs.

Please note that this schedule only includes expenses for your daily essentials and does not account for non-essentials and major items such as shopping, entertainment, computers, electronic/communication devices, travel plans, etc.

Item	Estimated Costs (per month)
Halls/Residence (within campus); or Alternative Housing (outside campus)	S$350 - S$700* S$500 - S$1,500* on average
Food (3 meals a day)	S$400 - S$800
Public Transport	S$100 - S$150
Books & Stationery (depending on courses)	S$200 - S$300
Miscellaneous	S$200
Total	S$1,250 - S$2,950 per month

 

* Actual cost depends on type of residence and type of room.  For the hostel fees you may refer to the Office of Student Affairs’ Residential Services site.

 

Working In Singapore

Non-graduating students holding a Student’s Pass from NUS are not eligible for employment. 

 

Non-Graduating International Student Guide

The Office of Student Affairs’ International Students Section (ISS) Team has also prepared an NUS Office of Student Affairs - International Students Section Information.  It has information on what to bring, getting to NUS, orientations, immigration matters, university support services, campus facilities and amenities and an introduction to Singapore.  You are encouraged to read it to prepare yourself for your exchange experience.