How to apply for exchange

When can my home university nominate me?

Your home university can only nominate you when our online nomination system is open:

• Start autumn semester (August): 15 March - 20 April
• Start spring semester (January): 1 September - 1 October

Do you accept students who are not nominated?

No. In order to apply as an exchange student to UiB you must be nominated by your home university on an existing exchange agreement, or apply through the Russian-Norwegian Study Grant Programme. Contact your home university to find out if you can be nominated as an exchange student to UiB.

UiB does not accept free-movers.

Can I apply before I have been nominated?

Unfortunately not. In order to apply as an exchange student you must have been nominated by your home university first.

How do I know if my home university has nominated me?

When your home university has nominated you, you will receive two e-mails from us. One with instructions on how to apply, the other with your password for Søknadsweb.

Remember to check your spam filter.

I have been nominated by my university, but I haven't received an email with log in information. What should I do?

1. Check whether it is actually possible for you to be nominated. Your home university can only nominate you when our online nomination system is open:
   • Start autumn semester (August): 15 March - 20 April
   • Start spring semester (January): 1 September - 1 October
2. Contact your home university to make sure that your home university has nominated you in our online nomination form, if we are now in the nomination period.
3. Check your spam filter.
4. Go to Søknadsweb's log in page - choose International Applicant - choose Send me a new password, and use your email address to order a new password. If you are in our system, you will receive a new password within a couple of minutes.
5. Finally, if it seems that you are not in our system, please email us at incoming@uib.no.

At the login page for International Applicants I can Register new international applicant. Should I?

No! You should not register as a new international applicant. Our admission for exchange students is by invitation only, and you will not find the admission for exchange students if you register as a new applicant.

You must log in with your email address that was registered by your home university when they nominated you. If it doesn't work, email us at incoming@uib.no.

I have received a confirmation from UiB that I am nominated for exchange and can start my application, but I did not receive my password. What should I do?

Go to Søknadsweb's log in page - choose International Applicant - choose Send me a new password, and use your email address to order a new password. You will receive a new password within a couple of minutes.

What does the question "Do you have higher education from another university or college" mean?

Please select Yes. It is simply a control question and will not have any implications for your application.

I have chosen many restricted courses in my application on Søknadsweb. Will I have to attend all of them if I am granted admission?

No, you don't have to attend all of them. The restricted courses you are offered admission to will be listed in your education plan at Studentweb from late June / early December. You can make changes to your education plan by deleting or adding courses if needed. You will be able to make many changes yourself, while other changes may need to be approved by the relevant faculty.

When will I know which courses I have been granted admission to?

If you plan to take only open courses, you do not apply to courses in Søknadsweb. You will receive an email where you will be asked to accept (or decline) the offer of admission when we have processed your application. You must then sign up for the open courses you wish to take when you get access to register as a student in Studentweb in late June.

If you have applied for courses that require faculty approval (restricted courses), you will receive information about whether you are admitted to them in late June/early December. 

If you have other questions about courses, find more information at courses for exchange students.

How do I upload documents?

Once logged in, you can upload documents to Søknadsweb at any time. Choose My documents from the top menu and from there upload your documents.

If you can't find the top menu, click on the three white stripes in the top left corner and you will find My documents in the drop down menu.

What should the letter from my parents documenting funds contain?

The letter from your parents as documentation of funds must contain the following:

• Confirm the relationship with the student (mother, father or legal guardian).
• Confirm that the person will support the student's stay in Norway financially during the whole exchange period.
• Confirm the amount and exchange period.
• A bank statement in their name (may be uploaded in addition to the letter).
• Signature.

Upload it to your application as a pdf (or jpg).

At Søknadsweb there is no button to officially send my application, so do I just leave it and it will be dealt with?

Søknadweb does not have a button to officially submit your application. Your application is officially complete when:

• You have filled in your complete home address.
• You have uploaded all the required documentation.
• If applicable: you have selected the restricted courses you wish to take.

You can change your application until the deadline 25 April (start autumn semester) or 15 October (start spring semester). The status of your application will be Under consideration on Søknadsweb until we have finished the processing of your application.

My application status says Under consideration. What does it mean?

This status will appear as soon as you have started to fill out your application, and will stay the same until we have finished the processing of your application completely, and ask you to accept your offer.

When will I receive my Letter of Acceptance?

Letters of Acceptance are published on Søknadsweb continuously during the period 5 May - 5 June. You will be notified by email when your letter has been published.

The sooner you complete your application, the earlier we will be able to process it.

You will usually be notified about which restricted courses you get admitted to later in the process.

I know other students from my university who have received their Letter of Acceptance, but I haven't yet. Is that normal?

Yes! Students from the same home university will not necessarily receive their Letter of Acceptance at the same time. We publish Letters of Acceptance once or twice per week throughout this period as soon as the applications have been processed, regardless of which home university the student belongs to.

The processing of a student's application can be delayed for several reasons, the most common one being that we are missing one or more of the required documents. In these cases we will email the student directly with information about what is missing and what the student should do next.

Please check your email (including spam filter) regularly!

Email us at incoming@uib.no.