Student-visa total first-year cost by country

Beyond proof of funds, the first year carries insurance and visa fees too. This ranks destinations by an estimated first-year outlay — proof of funds plus a year of insurance plus the visa fee — in euros.

Country	First-year est. (≈ EUR)	of which proof of funds
1. Poland	€2,468	€2,166	View requirements
2. Czechia	€5,284	€4,800	View requirements
3. Spain	€7,760	€7,200	View requirements
4. France	€7,790	€7,380	View requirements
5. Portugal	€9,630	€9,120	View requirements
6. Finland	€10,430	€9,600	View requirements
7. Italy	€10,656	€10,180	View requirements
8. Ireland	€10,660	€10,000	View requirements
9. Sweden	€11,449	€11,316	View requirements
10. New Zealand	€11,848	€11,236	View requirements
11. Japan	€11,924	€11,765	View requirements
12. Denmark	€12,213	€11,945	View requirements
13. the UK	€13,015	€12,399	View requirements
14. Belgium	€13,319	€12,744	View requirements
15. Germany	€13,419	€11,904	View requirements
16. Norway	€13,738	€13,190	View requirements
17. South Korea	€13,787	€13,333	View requirements
18. the Netherlands	€15,148	€13,600	View requirements
19. Canada	€16,289	€15,575	View requirements
20. Austria	€16,641	€15,701	View requirements
21. Australia	€19,896	€18,227	View requirements
22. Switzerland	€24,349	€22,340	View requirements

What the numbers say

Poland is the lightest first-year commitment (≈ €2,468), and Switzerland the heaviest (≈ €24,349). Most of this is recoverable living money (you spend it studying), not a fee — but you must be able to show it before the visa is granted.

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Methodology

Figures come from our sourced student-visa records (each linked to an official government page and date-verified). Amounts are converted to euros at European Central Bank reference rates (updated 2026-06-20) for comparability; banks add a margin and official figures are set in each country's own currency. The USA has no single fixed proof-of-funds figure — it's set by your school's I-20 — so it's excluded from money rankings.

See the full requirements and official sources on each comparison and destination page. Requirements change — always confirm with the official source.