@167, name... I contacted the school n the school told me, another letter will be sent though its gonna b a certified copy, nd i heard regular mail from outside country takes up to 2-3months before it can be received.. Moreover, wats d status of your application, @167 n name... Lets help each oda out.. Pple are scared of applying to belgium, but let pray for different story..
goedeavont meneer

I already have my admission letter since around November 2015. Now i am planning on my sponsorship and how to show proof of sufficient funds for studies. I guess i will use a block account since it is easy to get a visa with that than other means of proof of funds


It shall be well my brothers

lets continue to pray hard

fikki1:
@167, name... I contacted the school n the school told me, another letter will be sent though its gonna b a certified copy, nd i heard regular mail from outside country takes up to 2-3months before it can be received.. Moreover, wats d status of your application, @167 n name... Lets help each oda out.. Pple are scared of applying to belgium, but let pray for different story..
goedeavont meneer

namebdis4:
I already have my admission letter since around November 2015. Now i am planning on my sponsorship and how to show proof of sufficient funds for studies. I guess i will use a block account since it is easy to get a visa with that than other means of proof of funds


It shall be well my brothers

lets continue to pray hard

the block account is it better than statement or financial proof, please explain better

because they are sure that you have money in their country and you can not run away upon arrival since this money will be paid to you monthly during your studies. This is to say that the embassy know you are going there specifically for studies.

fikki1:


the block account is it better than statement or financial proof, please explain better

namebdis4:
because they are sure that you have money in their country and you can not run away upon arrival since this money will be paid to you monthly during your studies. This is to say that the embassy know you are going there specifically for studies.

like how much,are we talking about... 8,000 euro or less

it is assume that the monthly wage of a normal person in Belgium is 650 euros. as a result for 12 months of stay in belgium you will need 12x650euros = 7800euros


this is the amount that you will need for the block account

fikki1:

like how much,are we talking about... 8,000 euro or less

namebdis4:
it is assume that the monthly wage of a normal person in Belgium is 650 euros. as a result for 12 months of stay in belgium you will need 12x650euros = 7800euros


this is the amount that you will need for the block account

oh...ok
but if i ain't using the,block account way, which other is efficient and at least above,75% assurance..

namebdis4:
it is assume that the monthly wage of a normal person in Belgium is 650 euros. as a result for 12 months of stay in belgium you will need 12x650euros = 7800euros


this is the amount that you will need for the block account

annexe 32, i assume is useful if i cant have a block account, and i learnt it has to be 1700euro by the sponsor per month.. Expatiate about this please..

there are only 2 ways to proof of sufficient funds. either blocks funds or a sponsor which comes in a form of what is call in French "engagement de prise en charge" below you have more details about this sponsor ship stuff

Original of a guarantee letter (model 32) for studying (+ 2 photocopies) accompanied by a proof of regular and sufficient income of the guarantor of at least 1.614 Euro/month + 150 Euro/month per person already at the charge of the guarantor (+ 2 photocopies). Letters of guarantee for students can be provided by:

1. A Belgian or a foreigner residing in Belgium:

In that case, the letter of guarantee must be legalized by the municipality in Belgium where the guarantor resides and must be accompanied, in addition to the proof of income, by a certificate of residence issued by the municipality and/or by a recto-verso copy of the identity card (+1 additional copy).

Or
2. A Belgian or a foreigner residing abroad.
In that case, the letter of guarantee must be legalized by a Belgian Embassy or Consulate in the country where the guarantor resides and must be accompanied, in addition to the proof of income, by a copy of the bio-page of the passport and/or by a copy of the residence permit (+ 1 additional copy)

fikki1:


oh...ok
but if i ain't using the,block account way, which other is efficient and at least above,75% assurance..

@fikki1 Application passed the student administration stage at vub and now waiting on the faculty stage..
Waiting to get my legalised documents on thursday from Mrs Gloria so will send to ghent by friday or monday insha allah..sending via ems tho..to get there in 5 working days
It is well IJN

I might be able to help with question about Belgium.

I don't know much about particular programs and their conditions (everyone can google :-), requirements change every season, procedures are clearly stated on the websites of the concerning institutions. If you cant find your way in the application procedure labyrinth, you no be fit for the society where you want to end up into.

BUT... for other general info, tips and tricks concerning issues related to living in belgium (like dutch/french language, transport, housing, living costs, insurances etc. ) you can address questions to me.

167tunde:
@fikki1 Application passed the student administration stage at vub and now waiting on the faculty stage..
Waiting to get my legalised documents on thursday from Mrs Gloria so will send to ghent by friday or monday insha allah..sending via ems tho..to get there in 5 working days
It is well IJN

Amen, by God's grace its all gonna work well, i believe so

Hi,have been following this thread and am interested in studying at belgium,am going for nysc dis year and I wanna start my application next year...I need information on schools offering pgd to international student and low tuitions and I need help on hw to go about it

Ghent University
KU Leuven
Vrijie University Brussels
University of Antwerp
and others. just google for more

if you need any information do not hesitate to ask.

Tuition fee for most of the masters programme in the universities mentioned above ranged from 600 euro to about 2000 Euro

yungNas:
Hi,have been following this thread and am interested in studying at belgium,am going for nysc dis year and I wanna start my application next year...I need information on schools offering pgd to international student and low tuitions and I need help on hw to go about it

Tufanja:
I might be able to help with question about Belgium.

I don't know much about particular programs and their conditions (everyone can google :-), requirements change every season, procedures are clearly stated on the websites of the concerning institutions. If you cant find your way in the application procedure labyrinth, you no be fit for the society where you want to end up into.

BUT... for other general info, tips and tricks concerning issues related to living in belgium (like dutch/french language, transport, housing, living costs, insurances etc. ) you can address questions to me.

thanks a lot for your concern mevrouw, how hard is the Dutch language, especially listening and spellings, i really want to have knowledge about it before visa application

fikki1:


thanks a lot for your concern mevrouw, how hard is the Dutch language, especially listening and spellings, i really want to have knowledge about it before visa application

To be honest, the Dutch language is far from easy to learn for foreigners. Generally, it is sproken very quick, carelessly pronounced and the spelling has its own tricks.
A basic level of Dutch should not be too hard to learn though. A1 en A2-level tests are generally pretty doable.
Academic level of dutch is a whole other thing all together, you gonna need two years full devotion to the language to get there.

Some Dutch vocabulary might look easy because of the association with english words, but that is a bit misguiding. A lot of words can have different meanings dependent on the context used into. That requires a good capability to make sentences and to understand more than just a few key words of the language.

Dominant language in Belgium is french. Especially when you are planning to stay in the capital Brussels you might find french way more useful than Dutch. The Flemish community (dutch=flemish speaking part of the country) is also way better bilingual than the Walloon Community (french speaking part of Belgium). Brussels has sort of special status because its mixed, you find there a lot of people who are perfectly bilingual but you also find there many french speaking people who dont know a word dutch. There is a huge influx of foreigners (africans from francophone background) in Brussels which makes French even more on top there.

Although I love the Dutch language, for an african I would consider French to be more useful to invest in. Different african countries (and more countries worldwide) have french as official language, learning it would be an added value on your cv and enlarge your value on the international market. Related to working in Belgium, it highly depends on the sector and city you are in. But i think you have more options knowing english and french than knowing english and dutch, but again...it depends on your plans and field of work.

Als je nog iets wil weten, vraag het gerust. (if there is anything else you would like to know, feel free to ask)

Tufanja:


To be honest, the Dutch language is far from easy to learn for foreigners. Generally, it is sproken very quick, carelessly pronounced and the spelling has its own tricks.
A basic level of Dutch should not be too hard to learn though. A1 en A2-level tests are generally pretty doable.
Academic level of dutch is a whole other thing all together, you gonna need two years full devotion to the language to get there.

Some Dutch vocabulary might look easy because of the association with english words, but that is a bit misguiding. A lot of words can have different meanings dependent on the context used into. That requires a good capability to make sentences and to understand more than just a few key words of the language.

Dominant language in Belgium is french. Especially when you are planning to stay in the capital Brussels you might find french way more useful than Dutch. The Flemish community (dutch=flemish speaking part of the country) is also way better bilingual than the Walloon Community (french speaking part of Belgium). Brussels has sort of special status because its mixed, you find there a lot of people who are perfectly bilingual but you also find there many french speaking people who dont know a word dutch. There is a huge influx of foreigners (africans from francophone background) in Brussels which makes French even more on top there.

Although I love the Dutch language, for an african I would consider French to be more useful to invest in. Different african countries (and more countries worldwide) have french as official language, learning it would be an added value on your cv and enlarge your value on the international market. Related to working in Belgium, it highly depends on the sector and city you are in. But i think you have more options knowing english and french than knowing english and dutch, but again...it depends on your plans and field of work.

Als je nog iets wil weten, vraag het gerust. (if there is anything else you would like to know, feel free to ask)

i actually want to apply for the language school at Ghent, which will commence in April, i hv admission from Ghent University, and have been trying to read 'boek over nederlands' its helpful a bit but the pronunciation is d problem, any advice for this..

dank je,
alstublieft helpen, ik ben hier
ik heb hoofdpijn over Nederlands Taal, ik moet leren

please don't mind my mistakes, still reading...

fikki1:


i actually want to apply for the language school at Ghent, which will commence in April, i hv admission from Ghent University, and have been trying to read 'boek over nederlands' its helpful a bit but the pronunciation is d problem, any advice for this..

dank je,
alstublieft helpen, ik ben hier
ik heb hoofdpijn over Nederlands Taal, ik moet leren

please don't mind my mistakes, still reading...

Congrats with the admission and welcome to Belgium!

The best way to learn the pronunciation is actually getting a dutch/flemisch speaking girlfriend/boyfriend (dont know if your moniker is male/female). At the other hand, it wld be a distraction to academical performance, so i wont recommend it in this case. Besides, as a nigerian you are easily under suspicion of being a yahoo yahoo boy/girl. You have to understand that fellow nigerians gave nigerian nationals a very bad name abroad. Besides, there is the natural human nature of prejudices you might experience here (comparable to nigerian tribalisme, but then just on a different scale). Dont blame it too quickly on discrimination, its rather ignorance, you also wont accuse a Yoruba mistrusting an Igbo of discrimination, would you? So understand people might have trust issues here, its good to realize that you sometimes gonna need to give them time to get used to you and make them trust you. In order to practice your language you might be wanting to walk upto someone and start talking but it can easily be explained wrongly, because sometimes people can be very on their own here in public space. But it all depends a bit on where you end up. You just gonna need to learn to read the unwritten social codes a bit.

Have you tried to find dutch language classes on youtube? That maybe can help with the pronunciation. Also listening dutch songs can help you to remember vocabulary and pronunciation in a playful way. I know I have somewhere some links with good language pages but just beeing freaky busy these days so it might take some time before i have the chance to go through things.

Its hard to learn dutch in Belgium because everyone is gonna speak english to you and thats why you really need to engage in social activities with people who only speak dutch.

Feel free to PM me, then I can update you on language info when i have time and see where i can be of help, as you seem to be serious in giving learning dutch a try. Its a good thing to arrive prepared :-)

Thanks for the info bros, I are you studying in Belgium or working and which city do you live in. I also got admission to study Agro- and Environmental Nematology at Ghent University, this is an English Master taught program. I will be happy for you advice and help with regards to preparation for securing visa and about how daily life in Belgium looks likee. Once more accept greetings from this end.

Tufanja:


Congrats with the admission and welcome to Belgium!

The best way to learn the pronunciation is actually getting a dutch/flemisch speaking girlfriend/boyfriend (dont know if your moniker is male/female). At the other hand, it wld be a distraction to academical performance, so i wont recommend it in this case. Besides, as a nigerian you are easily under suspicion of being a yahoo yahoo boy/girl. You have to understand that fellow nigerians gave nigerian nationals a very bad name abroad. Besides, there is the natural human nature of prejudices you might experience here (comparable to nigerian tribalisme, but then just on a different scale). Dont blame it too quickly on discrimination, its rather ignorance, you also wont accuse a Yoruba mistrusting an Igbo of discrimination, would you? So understand people might have trust issues here, its good to realize that you sometimes gonna need to give them time to get used to you and make them trust you. In order to practice your language you might be wanting to walk upto someone and start talking but it can easily be explained wrongly, because sometimes people can be very on their own here in public space. But it all depends a bit on where you end up. You just gonna need to learn to read the unwritten social codes a bit.

Have you tried to find dutch language classes on youtube? That maybe can help with the pronunciation. Also listening dutch songs can help you to remember vocabulary and pronunciation in a playful way. I know I have somewhere some links with good language pages but just beeing freaky busy these days so it might take some time before i have the chance to go through things.

Its hard to learn dutch in Belgium because everyone is gonna speak english to you and thats why you really need to engage in social activities with people who only speak dutch.

Feel free to PM me, then I can update you on language info when i have time and see where i can be of help, as you seem to be serious in giving learning dutch a try. Its a good thing to arrive prepared :-)

Tufanja:


Congrats with the admission and welcome to Belgium!

The best way to learn the pronunciation is actually getting a dutch/flemisch speaking girlfriend/boyfriend (dont know if your moniker is male/female). At the other hand, it wld be a distraction to academical performance, so i wont recommend it in this case. Besides, as a nigerian you are easily under suspicion of being a yahoo yahoo boy/girl. You have to understand that fellow nigerians gave nigerian nationals a very bad name abroad. Besides, there is the natural human nature of prejudices you might experience here (comparable to nigerian tribalisme, but then just on a different scale). Dont blame it too quickly on discrimination, its rather ignorance, you also wont accuse a Yoruba mistrusting an Igbo of discrimination, would you? So understand people might have trust issues here, its good to realize that you sometimes gonna need to give them time to get used to you and make them trust you. In order to practice your language you might be wanting to walk upto someone and start talking but it can easily be explained wrongly, because sometimes people can be very on their own here in public space. But it all depends a bit on where you end up. You just gonna need to learn to read the unwritten social codes a bit.

Have you tried to find dutch language classes on youtube? That maybe can help with the pronunciation. Also listening dutch songs can help you to remember vocabulary and pronunciation in a playful way. I know I have somewhere some links with good language pages but just beeing freaky busy these days so it might take some time before i have the chance to go through things.

Its hard to learn dutch in Belgium because everyone is gonna speak english to you and thats why you really need to engage in social activities with people who only speak dutch.

Feel free to PM me, then I can update you on language info when i have time and see where i can be of help, as you seem to be serious in giving learning dutch a try. Its a good thing to arrive prepared :-)

thanks fir taking time to respond, i really appreciate it, do u reside in one of d Flemish community? Please, i will b obliged if you can give hint about the visa processing, just as i hv said before, i will apply fir language course by April afterwards, i will apply for visa, is there anything we should know? And moreover i am to pay 2250euros fir the language, will it hv effect on d visa, please if yhu can enlighten about the process, thanks a lot, n i hv sent yhu pm, hope to hear from yhu

Hello guys, hope we had a good day. I sent my application package to ghent today and it should be received in the next 5 working days insha allah..I have a constraint tho as I didn't include my recommendation letters in an envelope..I just packaged all documents in one same envelope..hope this is trivial sha..

fikki1:


thanks fir taking time to respond, i really appreciate it, do u reside in one of d Flemish community? Please, i will b obliged if you can give hint about the visa processing, just as i hv said before, i will apply fir language course by April afterwards, i will apply for visa, is there anything we should know? And moreover i am to pay 2250euros fir the language, will it hv effect on d visa, please if yhu can enlighten about the process, thanks a lot, n i hv sent yhu pm, hope to hear from yhu

I know the flemish community pretty well, I change location for work often I can be at both sides or abroad.

About the visa is just following the procedures. Belgium is not Nigeria. You cant find shortcuts, sneaky ways, bribes or anything. You just need to strictly do as requested on their websites (https://dofi.ibz.be/sites/dvzoe/EN/Application-guides/Pages/Higher_education_or_preparatory_year.aspx). There is nothing like hints. It is important to read the conditions very well (make sure the course you enroll for lives up to the mentioned criteria for study visa long stay). One of the crucial things (and often stumbling stone for Nigerians) is the sufficient means of subsistence you need to prove. Lets be very plain and honest, studying abroad is gonna cost you a hell of money. Often Nigerians think they can collect everyone's money on an account to prove their validity but it wont work that way.

Even when you make it through the visa process, without a lot of money in no time you will be calling and begging home because you run out of resources. Living costs are high and the thought that you can fill up the gap with working is not a sound plan. In order to be allowed to work you gonna need a work permit as a foreign student (subject to conditions and often employees are not so interested in applying for it so they rather hire someone else). Doing illegal jobs is not only risky for your own health but also for your status, just dont get it started. Combining academical life with making a full income is not realistic either, unless you are a bright student (bright in Belgium is different from bright in Nigeria, so dont think your A is gonna be an A here per se) or need to meet the luck of finding a very well payed student job or having something special to offer where it concerns high demanded skills.

Let me keep it short, you need a very thought through plan. Not only on short term, but also on long term. You need to be able to answer questions like: what do I want to gain from my foreign experience, what are my expectations, what are my ambitions, what type of future am I preparing for and where. You need to have a very specific and realistic cost calculation and have a fitting budget. You need to have a plan A and a plan B. Professional approach is mandatory to make the foreign journey worth it and to decide if it is the best way to go. A foreign master wont give you more job chances in Nigeria at all, it can as much give you a setback on the jobmarket compared to your peers who stay back home and have the chance to gain work experience (often more useful than another certificate)

Be aware that the foreign authorities are not stupid. It is generally known that Nigerian men aged 25-35 en masse try to use the study visa road to enter the country with in the back of their mind the idea to escapes naija on the long run, to try to get papers and build a new future here, profiting from being linked to two worlds. If you wonder why so many visas are rejected ... you got the answer here. A lot of those good luck-seekers end up grounded here...with nagging family back home begging them to send money (as compensation for the investment of sending them abroad), demanding all type of favors without realizing their folks are living here in absolute misery (while lying and pretending they are living the good western instead, without admitting they re struggling...all out of the fear to not be seen as a failure). Often those back home in naija are way better off. Especially with the current situation in Europe I would advice luck seekers to stay home because the chance for the best luck might be your own backyard.

As a student you gonna need 800 euro for your monthly living costs (depends a bit on the area and type of lodging). You should not forget about the different type of insurances that are really needed here. If you have no insurance and you injure for instance someone during an inocent soccer match and the person is gonna be life-long disabled due to it and unable to make a living...you are definitely lifelong grounded too, working for that person to pay off.

Many more other things, but that is it for now.

namebdis4:
Thanks for the info bros, I are you studying in Belgium or working and which city do you live in. I also got admission to study Agro- and Environmental Nematology at Ghent University, this is an English Master taught program. I will be happy for you advice and help with regards to preparation for securing visa and about how daily life in Belgium looks likee. Once more accept greetings from this end.

You are welcome. Sounds like a great master. Hope you gonna make it to Belgium. About the visa etc I just posted a message (above). Everyone can google and there aint not really anything you cant read or find on the official websites of the concerning authorities, all you need to do is follow instructions consistently. Basically it all boils down on proving sufficient means of subsistence...in the end its all about money in life.

Sometimes universities offer student jobs within the institution (labs, restaurant, liberary, research assistent etc), this are one of the most wanted jobs, with good rewards and social benefits, they get advertised on the uni website on a regular basis. These type of jobs are also good to combine with studying (but it limits your chill time so you really need to be disciplined...you are not doing a master in partying ;-).

You perfectly gonna be able to survive with only the english language here.
If you have any more specific questions, feel free to ask or drop a PM.

A very good piece that was @tufanja..thanks alot for your time..please I would like to know if you schooled in belgium..and what school pls

167tunde:
Hello guys, hope we had a good day. I sent my application package to ghent today and it should be received in the next 5 working days insha allah..I have a constraint tho as I didn't include my recommendation letters in an envelope..I just packaged all documents in one same envelope..hope this is trivial sha..

Just chill.
As long as the recommendation letters are in the package I think you are good to go.

167tunde:
A very good piece that was @tufanja..thanks alot for your time..please I would like to know if you schooled in belgium..and what school pls

Well yeah, if you dont mind I prefer not to give personal info on a public forum. You might ask me off the record, that's no problem.

Tufanja:


Well yeah, if you dont mind I prefer not to give personal info on a public forum. You might ask me off the record, that's no problem.

thanks so much for your advise, i really appreciate it... Pm pls

Goedemorgen alle,

just got my admission letter hard copy from Nipost, after 2months, thanks to God..

cc:
namebdis4, 167...

how you all doing, yhu all hv been quiet, hope no problem... Lets keep praying ooo.

Tufan... Thanks for your encouragement n advice may God lead your way too.. Happy days ahead...

I am happy for you my brother.

Shalom

fikki1:
Goedemorgen alle,

just got my admission letter hard copy from Nipost, after 2months, thanks to God..

cc:
namebdis4, 167...

how you all doing, yhu all hv been quiet, hope no problem... Lets keep praying ooo.

Tufan... Thanks for your encouragement n advice may God lead your way too.. Happy days ahead...

Nice one @fikki1..It is well with us IJN

why so much silence here.....@ fikki 1 any info?

167tunde:
Nice one @fikki1..It is well with us IJN

@Tufanja

Good job you are doing here. i appreciate what you are doing.

Thanks for taking time out to help.