Online application instructions for exchange (Erasmus, Tempus and Faculty Exchange Agreement) students wishing to study at K.U.Leuven

Preliminary information: Please read the following instructions concerning your application form carefully before you download it and fill it in:

• Once you have downloaded the application form, you will notice that it has 9 pages. The first thing you should do is select "exchange student" from the drop down menu under status. Even if you are a Master's student at your home university, you will have the status of "exchange student" if you come to Leuven in the framework of one of the following programmes:
  • Erasmus (study) student
  • Erasmus (work placement) student
  • Erasmus Belgica student (this is only intended for students whose main registration is at a Belgian university.  Erasmus Belgica is an exchange between the French speaking and the Dutch speaking regions of Belgium).
  • Tempus student
  • Faculty exchange agreement student
  You will now notice that the application form shortens to 5 pages when you select "exchange student". These are all the pages you need to fill in. There are a few other points to remember while you do so:
• On page 1/5, you have to fill in the correct date of arrival in Leuven and the correct date of departure from Leuven. When you click on the box of the dates, a calendar will appear. You can then select the correct date. These dates are very important as they will be printed on your student card and your letter of admission. If later on, after you have "submitted" online your application form, the dates still have to be changed, then send an e-mail to the Faculty Exchange Programme Coordinator of KU Leuven, and we shall make the necessary changes.
• On page 3/5, you have to fill in your complete permanent address as well as your complete current address. If your permanent address and your current address are the same, you only need to fill in your permanent address. In the course of processing your application, we will need to send you post, so it is very important that we have your complete address.
• Every language has its own special characters. Unfortunately, our computer system does not always display these special characters as they should be displayed. For example: “Ł” becomes "#". It is very important that the information (especially name, address, etc.) you fill in on the application form is clearly legible in our computer system, as it will be printed on your letter of admission. Some students (non-EEA students) need to apply for a visa, and will need a correct letter of admission to do so. We will also send you post via regular mail, so it is very important that we have a complete, correct address that does not display "#" characters. Therefore, please use “standard” characters. Instead of “Ł”, for example, please use “L”.
  

As soon as your guest account has been activated, you can surf to the KU Leuven web application Applicant and download the application form.
Make sure that the latest version of Adobe Reader (version 10) is installed on your PC. You can complete the form offline. It is absolutely necessary that you fill in all the fields in red. Please note that the application form is only valid for three months, even after it is saved on your local PC (i.e. it expires three months after it is downloaded). Consequently, you will need to go online again and send in the form before the validity period expires, otherwise you will have to download a new form and start all over again.

• To download the application form, use the link Web application Applicant.

Please save your application form as soon as you have completed it and send it online by using the 'submit' button at the end of the form. If all goes well, you will receive a confirmation pop-up. If sending the form fails, however, you are advised to save the completed form on your local PC and try to resubmit it by means of the 'submit' button at a later time.

• Attention: Sending the application form is only possible if you are logged in on the internet.
• Attention: Applicants using Adobe Reader 9.3 will need to take a few extra steps to complete the application procedure.

Within two working days after sending the form, you will receive a second email message to confirm that your application form has been integrated into the KU Leuven system. If after two work days you still haven't received this e-mail confirmation, please check if the e-mail has been sent accidently to your spam folder. If this is not the case, log-in to the Web application Applicant and see if your application form is loaded into the KU Leuven system by checking the dropdown field "Existing application ".

If none of the above helps, please send the PDF of your application form via e-mail to Admissions and Mobility Unit and mention that you have not received any e-mail confirmation so far.

After submitting your Application Form and after receiving the automatic confirmation e-mail that your Application Form has been loaded successfully into our database, you MUST upload the “training agreement”. It must be completely filled in and signed by three parties:

1. You, as a future exchange student
2. Your home university
3. The K.U.Leuven Erasmus Co-ordinator

It must then be uploaded as an extra attachment using the web application Applicant. You can find the “training agreement” here.

Each attachment corresponds to a certain type of document and must be uploaded in PDF format. Your application form will be archived and will be available in display mode. All other attachments can be deleted and uploaded again if necessary.

• To convert your document into PDF format, you can search the internet for free PDF conversion tools such as PrimoPDF or CutePDF.

Erasmus work placement students MUST upload their training agreement.
Erasmus (study) students applying to our Faculty of Engineering have to upload their Learning Agreement. 

When you upload the documents, you can choose "others" as many times as you need to. Exchange students do NOT have to upload a copy of their diploma nor an English proficiency test.

As soon as you have successfully uploaded your application form (and your attachment(s), if applicable), you can follow up on the status of your application by using the same web application: Applicant.
- The first status of your file is ‘new’. Your file has been received by the International Office, but it is not being processed yet.
- The second status of your file is 'in process'. The approval process consists of several steps and may take some time. Once your file is being processed by the International Office, the status on your overview screen changes.

For technical problems with your application form or with the web application Applicant, and for content-related questions about the application procedure, please send an e-mail with a clear and detailed description of the problem to the Admissions and Mobility Unit .

• To follow up on your file, use the link Web application Applicant

As soon as a decision has been made concerning your application, the status of your file will change to ‘Admitted’ or ‘Rejected’.
You will receive a confirmation of the decision via email. If your application has been approved, you must first accept the offer. Only after you have accepted will an official letter of admission be sent to you. You can accept the offer by using the web application Applicant.
As soon as your acceptance is received, the letter of admission will be issued and sent to you. You will receive an official admission letter. A PDF copy will be sent to you via email.

• To accept the offer, use the link Web application Applicant

When you accept the offer, you will be pre-registered automatically: your name and data will be entered into the KU Leuven system. Consequently, your actual enrolment at the Registrar's Office upon your arrival in Leuven will take considerably less time.

Upon your arrival in Leuven, you will need to pass by the Registrar’s Office (Naamsestraat 22) to confirm your enrolment and to obtain your student card.