If you are non-Eu resident, within 8 working days of your arrival in Italy you must submit the application for a Permit of stay (Permesso di Soggiorno) for study reasons to the local post office. 

The Permit of stay is a card with a microchip and a machine-readable magnetic strip containing the cardholder's personal details, photo, and fingerprints in digital format.

The application form has to be requested at post offices (use this webpage to locate them). The list of required documents is available in the presentation below.

Upon submission of the request, you will be assigned an appointment with the police, make sure you check in the presentation the additional documents requested for the interview. The Permit of stay will be issued by the relevant police station (Commissariato/Questura) after about 1-2 months from the interview in case the documentation provided is complete (if not, you will be assigned a new appointment).

The expiration date of the Permit of stay usually coincides with the expiration date of your health insurance. In any case, the Permit of stay for study reasons can be valid up to a maximum of one year.

Bear in mind that you do not have to renew the study visa; you will have to renew the Permit of stay:

• Submit the request within the expiry date of the Permit of stay, starting from two months prior to its deadline.
• For the first renewal: you must have passed at least one exam during the first year of study .
• For subsequent renewals, you must have passed at least two exams every year.
• You cannot renew the Permit of stay for study reasons for more than three years beyond the duration of the study course.
• Send a copy of the Permit of stay renewal request and then of the renewed permit of stay card to Polo studenti/Master office to make sure that your career is not blocked.

Under current regulations, non-EU citizens cannot take any leave of absence, freeze their studies, or take a gap year.