Ghent University Law School will send successful candidates a preliminary letter of admission informing them of the selection board's decision. The letter contains detailed instructions regarding the further steps to be taken.

Unfortunately, Ghent University does not offer housing for incoming LLM students.

There is however a possibility to rent a room on the private market.

Prices for private housing vary roughly between 450 euros and 700 euros per month. Keep in mind that there is also a security deposit that will be required upon the start of your rental contract and will be returned at the end (could be up to 3 months' worth of rent).

Renting a room on the private market will often require personal contact with the landlord. It is therefore advisable to come to Ghent beforehand and look for a room yourself.

Beware of landlords who are not located in Belgium. Some students have been cheated in the past by people from abroad who post cheap housing offers on the Internet and then ask you to transfer an amount to their account in their country or via Western Union etc. whereas those properties do not exist.

While you are still abroad, you can ask the Foreign Students Adviser to provide you with an updated list of vacant rooms. The person to contact is Ms. Myriam Van den Branden (Myriam.VandenBranden@UGent.be) or Ms. Nathalie Geeraerts (Nathalie.Geeraerts@ugent.be).

You can also consult these web pages:
The Kot@Gent database: http://www.kotatgent.be
Immoweb-database: http://www.immoweb.be

Please note that the LLM programmes are not involved in the University housing. University housing is under the full and independent authority of the University’s housing department. Once in Belgium and during their stay, LLM students will have to address the University’s housing department solely and directly for any questions or problems they may have.

For information on visa and residence, it may be useful to check the conditions and procedures on the site of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: http://www.diplomatie.be/en/default.asp

Moreover, on this site, you can also find information on the Belgian embassies and consulates and how to contact them. See http://www.diplomatie.be/en/addresses/abroad/default.asp

Admitted candidates are advised to commence the visa application procedure in their home country as soon as possible after admission to the LLM programmes. In some countries, visa procedures can take up to 3 months to complete.


Important note: In a number of countries only the official invitation letter from the university - rather than the faculty's admission letter - will be accepted to complete visa applications. Notwithstanding, all candidates are advised to start their visa application with the faculty letter of admission, pending receipt of the official university invitation letter.


The LLM programmes support visa applications where possible and endeavours to make enquiries in case an applicant encounters particular difficulties in his/her visa application process. The LLM programmes cannot, however, in any way influence the visa decisions taken by the Belgian Embassies and/or Ministries of Foreign and Internal Affairs.

Important information for Chinese students – Modified visa procedure

The Flemish government has decided that, from the academic year 2007-2008 onwards, all students from the P.R. China will have to obtain a certificate of academic screening issued by the Academic Evaluation Centre (APS) of the German Embassy in Beijing as a requirement for admission to a Flemish institution of higher education and for obtaining a Belgian student visa. The screening should involve a review of documents and an interview. For further information, see the website of APS (www.aps.org.cn/ ) or of the Belgian embassy in Beijing (http://www.diplomatie.be/beijing/ ) or of the Belgian Consulate-General (Shanghai) (http://www.diplomatie.be/shanghai/ )


We advise students who seek admission to the LLM programmes to contact APS as soon as possible at info@aps.org.cn in order to make the necessary appointments. Please enquire about the cities where interviews are held.

The APS certificate is one of the requirements for applying for a visa. You should, therefore, contact APS prior to applying for a visa.

The APS application form and further practical information can be found at the APS website (www.aps.org.cn).

Although this governmental requirement also applies for the Ghent University LLM programmes, obtaining an APS certificate is not a prerequisite for submitting your application for admission to the Ghent LLM programmes. Any decision of admission to the programmes is of course subject to you obtaining a Belgian student visa.

For information on the University's Language Center, please consult http://www.uct.ugent.be/eng/index.htm
Further information on language training and tests, can be obtained via email: uct@UGent.be

Following admission to the LLM programme, the Law School will ask you to make a "participation reservation" payment (around 350 EUR) before a given deadline.

Receipt of the payment guarantees your place in the next LLM session. If the payment is not received by the deadline, the LLM programmes reserve the right to withdraw you from the list of selected candidates and give your place to a candidate on the waiting list.


The payment is non-refundable in case of non-participation in the next LLM session.

The university has a job service for enrolled students. Students can check if there are suitable job offers. The contact person for a job search at the university is Mr Robert Mendonck at Robert.Mendonck@UGent.be or at tel: +32 9 264 70 74. The jobs within the university vary in length and contents.