1. I understand british universities establish a distinction for fees purpose between HOME/EU and Overseas students, which results in a substantial difference in the amount of fees.

2. Is Switzerland deemed to be an EU country for fees purposes altough not being member of the EU? It seems to be the case in Oxford University; is it also the case in the other british universities?

3. If the answer to 2. is negative, I have another question (since I live in Switzerland but have the citizenship of an EU member Country) : British universities apply "residence conditions", i.e. students who are EU citizens must have been ordinarily resident in the EU throughout a three-year period prior to application. Altough not being a specialist of EU Law, I feel this might be inconsistent with Art. 18 of EC Treaty if applied to EU citizens who do not meet the "residence conditions" (because they have been living outside the EU). Do anyone have an opinion on the matter?

Thank you

at first i thought this was unfair. but the same applies in the US to US citizens who are not residents of a given state - they pay the same fees as international students. however, the residency requirement is only 6 mths i believe - which is better than 3 years! i'm gonna do an LLM next year and pay full fees since i'm a UK citizen who has been resident in the US! i don't see why someone who lives in greece though should have to pay less than me (or me pay more i suppose). the US dollar is very weak, so it sucks for US residents.

the weird thing is - i'm not considered a UK/EU resident for even UK loans, and yet i'm not considered a US resident for US loans!!

lucky for me i've established a good credit rating in my 8 yrs here and have a good $30,000 worth of credit card credit available - i just hope the UK schools will accept payment via multiple credit cards (visa, mastercard, and american express).

I lived in Switzerland when I applied as an EU citizen to UK universities. I had to fulfill a fee status questionnaire and support documentation. At the end of this administrative process, I was eligible to pay tuition fees at the UK/EU rate.

Here's an example of a Scottish Uni's take on Switzerland's status for overseas exemption:

"There are certain categories of excepted student who, although they do not have a relevant connection with the UK and Islands, are not liable to pay the overseas rates of fees. These include:

1. a student who is a national of a member state of the European Union, or who is the child of such a national if - (i) the student has been ordinarily resident in the European Economic Area (EEA2) or Switzerland throughout the three-year period preceding 1 September, 1 January or 1 April closest to the beginning of the first term of his/her course; AND (ii) he/she has not been resident therein, during any part of that three-year period, wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education.
2. a student whose failure to satisfy the three year UK residence requirement outlined above arises only because the student, or the students spouse or parent, was temporarily employed outside the UK.
3. a student who is a national of a member state of the European Union, or who is the child of such a national, whose failure to satisfy the three-year EEA residence requirement outlined above arises only because the student, or the students spouse or parent, was temporarily employed outside the EEA or Switzerland.
4. certain refugees and persons of similar status.
5. a student to whom the regulations on freedom of movement for EEA workers (migrant workers) apply and who either has been ordinarily resident in the EEA or Switzerland throughout the three-year period referred to in paragraph 3(a)(i) other than wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education or if not so ordinarily resident, it is only because the student or the students spouse or parent was temporarily employed elsewhere.
"

From the University of Edinburgh's Fee Status information, but I wouldn't expect other Uni's in Scotland, if not the UK to be dramatically different.

If you're unsure, follow your institution's procedure for determining fee status, usually a form, as part of the administrative process highlighted above by Johnson.

I hope that helps.

Colin
Distance Learning
The School of Law
The University of Edinburgh
www.law.ed.ac.uk/distancelearning/