Visa Requirements for International Students to Study in Germany

If you hold any of these citizenships, you can skip ahead and learn how to register and apply for a residence permit in Germany.

• All other international students need a visa to enter Germany. If this applies to you, you have to apply for the visa in your country of residence. After your arrival in Germany, you additionally have to register your address with the Resident Registration office (Einwohnermeldeamt) and get your residence permit.

If you are in the group of students that do require a visa: We wrote this text for you and will do our best to guide you through the process.

Throughout your visa application process, the website of Germany’s diplomatic representation abroad in your country of residence will be an important point of contact for you. If you have visited their website before, you will find various types of visas, which might leave you wondering which type you have to apply to.

To take up full-time study in Germany and finish a degree program, there are two types of visa you can get. Which one you should apply to depends on your situation:

• The Student Visa is the right choice for you if you already got accepted by your university. This visa is usually valid for 3 months, which gives you enough time to enter Germany, get settled, register your address and get your residence permit, which gives you permission to stay for your entire studies.
• The Student Applicant Visa is the right choice if you have applied at a German University, but do not have an acceptance letter, yet, or if you need to prepare yourself in Germany for your studies, for example by taking a language course. This visa is usually valid for 3 months but can be extended. This way, you have enough time to meet the university’s entry requirements and convert your student applicant visa into a residence permit once you are in Germany and get the admission letter.

Both visas are equally as valid to enter the country and stay as a student. In the application process, they differ slightly in the documents you will be asked to provide.

This being said – namely that both visas are equally as valid to enter Germany as an international student – we have a preference and want to advise you to go for the Student Applicant Visa. Many international students start the application process for their student visa once they receive the letter of admission. While this seems to make sense at first, it leads to some difficulties. Here’s why:

Typically, universities take around 4-6 weeks to admit successful applicants to a program. If applications are processed by uni-assist, it may take even longer. If the application deadline for the Winter semester, for example, is on the 15th of July, this would mean you only get your admission letter in late August or early September, which leaves you with slightly more than a month until your semester starts in Germany in mid-October. This is often not enough time to get a visa, 38% of students even miss the start of the semester.

This can be avoided with the Student Applicant Visa. For this visa, you do not have to present a letter of admission, but a confirmation that you have applied. You can also take a letter from the university stating that you are likely to be admitted, or printed e-mail correspondence with your future university.

Your timeline could then be a bit more relaxed: You apply to a university as soon as the application period starts and exchange e-mails with the university’s international office or the program coordinators. For the Winter semester, this would typically be in May. Parallelly, you can apply for a Student Applicant Visa, and are more realistically done with the process by the time your program starts in October.

This visa is also great if you get a conditional admit, and for example, need to take a language course or other preparatory classes before being able to fully enroll. With this visa, you can live in Germany for 3 months (which can be extended by 6 months) before you actually need to hold the admission letter in your hand to convert your visa into a residence permit.

In summary, we prefer the Student Applicant Visa because it is the safer and more relaxed alternative. There is no risk involved, since if you do not get the admit by the university of your choice, you can resolve your blocked bank account and thus won’t lose the money allocated to your time in Germany.

After checking the German student visa requirements for students from different states, you will find out that, indeed, there can be some differences across countries. For example, 

• The German Embassy in Georgia requires two biometric photos not older than a year, while the German Embassy in India requires three photos not older than half a year; 

• The German Embassy in China requires the passport to be valid for at least three months longer than the period of validity of the visa, while the Embassy in Bangladesh requires it to be valid for at least 12 months;

• The German Embassy in Pakistan explicitly requires the applicants to provide information regarding any previous visa refusals, while the Embassy in Nigeria does not mention this requirement;

• The German Embassies in China and India require the Akademische Prüfstelle (APS) certificates, while the Embassies in Bangladesh, Georgia, Nigeria and Pakistan do not ask for this document.

One requirement for your visa is to prove that you have access to enough money to support your stay in Germany. You do this by delivering proof of financial resources (Finanzierungsnachweis). German authorities have calculated how much money an international student in Germany needs to completely finance themselves and landed at 931 € per month. That is why the embassies will require international students to prove that for the first year of their studies, they have access to those 931 € every month: For a whole year, this adds up to 11.172 € of financial resources. There are multiple ways to deliver this proof:

• Most international students choose to open up a blocked bank account. This means, they transfer the sum of money required for a year (11.172 €) and can only withdraw 931 € from it every month. There are some officially recognized online providers that offer this account format to international students: Coracle, Fintiba or Expatrio. Indian students may also choose the service of Kotak Mahindra.
• Another option is a declaration of commitment (Verpflichtungserklärung): Family or close friends in Germany vouch to pay for all your expenses.
• With a Statement of Assets (Vermögensnachweis) you can certify to the German embassy or consulate that you or your family have enough means to support your studies.
• A bank guarantee (Bankbürgschaft) is another option: A German-based bank will act as your guarantor. You or your parents will have to present guarantees to the bank.
• You can also cover your expenses, or parts of them, with a scholarship. Present your Scholarship Award Letter (Stipendienzusage) to the German embassy to certify they cover the required sum. If your scholarship grants you less than 931 € per month, you can provide proof of the missing sum on a blocked bank account.

You need to figure out which of these options works best for you and your situation. Also, check with the German embassy or consulate that you will submit your application to if they have any preferences or restrictions towards which way you choose.

Keep in mind that you will have to renew your residence permit after your first year in Germany. At that point in time, you will have to prove your financial resources for the next year of your studies.

The point of a blocked bank account is that, after you transfer the necessary sum of money (11.172 €/year), you can only withdraw a certain amount from it every month (931 €), even though all of that money is still your money. Thereby, you will leave no doubts with the German authorities that you will actually be able to support yourself financially.

While we know that it is not easy to produce 11.172 € all at once and put it on a bank account (which is what you have to do to open up a blocked bank account), we still think this is a good option and we advise you to go with it if you can. Here is why:

1. It’s a fair deal: When you apply for the visa, you only have to prove your financial resources for one year, even if your program takes longer than that. Also, it helps you estimate how much it will actually cost to live, eat, and study in Germany for a year.
2. It may increase your chances to get a visa: While some of the other options to deliver your financial proof may be interpreted to your disadvantage by those who decide if you fulfill this criterion or not, the blocked bank account is totally objective: Either you have that much money on your bank account or you don’t. Further, this option is most widely accepted by German embassies and consulates around the world.
3. It is useful: Because you can only withdraw a certain sum each month, you won’t have to worry about running out of money and you can realistically calculate in advance how much your studies in Germany are going to cost you. 
4. It doesn’t have to be used up: The money is still your money, and if you follow a frugal lifestyle, you don’t lose what you don’t use. If you take on a side job, you may even save some of the money.

This permit is valid for at least one year, in some cases up to two years and can be extended. When you have to renew your residence permit, bear in mind that you will also have to renew the proof of financial resources for a year. Also, you receive the residence permit for a specific purpose, namely to study. Be prepared that, when you have to extend your residence permit, you will be asked to prove that you have actually been taking courses and passing exams.