How to write a CV for a German Student Visa: A Guide for International Students (2023)

Generally speaking, a Curriculum Vitae (CV) - known as Lebenslauf in German - is a (mandatory) application document requested by most of the local German Embassies/Consulates, where you should provide information regarding your academic background, work experience (including internships), extracurricular activities and skills in a concise and structured way. To put it differently, CV is your short biography, and it is through the CV that you can make a good first impression on the embassy officer, which might be crucial for your successful application for a German student visa. That is why writing a very good CV according to German standards is important, and that is why you should take the CV-writing seriously.

Do not be confused or surprised if you find out that your local German Embassy/Consulate does not mention "CV" but instead uses terms like "Curriculum Vitae", "Resume", or "Personal Data Sheet". Depending on the location, German Embassies/Consulates may use one of these expressions for what is called in German "Lebenslauf". It is noteworthy that in Germany, you will come across "CV" more frequently than "Resume".

Whether you need to apply for a German Student Visa or a Student Applicant Visa, you will (almost) surely have to include a German-style CV in your visa application package. In other words, generally, you cannot apply for a German student visa without a CV. Thus, without including a CV, your application for a German visa will be incomplete, which will most probably lead to rejection. For instance, the German Embassy in Indonesia is very straightforward about it. According to them, without a CV (which is a mandatory document), your application for a German student visa will definitely be rejected.

When writing a CV for a German student visa, the first thing you should do is check whether your local German Embassy/Consulate has any specific requirements in this regard. If that is the case, you must take them into account. However, it happens quite often that the German Embassies/Consulates do not mention anything other than just the fact that they need your CV. The good news is that it is not a problem at all! Why? Because in Germany, there are standardized expectations with regard to the CV (whether it is for a visa, for a study program etc.), which you can always follow without any worries!  Let us present to you these standards through the seven frequent questions that we get at MyGermanUniversity.

In your CV, German Embassies and Consulates look for an answer (at least partial) to the question of whether your profile fits the purpose of your planned study visit to Germany. Usually, the key information that the embassy officers look for in your CV for a German student visa is the details about your academic and professional experience.

This question can be reworded as "what is the structure of the CV for a German visa". Basically, a German CV should consist of four core sections, which are:

• Header. In this section, you should provide your personal details, like your first and last names, physical and email addresses, phone number, etc.

• Education. This is THE most important section of your CV for a German student visa. Here you should provide information regarding your academic background. For example, it can be a high school diploma and a Bachelor's degree. Among others, you should include the date when you attended the school/university, the names of the institutions, location, etc.

• Work Experience. This part should encompass information regarding your professional experience, including internships and volunteerships. And again, you should specify the dates, the location, names of the organisations/institutions, your position, etc.

• The Rest. This is a broad section, which you can break down into several parts. For instance, if applicable, it should include the parts on extracurricular activities (e.g., workshops, summer schools, etc.), scholarships and awards, memberships (e.g., in case you are a member of any societies or clubs), skills (e.g., language skills, digital skills) and hobbies.

When it comes to the formats of German resumes, you might often hear the following words: Tabellarische, Lückenloser Lebenslauf. This can be translated as "Tabular CV without gaps". These are one of the main requirements with respect to the German CV format. Other popular CV format-related requirements are reverse chronology and using the same script. So, what does each of these mean?

• Let's start with the first word "Tabular". To put it shortly, when German embassies ask you to provide a CV in tabular form, they mean that you should have the CV structured like in table format rather than a narrative. Besides, the dates (of academic or professional experiences, winter schools etc.) should be on the left-hand side, while the titles and descriptions on the right-hand side.

• As for "without gaps", let us provide you with the following example. For instance, if in your German CV you state that you completed your Bachelor's in 2016, and then there are no more entries in any section until 2019 when you started working in company "X", it means that you have around a 3-year gap in your CV. This is something that the German embassy officer will not like. In other words, by having an unexplained gap, the quality of your German CV will be worsened. Consequently, you should try your best to avoid causing this kind of confusion and do not leave any gaps in your CV. 

• Another important requirement of the German CV format is reverse chronology. This means that you should start with the most recent experience instead of the oldest. For instance, you should first mention your Bachelor's degree and then the school diploma.

• Last but not least, you should use the same script type throughout your German CV, preferably a standard script like Times New Roman or Arial. The font size can be 11-12pt for general text and 14-16pt for headers/titles.

If the German Embassy or Consulate does not explicitly ask you to use the Europass CV, you should not do that as Europass is not a very commonly used format in Germany. In other words, when the German Embassy/Consulate responsible for your student visa application does not specify the required CV format, it automatically means that the embassy officers expect you to submit a standard German CV.

Yes, German Embassies/Consulates usually require you to include a photo in your CV. The headshot should be professional, LinkedIn-style. In general, a photo in a CV for any purpose, including a German student visa, is a standard in Germany. So, even if the Embassy/Consulate responsible for your German student visa application does not mention that you need a photo in your CV, you still need to include the headshot. The only case where your CV should be without a photo is when the German Embassy/Consulate explicitly asks for that, which happens extremely rarely.

Your CV for a German visa should be neither too short nor too long. In general, although German Embassies and Consulates hardly ever specify that (German Consulate in Nigeria is a rare exception), they expect your CV for a German student visa to be 1-2 pages long. In a word, ideally, your German CV should not be less than 1 page or more than 2 pages.

And again: this is a standard "formula" which you should follow unless your local German Embassy/Consulate has any different requirements in this regard.