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Sample: Letter of Motivation for a German Student Visa (2024)

Are you looking for a pdf, template or example for your Motivation Letter for a German Student Visa Application? Here is what you can find, and why you should generally NOT use it.

If you are not from the EU or a small number of other countries (see the full list here), you will need to apply for a German student visa. In turn, this means that you will have to submit a Letter of Motivation (LOM) in order to be considered for the visa. You might already be aware that, in the case you fail to produce a proper high-quality LOM, you run a risk of being rejected. If that happens, you will need to postpone your studies by one or two semesters (6-12 months), depending on whether your desired program has intakes in both winter and summer semesters.

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Further Reading

Visa for International Students

Long story short: the stakes are quite high, and that is exactly why you should take the Letter of Motivation seriously and invest as much time as you need to write a quality LOM.

The problem is that, based on our experience and research, students usually find LOM writing the most challenging task of their German student visa application. That's why many students search the internet to find a high-quality LOM sample. Unfortunately, this decision can lead to dramatic consequences because

1

Students end up using a poor LOM sample as a guide, as finding a very good LOM example is extremely difficult (and they are by virtue of their situation unable to tell the difference), and/or

2

Students end up plagiarizing (in most cases, without being aware of it)

But don’t worry: we are here to help you! Being well-informed equals being safe — that is why in this article, we decided to address the key issues when it comes to the Letter of Motivation sample for visa applications at German Embassies/Consulates around the world.

It is our goal to inform you honestly and accurately, therefore, we need to add a DISCLAIMER:

 

You should use this text as a general guide, but it cannot be a legal consultation. The visa regulations are made and executed by the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt), Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), and the local Foreigners’ Offices (Ausländerbehörde). Please be aware: Some rules and procedures can vary from embassy/consulate to embassy/consulate (even within one country), and from Ausländerbehörde to Ausländerbehörde in Germany. That is why we highly recommend you also consult the German representation abroad near you, and the local Foreigners’ Office in Germany (which Ausländerbehörde is responsible for you depends on your residence in Germany) for information that applies to your case.

Check out our Video Course (64 min.) on "How to write a Letter of Motivation"

22 videos plus checklist and template

Go to the video course

What is a Letter of Motivation for a student visa in Germany?

Generally speaking, a Letter of Motivation is an obligatory application document required by German Embassies/Consulates. Through this document, you should convincingly demonstrate your motivation to come to Germany, to study in the specific study program to which you have gained admission, and explain why you are the one who deserves to get a chance to study in Germany. In other words, it is through the LOM that you make a formal request for a German student visa.

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Do German Embassies/Consulates provide LOM samples?

No, none of the local German Embassies/Consulates provide Letter of Motivation samples. They do this on purpose, as they expect and require you to produce it yourself, independently. At most, what local German Embassies/Consulates do is sometimes provide tips. You can find some of these in the table below. It is noteworthy that all of the Embassies/Consulates mentioned in the table explicitly highlight that the LOM must be written by YOU. Moreover, the German Embassy in Armenia states that if someone else writes your LOM for you, the Embassy will notice this and take appropriate action.

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Further Reading

LOM for a Visa in Germany: A Guide (2024)

Table: Letter of Motivation Tips by German Embassies/Consulates

Country

Document name

Tips

Armenia

Motivationsschreiben

link

Kazakhstan

Motivationsschreiben

link

Kenya

Letter of Motivation

link

Nepal

Letter of Motivation

link

Ukraine

Motivationsschreiben 

link

Why you should NOT use a Letter of Motivation sample?

A

Poor quality

 

The Internet is full of LOM samples. However, we do not suggest relying on them while writing your own LOM for your German student visa application. As was already mentioned, one of the reasons is that, in most cases, the quality of these LOM examples is quite low. To be more precise, 90% of the Letter of Motivation samples that you can find on the Internet would be rejected by your local German Embassies/Consulates. The reason is that what they usually suggest with respect to the structure, content, format etc., is simply wrong. Here is one  example of this kind of LOM.

B

Risk of Plagiarism

 

Even if the sample is of high quality, you still should not heavily rely on it, as you might end up plagiarizing it, which is a no-go. You can, however, use the good LOM sample as a general guideline for the purpose of getting an overall idea of what the LOM should look like. In general, if you plagiarize or copy anything directly from any source, you will not be able to get away with it. As already mentioned above, the responsible Embassy/Consulate will find out about that, and your application will be immediately rejected.

Although the Embassies/Consulates mentioned in the table above do not provide samples, their tips can be quite useful for writing a high-quality LOM for your German student visa application. Thus, we suggest you carefully read through them and make good use of their advice.

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Advice Box

If you want to be on the safe side and at the same time learn how to write a very good Letter of Motivation for your German Student Visa application, check out our comprehensive video course on this topic and familiarize yourself with our articles, which you can find here. Moreover, if you sign up for the video course, you will get a high-quality Letter of Motivation sample created by our team!

 

Do not forget about the danger of plagiarism! Just use our sample (or any other high-quality sample) for the purpose of getting an overall idea of what the LOM should look like. Otherwise, your application will be rejected.