How to Apply for a German Student Visa in Germany
This page details the application process and requirements for obtaining a German Student Visa at an immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany.
Who is this guide for?
🎓 The German Student Visa is open to citizens from all countries. To be eligible to apply, you must have first secured a place (or received a conditional offer) for a study programme at a German university.
🌎 Only citizens from certain countries are permitted to apply for the German Student Visa at an immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) after their arrival in Germany. If you are from Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom, or the United States, you can enter Germany without a visa for 90 days. During this 90-day period, you can apply for a German Student Visa. This guide is for you.
🛑 Citizens from all other countries must apply for a German Student Visa before arriving in Germany. This must be done at a German consulate or embassy outside of Germany. We have explained how to do this in the following guide:
For an overview of how to set up in Germany as a student, see our German Student Checklist.
German Student Visa: Application Process
1️⃣ Move to Germany. Enter Germany without a visa and complete your Anmeldung (address registration).
2️⃣ Book a German Student Visa appointment at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany.
3️⃣ Apply for the German Student Visa at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany.
We have expanded on each of these steps below.
1️⃣ Move to Germany and complete your Anmeldung
If you are from Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom, or the United States, you can enter Germany without a visa for 90 days. You then have 90 days to apply for the German Student Visa.
🏠 Important! In order to apply for a visa at an immigration office in Germany, you must first officially register at an address in Germany. The process of registering at an address is called Anmeldung. Without Anmeldung, you will not be permitted to apply for a visa at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde).
If you are having trouble finding accommodation in Germany where you can complete your Anmeldung, then here are some good places to look:
Smartments (see our review for more details)
ImmoScout24 (see our guide for more details)
For further information on how to find an apartment in Germany, see our German Apartment Hunting Guide.
Once you have successfully registered at an address in Germany, you will be issued an Anmeldung certificate, which you will be required to show at your German Student Visa appointment. You can now move on to step 2 below.
2️⃣ Book a German Student Visa appointment at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany.
You must apply for the German Student Visa at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany. To find your local immigration office in Germany, enter your postcode into this tool.
Once you have located your local immigration office, you need to then arrange a visa appointment directly with the office. For immigration offices in larger cities (e.g. Berlin), you will find an online appointment booking platform on their official websites. For smaller immigration offices, you may need to email or call them in order to arrange a suitable visa appointment.
📅 Top tip! Visa appointment slots often fill up months in advance. Therefore, it is important to be prepared. Contact your local immigration office as early as possible in your relocation to ensure that you secure an appointment date within your 90-day visa-free period and before the start date of your study programme.
Once you have secured a suitable visa appointment, you will likely receive an email detailing the time, date and location for your appointment. You can now start preparing the relevant paperwork for step 3; applying for your German Student Visa.
3️⃣ Apply for the German Student Visa at your local immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) in Germany.
❗ Note: Individual immigration offices in Germany sometimes have slightly different application requirements. However, the documents listed below are the standard, minimum application documents required for the German Student Visa. Prior to your appointment, we recommend that you double-check with your local immigration office to see if they have any additional requirements on top of what is listed below
To apply for a German Student Visa at your local immigration office, you will be required to submit:
✅ A passport
Your passport must:
Have at least 2 free pages.
Be valid for 3 months longer than the intended visa duration.
Have been issued within the last 10 years.
✅ A passport photo
Guidelines for taking compliant biometric passport photos can be found here. Some immigration offices will request multiple photos so we recommend taking at least 3 identical passport photos to your appointment.
✅ Health insurance confirmation
You must have German health insurance in order to start studying at a German university. To be approved for a German Student Visa, you must show that you have taken out a suitable health insurance policy. To do this, you must take a health insurance confirmation letter to your appointment, or policy documents showing that you are enrolled.
Top tip! To ensure you meet the health insurance requirements for the German Student Visa, our favourite option is TK Student Health Insurance. TK’s policy not only meets the requirements for the visa and is approved by German immigration offices but is consistently rated the no.1 health insurance policy in Germany.
✅ Proof of address
To apply for the German Student Visa, you must show proof of your official registered address in Germany. To do this, you should show your Anmeldung certificate – you will have received this certificate when you completed your Anmeldung in Germany (see step 1 above).
For further information on how to find an apartment in Germany that allows Anmeldung, see our German Apartment Hunting Guide.
✅ Proof of enrollment at a German university
To apply for a German student visa, you must provide an enrollment certificate or letter showing that you have been accepted on to a study programme at a university in Germany.
✅ Proof of a secure livelihood
You must show that you have sufficient funds to live off while living in Germany on a Student Visa. For this, you have 4 options:
Open a blocked account (escrow account). This account should have at least €11,208 deposited in it at the time of application.
Our top suggestion for a blocked account is Fintiba, which combines a simple sign-up process with lower fees than most of its competitors.
Declaration of commitment (Verpflichtungserklärung). This is a formal commitment from a friend or relative in Germany that they will act as a financial guarantor during your time in Germany. Here is some additional info on how to obtain a declaration of commitment.
A notarised letter of support from your parents. Some immigration offices will accept a notarised letter of support from your parents guaranteeing that they will provide you with financial support while living in Germany. The letter of support should be submitted alongside proof of your parents’ income over the last 6 months (e.g. bank statements or tax returns).
A scholarship. You should provide details of the scholarship duration and amount.
✅ Visa application form
You must complete and submit a visa application form. You can obtain this form from your local immigration office in Germany – check your local immigration office’s website to see if there is a downloadable version of the form.
✅ Visa application fee
The fee for the visa varies depending on where you apply. However, you can expect to pay no more than €100 (the current fee charged in Berlin).
😨 Top tip! Not all immigration office workers will speak English. When applying for your visa, it is important that you can communicate clearly. Therefore, we suggest that you attend your appointment with a German interpreter or a German-speaking friend.
🎉 Congratulations! You have now completed all the steps for applying for a German Student Visa at an immigration office in Germany! You are now all set to start your study programme!
For an overview of how to set up as a student in Germany, see our German Student Checklist.