VISA AND IMMIGRATION GUIDE FOR STUDYING AT h_da For exchange students. as of February 2017

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1 VISA AND IMMIGRATION GUIDE FOR STUDYING AT h_da For exchange students as of February 2017 Content 1. Timing Who needs to apply for a visa? The different steps of the visa application process Information on proof of health insurance Information on proof of financial support The difference: visa & residence permit Residence permit application Annex Timing As an international student you may need an entry visa to study in Germany depending on where you come from. For detailed information about visa requirements, contact the German embassy or nearest consulate in your home country. Keep the following in mind: - If a student visa (D-visa) is required, you should calculate at least 6-10 weeks time to receive the visa. At some embassies the process is extremely time-consuming and it might even take some extra time to get an appointment (e.g. in Lebanon, Russia, Iran); - Apply for the correct visa! Tourist visa (C-visa) cannot be converted into a German residence permit. With the wrong visa, you will be forced to leave Germany/the Schengen Area at some point and you will need to apply for the correct visa in your home country; - When you schedule your trip to Germany make sure you arrive in time to get enrolled and take care of administrative obligations; - Make sure your passport is valid for your entire stay in Germany plus 6 month. Last possible day of arrival: Spring Term: Fall Term: If you cannot be on campus in time: please contact the International Office DULY IN ADVANCE! 2. Who needs to apply for a visa? EU nationals do not require a visa to study in Germany. After arrival, though, EU nationals do need to register their address at the Alien Registration Office (Bürgerbüro). If you are a Non-European national you most likely need a student visa for entering Germany, but there are exceptions for specific countries. The German immigration law categorizes all visitors into 3 categories, depending on the country of origin (for up-to-date information, also check the website of the German Federal Office): 1

2 A) VISA-WAIVER COUNTRIES: Exchange Students from visa-waiver countries (USA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, JAPAN, REPUBLIC OF KOREA, ISRAEL and BRAZIL) have 2 options: OPTION 1 Enter Germany without a visa but with a valid passport. This way you are allowed to stay for 90 days: After arrival: 1) REGISTER your ADDRESS in Germany at the local authorities (Bürgerbüro) and 2) APPLY for a German RESIDENCE PERMIT at the responsible immigration office which enables you to stay for more than 90 days in Germany/Schengen Area. We will help you with the application process after your arrival. 3) Make sure to leave the Schengen Area before your residence permit expires. OPTION 2 Apply for a visa for your ENTIRE stay at h_da/in the Schengen Area: Follow this process: 1) Try to apply for a visa valid for your entire stay (1 or 2 semesters) at h_da/germany/schengen Area. Make sure that ALL your visa documents cover the period you are applying for. 2) REGISTER your ADDRESS after your arrival in Germany at the local authorities (Bürgerbüro) 3) Make sure to leave the Schengen Area before your entire semester s/full year s visa expires. B) VISA-WAIVER only for TOURISTS: Citizens of SINGAPORE, HONG KONG, MALAYSIA, TAIWAN, ARGENTINA, CHILE, COSTA RICA, ECUADOR, GUATEMALA, MEXICO, TAIWAN and URUGUAY must enter Germany with a D-visa for studying at h_da. Their passport only allows them to stay for 90 days maximum for tourist purposes. Exchange students of course need to stay longer than 90 days. This is only possible if you apply for a D-visa BEFORE entering Germany. You can apply for OPTION 1 or OPTION 2: OPTION 1 Apply for a usual D-visa before coming to Germany which is valid for 90 days: Process: 1) Apply for a D-visa valid for 90 days at the embassy of your home country at least 6-10 weeks before arrival 2) After arrival, REGISTER your ADDRESS in Germany at the local authorities (Bürgebüro) and 3) APPLY for a German RESIDENCE PERMIT at the responsible immigration office which enables you to stay for more than 90 days in Germany/Schengen Area. We will help you with the application process after your arrival. 4) Make sure to leave the Schengen Area before your Residence Permit expires. OPTION 2 Apply for a visa for your ENTIRE stay at h_da/in the Schengen Area: Process: 1) Try to apply for a D-visa valid for your ENTIRE stay at h_da/germany/schengen Area. Make sure that ALL your visa documents cover the period you are applying for. Also, please contact the responsible embassy regarding this matter. 2) Register your address after your arrival in Germany at the local authorities (Bürgerbüro). 3) Make sure to leave the Schengen Area before your entire semester s/full year s visa expires. ATTENTION: Chinese holders of a British National Passport (overseas) also need to apply for a visa. They are only allowed to enter Germany without a visa if they stay for up to 90 days as a tourist. As you would like to study in Germany and stay longer than 90 days, you definitely need a student s visa! 2

3 C) UNCONDITIONAL VISA REQUIREMENTS: Citizens of RUSSIA, BANGLADESH, CHINA, EGYPT, INDIA, INDONESIA, KAZAKHSTAN, LEBANON, MOROCCO, the PHILIPPINES, SOUTH AFRICA, PERU, IRAN, TURKEY or THAILAND ALWAYS need a visa to enter Germany! The visa is usually valid for 90 days but you can try to apply for a visa which is valid for your ENTIRE stay at h_da/in Germany/Schengen Area. Please note that long waiting times at the responsible embassy/consulate might occur. Apply for an appointment duly in advance! OPTION 1 Apply for a usual 90-days D-visa before coming to Germany: Process: 5) Apply for a D-visa valid for 90 days at the embassy of your home country at least 6-10 weeks before arrival 6) After arrival, REGISTER your ADDRESS in Germany at the local authorities (Bürgebüro) and 7) APPLY for a German RESIDENCE PERMIT at the responsible immigration office which enables you to stay for more than 90 days in Germany/Schengen Area. We will help you with the application process after your arrival. 8) Make sure to leave the Schengen Area before your Residence Permit expires. OPTION 2 Apply for a Visa for your ENTIRE stay at h_da/in the Schengen Area: Process: 4) Try to apply for a D-visa valid for your ENTIRE stay at h_da/germany/schengen Area. Make sure that ALL your visa documents cover the period you are applying for. Also, please contact the responsible embassy regarding this matter. 5) Register your address after your arrival in Germany at the local authorities (Bürgerbüro). 6) Make sure to leave the Schengen Area before your entire semester s/full year s visa expires. Are you a Non-EU citizen already studying in another Schengen State? If so and if you have a VALID permit of another Schengen State, you usually do NOT need to apply for a Visa to enter Germany. However, you MUST apply for the German Residence Permit directly AFTER arrival. E.g. a Chinese citizen pursuing a Bachelor Degree in Sweden usually does NOT need to apply for a Visa to enter Germany as a STUDENT. BUT: You need to make sure that your Residence Permit from the Schengen country you are currently studying in is still valid when coming to Germany! For further information, please contact the International Office or the authorities. APS procedure for CHINESE applicants: All Chinese applicants residing in China (except applicants from HongKong and Macao) need to go through the APS procedure: All Chinese degree-seeking students (also Master and Bachelor Dual Degree students) need to apply for the APS- China-procedure and pass a special APS interview or TestAS. If you are a Chinese exchange student, you need to go through the APS A-procedure. Please contact your home university coordinator and ask for more information or check the APS homepage. 3. The different steps of the visa application process If you need a Visa, you need to apply for it at the nearest German embassy/consulate in your home country (or country of residence). The embassy/consulate will give you all details on the process. Step 1&2: Contact the embassy or consulate/make an appointment. Prepare all required application files. Each embassy/consulate around the world has ist own procedures for the visa application process (this means that the required documents might 3

4 differ from embassy to embassy). Thus, please enquire directly at the responsible embassy/consulate which documents they require. Usually these include: - Valid passport - Proof of health insurance - Proof of financial support: you need to show proof of at least 720 EUR per month - Certificates of past academic work and achievements - Certificate of German language proficiency or proof that you intend on attending a language course in Germany - h_da enrolment letter - Possibly a motivation letter The embassy/consulate will forward your Visa files to the responsible immigration office in Germany. The immigration office in Germany has the final say on your Visa issuing and they also have certain requirements regarding the documents which need to be fulfilled (even if the embassy/consulate might not ask for these files initially): 1. Enrolment letter 2. Proof of health insurance for your entire stay in the Schengen Area 3. Financial Proof: blocked bank account or official formal obligation No matter what the embassy/consulate in your home country tells you: the visa application documents MUST fulfil the specific requirements of the responsible immigration office. (E.g. if the embassy tells you that a normal bank statement is sufficient for the visa= this one definitely cannot be accepted by the immigration office which decides on your visa issuing). Step 3: Hand in your application files at the embassy/consulate. They will send the entire package to the responsible immigration office in Darmstadt, Germany. The sending of the documents takes a minimum of 1-3 weeks. The immigration office in Germany is in charge of approving or rejecting your visa application. Address of the immigration office in Darmstadt: Ausländerbehörde Darmstadt Grafenstraße Darmstadt Germany auslaenderbehoerde@darmstadt.de If all your documents are fine and the immigration office has no reason to reject your visa application, they will stay silent for 3 weeks and 2 days (the so called Verschweigefrist ). After this period the embassy is able to contact you and issue your visa. If your documents are incomplete, the countdown (Verschweigefrist) is stopped and the embassy will be informed that documents are incomplete or missing. You will be informed by the embassy and should submit the required files as quickly as possible. Please note: the University of Applied Sciences has NO means to speed up the visa process for you. It s your own responsibility to apply in time and to make sure that all your documents are complete. h_da can only assist you with advice. Step 4: You can pick up your visa at the embassy as soon as the embassy has notified you. 4

5 4. Information on proof of health insurance By law, all students MUST have sufficient health insurance for their studies at a German university. Non-European students should carefully consider the different health insurance options. The health insurance plan must fulfil the strict requirements of the immigration office and the University of Applied Sciences. Public German Insurance Plans: We strongly recommend purchasing full German student health coverage for your studies at h_da. All public German insurance providers offer similar and comprehensive services for a similar price (ca. 90 EUR per month). TK insurance and Barmer insurance for example offer a very convenient application service in German or English: - TK (Techniker Krankenkasse): you can contact Catharina Memminger Catharina.Memminger@tk.de - Barmer: you can contact Andre Böhm andre.boehm@barmer.de Further public insurance companies are: DAK, AOK Attention: - If you are 30+ years old it s not possible to purchase a public German insurance at the favourable student rate - If you submit a public plan for your enrolment you cannot change to a private plan at a later stage during your studies (it s the same the other way around) Private Insurance Plans: If you don t want to (or cannot) purchase a public German insurance plan, please be careful when selecting a private plan and take note of the following: - Private plans may be cheaper than public plans but they also provide less comprehensive services and normally you must pay for treatments in advance before being able to reclaim (some of the) costs; - After arrival you need to get your private plan validated with a public insurance provider: you need a conformation that your private plan equals their comprehensive plans; - The German immigration office is very strict on which plans they accept. Most international plans are not sufficient for them; - Once enrolled at h_da on the basis of a private plan you cannot change to a public plan anymore during your studies. If you decide to purchase a private plan, the following two plans are normally sufficient: - HanseMerkur/Union: - Caremed (Travel Health Insurance): In general, private plans should: - Be issued in German or English - State your personal details - Have a clear start and end date or be open end - State a geographical scope of coverage - NOT be a travel insurance - List details of coverage - Cover you for at least up to EUR 5. Information on proof of financial support By law, you have to prove that you have a certain amount of money per month. Normally you need to show proof of at least 720 EUR for 1 or 2 semester (3600 EUR or 8640 EUR). Some embassies might even request 735 EUR per month. There are different kind of proofs which the embassy and responsible immigration office accept. 5

6 The immigration office in Darmstadt accepts one of the following proofs: - Verpflichtungserklärung (eng. = formal obligation) - Sperrkonto (engl.= blocked bank account) a) A Verpflichtungserklärung (eng. = formal obligation) issued by a German embassy/consulate abroad (not possible for some citizens, e.g from the US and Brazil). This is the fastest and most convenient option for visa application purposes! We highly recommend getting one (if possible)! A formal obligation is an official document that only a German embassy or consulate abroad can issue. In the presence of an embassy official your parents/sponsors declare that they are willing and able to support you financially with at least 720 EUR per month during your studies in Germany. To prove this, they have to bring e.g. bank statements, statement by employer about monthly income, etc. The formal obligation is signed by the financial sponsor and verified by the embassy/consulate. The procedures to receive a formal obligation vary according to the responsible embassy/consulate. Please contact them directly to enquire about this. You can find a sample of a formal obligation in the ANNEX. Your formal obligation has to be the same. Attention: in the past some Embassies have refused to issue formal obligations e.g. Brazil, USA, China. They actually have the duty to issue formal obligations, so please show them the sample of the formal obligation (ANNEX IV) and point out that the responsible immigration office would definitely accept this document. b) Sperrkonto (blocked bank account) What is a blocked account? A special type of German bank account. Regardless of how much money you deposit in the account, it only gives you access to a previously agreed amount of money per month. This monthly amount has to be at least 720 EUR per month. The block can only be cancelled with written permission of the responsible immigration authority. Is a bank account at my home bank acceptable? NO. Only German bank accounts can be considered. Can I also open a regular German bank account instead? Not for your visa application. How can I open a blocked account? From your home country: You can open the blocked bank account at Deutsche Bank online or via . After arrival (only possible for students from visa-waiver countries): You can normally open the blocked bank account with Sparkasse Darmstadt. Applying for a blocked bank account at Deutsche Bank: There are two ways to get the application form: 1. Download the application form from the DEUTSCHE BANK website. Click on Opening a bank account/blocked account for foreign students. 2. Write an to the international students section of DEUTSCHE BANK at db.student@db.com (not recommended). State that you need a Sperrkonto (= blocked account) for your studies in Germany. You will receive an application form and a list of documents you need to submit (due to high demand it might take 3-4 weeks until you will receive the application form) Fill out the application form and prepare all other required documents and go to a German embassy. They have to verify all documents and sign them. Send everything to Deutsche Bank. They will set up the account for you. Then you transfer money into it and they set up the block. You will then receive written proof of the account and the block 6

7 which you need to apply for your visa. The whole process may take 8-10 weeks, sometimes even longer due to a large number of requests. Does the proof of the blocked account need to fulfil certain criteria? YES. You need WRITTEN proof of your blocked account. The document needs to state explicitly that the block can only be removed with written permission of the zuständige Ausländerbehörde (the responsible immigration office). Also, the AMOUNT of the monthly block needs to be stated on the document as well as the TOTAL amount on the account. Which amount should be blocked for each month? The absolute minimum for the block 720 EUR. If you want to bring more money than the absolute minimum, you should be careful! Even if you bring much more money, the block is ABSOLUTE and cannot be changed! For example: You want to bring EUR for your 5 months stay in Germany and put it in your new German bank account. Now, if you set the block at the minimum of 720 EUR per month you will ONLY GET 720 EUR per month. NOT A CENT MORE! NOT EVEN IN EMERGENCIES! NOT EVEN IF YOU BEG ON YOUR KNEES! The rest of the money will be totally out of reach for you! There are 3 possibilities to avoid this problem: Set the block higher than the absolute minimum: e.g. bring EUR for 5 months and set the block at EUR per month. Put only 5*720 EUR in the blocked account. Open a second bank account for the rest of the money so that you can use it whenever you want or need it. Most banks offer accounts free-of-charge to university students if you show your h_da student ID when opening the account. Put only 5*720 EUR in the blocked account and get the rest of the money from your home bank account via cash withdrawals with your credit card or ATM card. Attention: this may be rather expensive as many banks will bill you with high transfer charges for international cash withdrawals. Please discuss this possibility with your home bank first! 6. The difference: visa & residence permit a) visa A Visa is your permission to ENTER Germany. You need to apply for it at the responsible embassy/consulate in your country of origin. It s normally valid for 90 days. Some countries (see above) have special agreements with Germany to waive the visa requirement. However, you will still need to apply for a Residence Permit after arrival. b) residence permit If you would like to stay in Germany for longer than 90 days to study at a German university, you need to apply for a German residence permit (Aufenthaltsgenehmigung) after arrival. You can only apply for a residence permit at the (responsible) German immigration office. In case you already have a German residence permit you might be able to convert it into a student residence permit to study at the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt. However, already having a residence permit does NOT automatically mean that you can convert it into a residence permit to study in Darmstadt. The purpose for which your current permit has been issued for is decisive regarding this matter. Please check with the responsible immigration office. In some cases it is usually not possible to extend/convert the permit: for example if you have a residence permit issued for the purpose of visiting a (high)school or a language course which is not preparatory for your studies. 7

8 7. Residence permit application After arrival in Germany, you must register your address at the local registration office (Bürgerbüro) within 2 weeks. Normally the immigration office sends you an appointment within 90 days/before your visa expires. They will also send you a list of documents they require. For the immigration office in Darmstadt we will arrange a group appointment. Also, it s mandatory to attend the infosession after arrival. The following documents must be prepared: - Valid passport - 1 biometric picture - h_da enrolment letter - Financial proof: formal obligation OR blocked bank account Make sure you registered your address after arrival. The immigration office will check that. 8. Annex 8

9 Disclaimer: All information is carefully monitored. Nevertheless, we cannot give liability for the content as the content cannot cover every individual case. The given information is not necessarily complete, comprehensive or up to date. It does not represent a legal advice nor is it legally binding. The given information can also not replace information from experts in the particular case. 9