If you are applying to a German master's for summer semester 2027 or later, and your bachelor's is in engineering, commerce, accounting, finance, economics, business or management, there is a new step between you and your visa. It is called the dMAT, and it sits inside the APS process you were already going to complete.
We checked this in October 2026 against APS India and g.a.s.t. — the two bodies that actually run it. What follows is what their own pages say, including one thing they are refreshingly honest about that almost every guide currently ranking gets wrong.
First, what APS actually is
APS India verifies academic documents and qualifications issued by Indian institutions for people who intend to study in Germany. Its certificate is, in APS India's own words, “part of the documentation generally required for the German student visa procedure.”
That is the whole of it. APS is not an exam, not an admission decision, and not something a university awards. It is a verification body, and German universities and the German mission expect its certificate from Indian applicants. If you studied in India, you are going through it.
What changed: the dMAT, from summer semester 2027
From the summer semester 2027 intake and every intake after it, APS India requires a dMAT certificate as part of the APS documentation — but only for master's applicants whose previous degree falls in one of these fields:
- Engineering
- Commerce, accounting, finance or economics
- Business or management
The dMAT (digital Master Test) is run by g.a.s.t., not by APS India. It is a standardised academic aptitude test, and its result is printed on your APS certificate.
Who does not have to take it
The exemptions are specific, and worth reading before you assume this applies to you. According to APS India, you are not required to take the dMAT if:
- you completed your APS online registration before 29 June 2026;
- you shipped your complete APS application documents before 29 June 2026;
- you already hold an APS certificate — you do not need the dMAT for that completed procedure;
- you are applying through an officially confirmed exchange, double-degree or university partnership programme.
Bachelor's applicants, PhD applicants, and anyone whose previous degree sits outside those three field groups are also outside the requirement. A good number of people currently worrying about the dMAT do not need to take it at all.
The sequencing trap
This is the part that costs people an intake. APS India states it plainly: the APS certificate can only be issued after the required dMAT certificate has been submitted.
You may send your other APS documents first — that is explicitly allowed, and you should. But the certificate itself waits. So a dMAT sitting you have not yet booked is not a loose end at the edge of your application. It is a hold on the one document your visa appointment depends on.
The thing most guides get wrong
Search for APS processing time and you will find confident numbers: four weeks, six weeks, eight to twelve weeks. APS India's own FAQ says something different — that it cannot provide a fixed processing time for every individual case.
Processing depends on application volume and on how quickly your university answers a verification request. That second factor is outside APS India's control, and entirely outside yours. Any guide quoting you a firm number is promising something the issuing body declines to promise.
The useful conclusion is not “it will be slow”. It is that you cannot plan backwards from a guaranteed date — so the only safe strategy is to start early and remove the variables you can actually control.
The dMAT itself, in facts
- Fee: EUR 150.00, payable at registration, charged by g.a.s.t.
- Duration: three and a half hours, with a break between the modules
- Structure: a core module measuring general study aptitude through three subtests, plus the General Academic Module
- Validity: the certificate is valid indefinitely
- Where: ten Indian cities — Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Kolkata, Mananthavady, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune
The first administration in India ran on 26 September 2026, with registration open from 29 June to 15 September 2026 and results published on 12 October 2026. Later dates come from g.a.s.t., and that is the only source worth trusting for them.
A low score is not a refusal
Worth saying clearly, because anxiety about a new compulsory test tends to outrun the facts. APS India states that a low dMAT score does not automatically lead to a refusal of the APS certificate. The result appears on your certificate; it is not a pass mark you can fail.
That does not make preparation pointless — the score is visible to the universities reading your application. But the test is not a gate that can lock you out.
What to do now
- Check whether you are actually in scope. Three field groups, master's applicants, summer semester 2027 onwards. Many people worrying about this are exempt.
- Confirm your dates rather than assuming them. If you registered with APS or shipped documents before 29 June 2026, you are out.
- If you are in scope, book the dMAT first. It is the item holding your certificate, so it should not be the last thing you arrange.
- Send your remaining APS documents without waiting for the result. That is permitted, and it shortens the tail.
- Do not plan a visa appointment against a processing time somebody promised you. Nobody can promise it, including APS India.
Our free dMAT preparation guide walks through the two modules and how to prepare for them, and studying in Germany sets out the costs, intakes and blocked-account figures alongside all of this.
Everything above comes from APS India and g.a.s.t., checked in October 2026. Both bodies change their own rules without announcing it, so confirm dates against their pages before acting on them.