Germany student visa — step by step
Everything you need to apply, and how Vibedu files it with you — free.
National visa for study
What the authority publishes
Nationales Visum zu Studienzwecken — the national "D" visa for study under Section 16b of the Residence Act. It is NOT a Schengen visa: it covers a stay longer than 90 days, and after you arrive and register you convert it into a residence permit (Aufenthaltstitel) at the local Ausländerbehörde. The same visa type covers a Studienkolleg preparatory course and a language course taken to prepare for a degree — but not a language course taken for its own sake, which is a different visa and a common misfiling.
€75
half for minors; waived on a public scholarship
What the authority publishes
€75, as published by the German Missions in India, with the fee for minors at half the regular rate — €37.50. The fee is NOT refunded if the visa is refused or the application withdrawn. Two things are worth knowing before you pay. First, it is waived outright for "foreign nationals receiving a scholarship from public funds during their stay in Germany, as well as their spouse or partner and minor children as long as they are covered by the funding" — which covers DAAD and comparable public awards, and is missed by most applicants who hold one. Second, the payment method is fixed by mission: the Consulates General in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata take a demand draft only, while Bangalore and the Embassy in New Delhi also accept cash. Separate from the visa fee, most Indian applicants also pay the APS India verification fee, which APS sets and publishes itself.
Several months
no status enquiry answered for 3 months
What the authority publishes
The German Missions in India publish no number, and that is the honest position rather than an omission: a student visa decision routinely runs to several months, and the missions state that status enquiries are not answered within the first three months after filing. Plan from the intake date backwards, not from the appointment. The sequence that actually governs your timeline is APS first (which has its own queue and must be finished before you can be admitted), then admission, then the blocked account, then the Consular Services Portal application, then a biometric appointment. Each step gates the next, so the slot you can book is set by how early the earlier steps finished.
€11,904 blocked
max €992 a month withdrawable
What the authority publishes
As published by the German Missions in India: a blocked bank account ("Sperrkonto") in Germany "with sufficient funds to cover the first year of studies, currently amounting to 11,904.—EUR and with a blocking confirmation stating that no more than 992.—EUR per month can be withdrawn". The account must be open BEFORE you apply, and the confirmation has to state both the amount paid in and the monthly amount available. Three alternatives are accepted in its place: a formal Declaration of Commitment (Verpflichtungserklärung) made by a sponsor in Germany before their local immigration office, proof of a German or EU scholarship, or proof of an education loan. Note the figure is the one the India mission publishes — the Federal Foreign Office's general page and other visa types carry different monthly amounts, and those do not apply to this route.
Section 16b(3) of the Residence Act entitles a student to employment of up to 140 full working days per year, and a day of under four hours counts as a half day — which is where the familiar "140 full or 280 half days" comes from.
Full official detail
Section 16b(3) of the Residence Act entitles a student to employment of up to 140 full working days per year, and a day of under four hours counts as a half day — which is where the familiar "140 full or 280 half days" comes from. It is ONE account, not two allowances: mixing full and half days draws on the same total. Work as a student assistant or research assistant at your own university (HiWi) does not count against it at all, which makes those jobs structurally more valuable than the hourly rate suggests. Going over the limit is a breach of your residence status rather than an employment matter, so it is not something an employer can authorise for you.
There is no routine interview in the sense of a scheduled, scored appointment, but the submission is in person and is not passive. You complete the application in the Consular Services Portal first — a questionnaire there decides which sub-type of study visa you are applying under, and the mission warns that answers which do not match your situation mean deleting the process and starting again, with no way to change sub-type mid-application.
Full official detail
There is no routine interview in the sense of a scheduled, scored appointment, but the submission is in person and is not passive. You complete the application in the Consular Services Portal first — a questionnaire there decides which sub-type of study visa you are applying under, and the mission warns that answers which do not match your situation mean deleting the process and starting again, with no way to change sub-type mid-application. You then attend in person to give biometrics and hand over originals, and consular staff commonly ask about your course choice, your funding and your plans after graduation at that point. Language evidence is checked rather than discussed: the mission names Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, ÖSD and telc for German, and IELTS or an ALTE member for English, and states that Duolingo, Pearson PTE and TOEFL home edition are NOT recognised for applications in India.
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Get an APS certificate — before anything else
If you took your school leaving certificate in India, studied any semesters in India, or hold an Indian degree, you "almost always" need a certificate from the Akademische Prüfstelle before a German university can admit you. The exemptions are specific: PhD or postdoc study, a stipend from EU or German public funds, a non-German degree being sought, a foreign (non-Indian) degree already held, or an international Indian school leaving qualification such as the IB. APS has its own processing queue, so starting it late pushes everything behind it.
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Secure admission to a full-time programme, Studienkolleg or preparatory language course
The mission accepts an admission letter to a full-time degree programme taught in person, an admission letter to a Studienkolleg, or confirmation of registration for a language course. If conditions remain unmet — preparatory college, language level — the admission letter must say so.
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Prove the language level the course actually needs
B1 German for a preparatory course taught in German; B2 English for a preparatory course taught in English; generally C1 for entry straight into bachelor or master study, whichever language it is taught in. Use a recognised certificate: Goethe/Max Mueller Bhavan, ÖSD or telc for German, IELTS or an ALTE member for English. Duolingo, Pearson PTE and TOEFL home edition are not accepted in India.
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Open the blocked account and fund it
€11,904 for the first year, with a blocking confirmation capping withdrawals at €992 a month. Open it before you apply — the confirmation is an upload in the application, not something you add later. A sponsor's Verpflichtungserklärung, a German or EU scholarship, or an education loan can stand in its place.
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Apply through the Consular Services Portal
Answer the opening questionnaire truthfully: it fixes your visa sub-type and cannot be changed without deleting the application and starting over. You can save and return at any point while uploading. Alongside the documents, you write an intention-to-study letter — why Germany, why this programme and university, how you found it, and what you plan to do after graduating — and a tabular CV in English or German.
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Add compulsory health insurance from your arrival date
A certificate of statutory or private German health cover (gesetzliche oder private Krankenversicherung), effective from the date you intend to arrive. If you are going to a private university with tuition on top of semester fees, or to a language course, you also upload the fee invoice and proof that you have paid the first year or a substantial deposit.
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Attend the biometric appointment, then wait
Give fingerprints and a facial image and hand over originals. From here it is a wait measured in months rather than weeks, and the missions will not answer a status enquiry within the first three. Once the visa is issued and you arrive, you register your address and convert the visa into a residence permit at the local Ausländerbehörde.
Documents for the Germany visa
11 documents
Can you pay for a faster Germany decision?
No paid service is published by the authority
The German Missions in India publish no paid priority service for student visas. The queue that actually governs your timeline sits in front of the visa anyway — APS first, then admission, then the blocked account.
If anyone offers to sell you “priority processing” for a Germany student visa, ask them to show you the official page that sells it. We looked on 10 November 2026 and could not find one.
German Missions in India — student visa india.diplo.deChecked against that page on 10 November 2026. Fees and services change — confirm before you pay anything.
Where to apply, and current timings
Straight to Germany’s own pages — we do not hold appointment slot counts, and nor does anyone else
Where you hand in your Germany application
16 places in India to submit a Germany application
Germany takes applications in Gurugram as well as New Delhi, which catches people out — they are different buildings in different states, and the appointment is for one of them specifically. Remember too that the APS certificate comes before any of this.
Visa Application Centres
16- Ahmedabad
- Bengaluru
- Chandigarh
- Chennai
- Cochin
- Coimbatore
- Goa
- Gurugram
- Hyderabad
- Jaipur
- Jalandhar
- Kolkata
- Mumbai
- New Delhi
- Puducherry
- Pune
The same network also serves applicants in Thimphu, Bhutan.
Operated by VFS Global, collecting applications for the German missions in India.
Addresses, opening hours and appointments visa.vfsglobal.comRead off the operator’s own page on 10 November 2026. Centres open, close and relocate at short notice — confirm yours on the link above before you travel to it.
Indicative — visa rules change. Vibedu confirms your exact, current requirements and files the application with you, free.
Germany student visa — FAQs
7 questions
Almost certainly, if your education was in India. The German Missions in India state that an applicant who obtained a school leaving certificate in India, studied some semesters in India, or holds an Indian degree "almost always" requires an APS certificate to be admitted to a German university. Five exemptions are named: PhD or postdoc study, holding a stipend from EU or German public funds, going for a non-German degree, already holding a foreign degree that is not Indian, or holding an international Indian qualification such as the IB. If you are exempt you upload an anabin confirmation or a ZAB Statement of Comparability instead.
€11,904 for the first year, with the blocking confirmation stating that no more than €992 a month can be withdrawn — the figure published by the German Missions in India. Be careful comparing numbers found elsewhere: the Federal Foreign Office's general study page and other German visa types (the Opportunity Card, for instance) publish different monthly amounts, and those are not this route. Open the account before applying, because the confirmation is one of the uploads.
No. The mission accepts three alternatives: a formal Declaration of Commitment (Verpflichtungserklärung) from a sponsor living in Germany, made before their local immigration office; proof of a German or EU scholarship; or proof of an education loan. The blocked account is the most common route, not the only one.
No. The German Missions in India name the recognised providers — Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, ÖSD and telc for German, and IELTS or an ALTE member for English — and state that neither Duolingo tests nor Pearson PTE or TOEFL home edition tests are recognised for applications in India. This catches people who already hold one of those for a different country.
The missions publish no figure, and they decline status enquiries for the first three months after filing — which is itself the clearest statement of the scale. Treat it as several months and work backwards from your intake. The real constraint is usually not the visa decision but the queue in front of it: APS, then admission, then the blocked account, then the portal application, then a biometric slot.
Yes, within one account: up to 140 full working days a year, with days of under four hours counting as half days. Student or research assistant work at your own university does not count against that total at all. The limit is a condition of your residence status, so exceeding it is not something an employer can sign off.
Yes, and it is routinely missed. The national visa fee is waived for foreign nationals receiving a scholarship from public funds during their stay in Germany, together with a spouse or partner and minor children covered by the same funding. If you hold a DAAD or comparable public award, check before paying.
Official sources: india.diplo.de · india.diplo.de · www.auswaertiges-amt.de · www.auswaertiges-amt.de
Checked against those sources on 10 Nov 2026. Fees and rules change between checks — confirm at the official page before you pay.
Get your Germany visa document checklist
A counsellor calls you back during office hours — 9am to 8pm IST, Mon to Sat. We are closed right now, so your request is first in line when we reopen.
Enquiry about Germany · National “D” visa for study
This is an enquiry to Vibedu for document and process guidance. It is not a Germany visa application, and no one but the immigration authority decides a visa.