Start-up Tips

What should I do after my arrival in Germany? Here are the first steps you should do during your first week:

How can I find a place to live in Germany?

Your first point of contact, when looking for a flat or a room, is the Student Services organisation at your university. Student Services operate their own halls of residence that offer value-for-money accommodation for students. They offer a particularly useful service for international students: Many Student Services sell “Service Sets” for foreign students. These sets can be booked via the Internet before you come to Germany. In general, a Service Set will include accommodation, meals and health insurance. This guarantees that you have a place to live when you arrive in Germany. You can find more information about the Service Sets on the homepage of the German Association of Student Services Organisations (Deutsches Studentenwerk) at: www.internationale-studierende.de

flat-hunting websites:
wg-gesucht
Studenten-Wohnung

International Office

You can usually rely on the services offered by the International Offices when you arrive, or if you are already studying in Germany. To make the start in your new home easier, many International Offices organise welcome parties, guided tours through the university town and tutoring programmes. Your personal tutor will help you complete the formalities with the authorities, like the Registration Authority (Einwohnermeldeamt) or the Foreigners Authority (Ausländerbehörde), will help you look for a place to live and will help you open a bank account.

Bank account

If you have to pay a bill or fees (for example, to register at university), you will normally do this by bank transfer. The account holder hands in a payment form to the bank, which then transfers the specified sum to the specified account. Therefore you need a Girokonto, which is usually exempt from charges for students.

Health insurance

If you don't have a health insurance policy, you cannot register (matriculate) at your university in Germany. Students from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania continue to be insured via the health insurance in their country of origin. In most cases, you have to present a European Health Insurance Card or form E 128 /E 111. Before departing for Germany, please make sure that you find out which papers you have to present.

Students from outside the EU must be insured with a statutory health insurance carrier in Germany. These insurance funds offer students favourable up until their 30th birthday or the start of their their 14th semester. In addition, many student services organisations (Studentenwerke) offer Service Sets for International Students  that include appropriate health insurance cover.

Local Registration office

Within your first two weeks, go to the local registration office (Bürgeramt, Meldebehörde, Einwohnermeldeamt) and advise them of your address in Germany. You will need the following documents:


Registrar's Office

Once you have have proof of your registeration at the local office, then you can complete your enrolment at the Registrar’s Office of the university or other institution. You will need all the same certificates. Don’t forget your Acceptance Letter!

Ideally, you should do all this within your first week in Germany. Then you will have enough time to explore the university and city and, of course, to start concentrating on your studies.


Money from a side job.

The Law on the Free Movement of Workers (Arbeitnehmerfreizügigkeit) will be fully emplimented in Germany starting in 2011. Beginning January 1, 2009, the following regulations apply to students:

According to § 16 para. 3 of the Residency Law (Aufenthaltsgesetzes), students may not work more than a total of 90 days or 180 half-days in one year while studying in Germany. This restriction on total annual work-hours does not apply to students who are residents of the ‚old’ European Union (meaning the original 15 countries) because residents of these countries already enjoy the full benefit of the Law on the Free Movement of Workers.

This restriction on total annual work-hours does not apply to students who are engaged in part-time university-related work (studentische Nebentätigkeiten) at their university or in other scientific institutions. Student part-time university-related work also includes work for organizations related to the univerisy (for example, German Student Council dormitories or hostels, the Advisory Council of religious organisations, Asten [Allgemeinen Studierendenausschüsse] and the World University Service) .

Permission for students to work part-time is implied by law when the student obtians a residence permit to study in Germany. Participation by the federal Labour Office is not necessary. However, the work activities must not jeopardise the main purpose of the permit, which is to study.

Further information is available here