Germany grants 3 different types of visas for those willing to come to Germany for education:
- Language Course Visa
- Student Candidate Visa
- Student Visa
The candidate who is granted a language course visa is given 1-year residency. The candidate is expected to complete the course within a year. Language course visa period cannot be extended. The student who completes language course successfully cannot convert visa type to student visa even if he/she gets acceptance from a university. For this change of visa type, the student is required to go back to his/her country and apply to visa again. Therefore, students who are willing to come to Germany for university education are advised to obtain a Student Candidate Visa or Student Visa.
The candidate who has received conditional pre-acceptance from any university can apply for Student Candidate Visa. Receiving conditional pre-acceptance means an application to a university has been made, application has been accepted and the final enrollment will be done after completing language proficiency. This visa gives 1-year residency and if needed within this one year, the visa is extended for 1 more year. The visa holder must enroll in a university within maximum two years as of the commencement of visa. Following the fulfillment of language competency and final enrollment to a university, the visa is converted into student visa.
Student visa is granted for those who fulfill required conditions to do undergraduate degree or master’s degree and for those who havecompleted final enrollment to any university. On condition that the education is not completed, the visa is extended in some periods up to 10 years maximum.
Visa applications are generally finalized within 4-6 weeks. In order not to extend this period, visa documents must be submitted in complete and official holidays must be kept in consideration.
Required Documents in Visa Application
- Minimum 1 year valid passport,
- Travel Insurance,
- 3 biometric passport-size photograph,
- Diploma of graduation (high school, university undergraduate and/or university master’s degree)
- Conditional Pre-acceptance Letter (Bewerberbestätigung) which shows acceptance of university application or Acceptance Letter (Zulassungsbescheid)
- Document of ÖSYM exam result showing the success and placement to a four-year program (For those coming from a different country other than Turkey, a document showing that they have succeeded and placed in a university program in their country)
- Commitment letter (Verpflichtungserklaerung) showing that education and living expenses will be covered or a blocked account of about 8000 Euros in Germany)