Hallo all,

I hope you have been preparing well to pursue your dream of doing a Post-Graduation in Germany.

Here are few essentials which you have to take care once you land in Ingolstadt.While most processes might be similar,things might vary according to each city, so make sure you enquire well before you get there.

  1. Once you arrive in Germany first thing you must do is to register at the City Registration Office (Rathaus).  The documents required for doing city registration is passport, house rental contract and a form to be filled you and signed by your house owner.
  2. Once on doing your registration head towards to the Deutsche Bank to open an account. There are two possibilities, one you would have opened a blocked account in Deutsche bank from India and activate the account once on arriving. The documents required for this process are passport and your city registration document. Another way is to open a normal account once on arriving and then transfer the amount. The documents required for this process is passport and your city registration document. The time required to open an account in the bank is 10 to 15 minutes.
  3. The final process is to apply for Health Insurance. There are many health insurance offices, e.g. AOK health insurance, TK health insurance etc. The documents required are passport, biometric photo, city registration document and bank details.

The whole process requires maximum Two to Three Hours. Only after having these documents, can you go for the enrolment in your college.

Documents required for applying residence and work permit are:

  1. A copy of your passport and visa.
  2. Enrolment certificate from your college.
  3. House rental contract.
  4. Biometric photo.
  5. Bank statement (The statement which says you have a blocked account or a normal bank statement. This depends on the requirement of Auslanders office in the city you study).
  6. Health insurance document.
  7. City registration document.
  8. Cash of 100 – 120 euros.

The duration is approximately 5 to 7 weeks for your residence permit along with your work permit.

For city registration, opening / activating bank account, applying for health insurance International office of the college you’re going pursue your post-graduation will help you. In all these places people speak English, they are very helpful and guide you properly.

While applying for Residence Permit, the College will help you in filling the form, fixing an appointment at the Auslanders office etc. If you’re not comfortable with German language you can ask for a translator. But from my experience the Auslanders officers speak English, So don’t worry. These are the common questions asked at the Auslander’s office:

  1. Wie groß sind Sie ? – What is your height?
  2. Was ist Ihre Augenfarbe ? – What is your eye Colour?
  3. Wie lange ist Ihr Master-Programm ? – How long is your Master’s program?

If you’re planning to do all these things alone, you would require you at least an A2 – Level German.

Few other tips before and after landing in Germany are:

  1. Do German atleast till A2 or B1 level so that you will feel comfortable as most of the documents you receive will be in German.
  2. Don’t hesitate to speak German. The people appreciate you even if you do not speak perfect German.
  3. You must have atleast 5 to 10 photocopies of your passport, visa, degree certificate and 15 biometric photos.
  4. Carry a universal adapter and a junction box with you.
  5. Try to get accommodation from India with the rental contract before you arrive in Germany. While finding accommodations be careful, try to get the help of International office of the college you’re going pursue your post-graduation.
  6. Have roughly 1000 Euros as cash on hand and the rest in forex card because on arriving in Germany you will be paying caution and first month rent for your accommodation. You will also need some for basic grocery shopping.
  7. You can request your house owner to pick you up from station / airport.
  8. If you’re planning to have post-paid sim try to have monthly terminable contract and don’t take one year or two contract because there will be hidden costs. So while choosing read it carefully and select.

I hope these tips and suggestions do help you when you get here. Alles Gute!