 Moving to new country can be a big challenge for many of us, specially for students at very young age, moving to completely new and strange country with different language and culture can be overwhelming. In this article, I want to share the important things to take care after your arrival in Germany as an brand new student. 1. Fix your accommodation in Germany. It is hard to find your final accommodation in Germany, but with some contacts and university support, you can solve this problem temporarily by staying with friends or student hostels. By fixing I mean the address where you will be living and registering your self for the time of your studies. It is compulsory to register yourself at the city registration office, so it is must step. This registration is needed in many places for example to get your block account access and so on. Your fix accommodation can be in student residence, shared flat(WGs), or your own private apartment. You will register your living address in Germany at the ‘Einwohnermeldeamt’. To do this process, you need an appointment at the city registration office(Bürger Büro), you have to take your ID, Passport with confirmation from the landlord about your stay in their property. You have to do this process, every time you change your accommodation.  2. German health insurance aka ‘Krankenversicherung’.
It is compulsory to have a health insurance to be enrolled in the German public universities. Without the health insurance you can't study in Germany. Most of the time you have to take care of this, in advance. If you haven't done it, you have to do it now. You can chose any of the public health insurance provider to cover you, just need to go with your admission letter and ID card, they will guide you and take care of the rest. Without proof of health insurance (public or private), enrolment at a German university is impossible. 3. Matriculate in studies to get the certificate of enrollment. In German university you have to enroll your self for each semester. As you have the admission letter and valid visa with you, and also registered with your accommodation in Germany with the needed health insurance. Next step is to get your self enrolled in the university. First time enrollment will give you the student ID card and other useful stuff to use the university facilities. This enrollment process has to take place in the given period as mentioned on the university website and your admission letter. Without enrollment you are considered student, so be careful not only in the first semester, but also for all the semesters which you will be studying in the university. This enrollment certificate is also needed at the time of your visa extension so keep it handy, it is normally accessible on your student portal. There are no tuition fees in most of the German public universities, but at the time of your enrollment for each semester, you have to pay semester contribution. This money includes your public transport tickets and other university services and social activities. Semester ticket is valid for all public transport in your city, some university also cover whole state. After this you will get your ID card, which can be used to access library and laboratories. You will also receive and email account for official communication from universities. As mentioned earlier, do not forget to re-enrol yourself at the beginning of semester, other wise you will be ex-matriculated. 4. Bank account from a recognized German bank. Most of the students come with a block account as a student in Germany. You have to activate with the city-registration to get your bank card, which can be used to pay rent, and other bills related to studying and living in Germany. As a student, this service is for free, you don't pay any monthly fees. To open a student bank account in Germany, these are needed documents:
5. Apply for a visa extension at the ‘Ausländerbehörde’. As you complete above steps, you have to extend your visa at the foreigner's office, as most students get 3-6 months of initial visa, which have to be extended at the location of the university where you will be living. Here you have to take all the above documents and any other things mentioned on the respective "Ausländerbehörde". These five steps are must for all the students coming to Germany to study any course on student visa. Once you are done with these steps only thing remaining to do is study well and learn as much as you can, also keeping focus in making international contacts which can be helpful in your career in future. Thanks. Happy to help. Ankit SHELADIYA |
Ankit
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