Requirements
This step is important. Please check carefully if you fulfill all the requirements especially when it comes to your degree and necessary funding. Otherwise you will waste a lot of time, energy and rupees just to find out that one puzzle piece is missing in the end.
The amount of different requirements can be overwhelming. Be one of our first 100 instagram followers and we will send you a free PDF with all the information below in a handy, visual checklist.
To put it simple, you only need two things to study in Germany: a sufficient degree and a lot of money. Let's start with the degree.
Degree
In Germany not everyone is allowed to study at a university. The high school diploma needs to be from the highest type of school. In general, for students from India this is a 12-year secondary school leaving certificate with at least 50 percent marks. If you have this you can apply for a Bachelor program in Germany. However, most likely you will only get admission for something that is called Studienkolleg. So what is that?
The Studienkolleg is a special kind of pre-course that you have to pass before the actual Bachelor program starts. It already prepares you for the field of study you've chosen and starts several months before the official start date of the Bachelor Course. It is important to notice, that you need to be in Germany for that and that the course finishes with an exam!
You might wonder if there is a way for you to skip the Studienkolleg and indeed there are two options:
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You have already studied for at least one year at a recognised university in India in the specific field of study
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You have passed JEE Main and JEE Advanced
If this is the case there is a high chance that the German university will give you admission without Studienkolleg.
This was confusing? On this website you can easily find out if you qualify for direct admission, Studienkolleg or not at all.
APS Certificate
The APS Certificate is a certificate that proves the authenticity of your degree and qualification. It is so annoying that we dedicated a whole chapter to it. If you can't wait until chapter 2 to find out, click here.
Language Certificate
Most Bachelor Courses are taught in German but more and more English Programs are coming up. If you decide for a German course you will need a German language certificate. Sometimes B1 is enough but often you will need B2 or even C1. There are a lot of institutions in India that offer German courses, i. e. the Goethe Institutes.
English Programs on the other hand require an English language certificate. IELTS and TOEFL are common examples, often with a minimum score of 6.0 (IELTS) and 80-90 (TOEFL). Be aware that IELTS Academic is usually required.
Blocked Account
This is the hardest part since it requires a huge amount of money.
A blocked account (called Sperrkonto in German) is a special bank account where you deposit a fixed amount of money before arriving in Germany.
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You deposit the required amount (currently around €11,208 for one year, though this can change).
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The money is blocked, meaning you can’t withdraw it all at once.
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Every month, you can access a fixed amount (about €934 per month).
Why do I need this blocked account?
You think this blocked account is super annoying? Me too! Unfortunately, there is no way around it. Germany wants to ensure that you are able to pay your rent and daily living costs.
After a year, when you elongate your visa, you will have to show the same amount again, so be careful if you spend it.
Is there really no way to avoid showing a blocked account again and again?
There are only a few possible ways around:
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If you can show a work contract or student job with sufficient income, the authorities might accept that instead.
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Same is valid for a scholarship (though you will have tough times finding a scholarship that pays you enough; more likely is a combination of job + scholarship)
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If you have very good connections you might find a German who sponsors you and signs a special Obligation Letter
Now you might ask - Where do I get this blocked account?
There are several providers and usually they will try to cross-sell an insurance to you as well. The providers often charge a setup fee and also a monthly fee so you would want to compare the different offers.
As of March 2026 the most popular provider is Expatrio. We also used them and we were satisfied. The total costs for one year will add up to approximately 100 to 150 EUR.
The cheapest provider we could find is currently Coracle. They offer a blocked account for overall costs of 99 EUR.
Since you will transfer a huge amount of Rupees and convert them into Euros you should be very smart when it comes to conversion rates and transfer fees. You can save several thousand rupees like this. You want to transfer your money while the Euro is comparatively weak. Always check the latest currency exchange trends to get an idea whether It makes sense to wait some weeks before you place your order.
In our experience you get much better offers from forex services like Wise than from your personal house bank. Always calculate the combination out of exchange fees + conversion rate. We will soon publish a blog article on this topic. Follow us on instagram to stay updated.
Health Insurance
The most confusing part about the health insurance is that you need two. In Germany health insurance is mandatory and the government wants to make sure that you are protected if anything happens to you. For your visa application you will need a Travel Medical Insurance. This insurance covers the first days from your arrival in Germany. The German embassy only accepts health insurances from certain Indian providers. You can find a list under this link.
Now what is confusing at first is, that after arriving in Germany, you will need another health insurance for your university admission. That second health insurance is payed on a monthly basis and covers your whole time in Germany. There are a lot of different providers in Germany and while they all cover basic needs they differ a lot in their additional services. Health is wealth and thus it makes a lot of sense to spend some time in comparing the different offers.
If you are a full-time student and under 30 years old you will usually become part of the public health insurance system. There are also private health insurances but in my personal opinion you should always try to get into the public system first. Since the whole topic is quite complex, we dedicated a whole page to the health insurance system.
Visa
Don't book an agent to apply for your visa. The waiting times are sometimes insane but there is nothing an agent could do except of charging you extra money. Although you need a lot of different documents the visa application process is nowadays pretty straightforward.
The whole process is managed via the Consular Service Portal. Click on this link, choose the mission responsible for you and create an account.