Admission is the part you have earned. The visa is the part that runs on deadlines, blocked accounts and appointment slots. We build the file backwards from your semester start, and a licensed German immigration lawyer signs it.
Every other immigration case can slip a month. A student case cannot: the semester starts whether your appointment came through or not, and a missed start is a lost half-year. What makes student visas fail is almost never the applicant — it is sequencing. The blocked account opened after the appointment was booked, the certificate verification nobody mentioned, the translation ordered a week too late. That is a solvable problem, and it is solved at the beginning.
Admitted to a master's in Aachen, applying from Jakarta, eleven weeks to the semester. The blocked account had not been opened and the degree certificate still needed certified translation. Sequenced properly, both landed before the appointment — and a lawyer signed the file.
With an admission letter you apply for the student visa. Without one you can apply for the student applicant visa, come to Germany, sit the entrance procedures and convert once you are in. If your school certificate is not equivalent to the German one, a Studienkolleg and its assessment exam come first.
Roughly a year of living costs, at a figure the government resets annually. A blocked account is the usual instrument, releasing a fixed monthly sum after you arrive; a scholarship, a formal undertaking from a sponsor in Germany, or parental income can replace it. The instrument you choose changes which documents you need.
Cover valid in Germany from the day you arrive, and your enrolment depends on it too — universities will not register you without proof. Whether you belong in statutory student insurance or need private cover depends on your age and your programme.
German-taught courses want a recognised German certificate; English-taught ones want an English test the university accepts. The requirement comes from the programme, not the embassy, so it is your admission letter that tells you which certificate you must already hold.
Applicants from India, China and Vietnam among others must have their documents verified by the Akademische Prüfstelle before the visa. It has its own processing time, so it belongs at the front of your timeline rather than in the middle of it.
120 full days or 240 half days a year alongside your studies, with university assistant roles counted separately. Exceeding the cap puts your permit at risk, and the way a contract is written decides how its days are counted.
Graduates can stay up to 18 months to find work matching their qualification, then switch to an EU Blue Card or a skilled worker permit. Your student years also count toward permanent residence later, which is why the first file should be built with the last one in mind.
The funds figure changes every year, and missions differ. The rows above are the framework; the current amount, the documents your particular German mission wants and the route that fits your programme are confirmed by the licensed German lawyer who reviews and signs your application. We tell you where your file stands, and whether your timeline is realistic, before you pay anything.
Admitted, still applying, or facing a Studienkolleg first — these are three different applications with three different document sets. Applying on the wrong one costs you a semester, and it is the mistake we see most often in student files that have already been refused once.
Blocked account, scholarship, sponsor's undertaking or parental income: each is evidenced differently, and missions differ in what they will accept. We pick the instrument that fits your situation, then make sure the paperwork behind it is complete before the money is committed.
Admission letter, school and degree certificates, their recognition, APS where it applies, certified translations and the language certificate your programme requires. Each has a lead time, and several depend on the one before, so the order matters as much as the list.
Appointment slots, blocked account opening, insurance, then after you arrive: registering your address and converting the visa into a residence permit. We plan it backwards from the day your course begins and tell you early if the dates do not work.
A licensed German lawyer reviews and signs every step. You only open the case.
Tell us your programme, your funding and your nationality. Our AI checks your route, the current funds figure and the documents your mission asks for, and a lawyer confirms whether your timeline reaches your semester start.
AI drafts the application and assembles the admission evidence, the funding proof, the insurance and the translations in days. A licensed German lawyer reviews each page and signs the file.
You travel with a complete file and a tracked timeline through enrolment and your residence permit. When you graduate — or when a job offer arrives first — we move you onto the permit that fits, in the same case.
Case is a case-preparation service, not a law firm. Our AI drafts and checks your documents, which is why we are fast. A licensed German immigration lawyer reviews and signs everything, which is why it holds. Nothing is filed without a lawyer's approval.
Admission to a German institution, proof that you can pay for your first year, health insurance valid in Germany, and evidence that you can follow the course in its language. Around those four sit the documents that prove them: your school and degree certificates, their recognition, translations, and for some countries an APS certificate. The list is short. Assembling it in the right order, before your appointment, is the hard part.
Enough to cover roughly a year of living costs, and the amount is reset each year, so any figure you read on a forum is probably last year's. Most applicants prove it with a blocked account, which releases a fixed sum to you monthly after you arrive. A scholarship, a formal undertaking from someone in Germany, or your parents' income can work instead. We confirm the current figure and pick the route that fits your case.
Yes, within a cap: 120 full days or 240 half days a year alongside your studies, with student assistant jobs at your university treated separately. Going over the cap puts your permit at risk, which is why it is worth knowing exactly how your contract counts before you sign it rather than after.
There is a separate visa for that. The student applicant visa lets you come to Germany to apply and sit entrance procedures, and converts into a student permit once you are admitted. If your school certificate is not treated as equivalent to a German one, the route runs through a Studienkolleg and its assessment exam first. Which of the three doors you are standing in front of is the first thing we establish.
The decision itself is rarely the bottleneck; the appointment is. Waiting times at German missions vary enormously by country and by season, and the queue is worst in the run-up to the winter semester. That is why we work backwards from your semester start date rather than forwards from today, and why we tell you at the outset if the timeline is unrealistic.
Yes. Graduates of a German institution can get a residence permit of up to 18 months to look for work matching their qualification, and move onto an EU Blue Card or a skilled worker permit once they find it. Your student years also count toward permanent residence later. The switch is the whole point of the student route, and it goes far more smoothly when the first file was built with it in mind.
No. Case prepares the case file. A licensed German immigration lawyer reviews it and provides the legal advice. Nothing is filed without a lawyer's approval.
Tell us your programme, your funding and your semester start. Within one working day you get your route, your timeline and a fixed price. No obligation.
Last reviewed 22 August 2026. German immigration rules, salary thresholds and fees change, sometimes in the middle of a year, and local offices apply them differently from city to city. Anything below that date may have moved since.
This page is general information about German immigration law. It is not legal advice, it is not a substitute for advice on your own situation, and reading it does not create a lawyer–client relationship. The figures and deadlines on it have not been checked by a lawyer against your case.
Case is a case-preparation service, not a law firm, and does not give legal advice. Legal advice is given by independent licensed German immigration lawyers, who review and sign every file before it is submitted.
Found something out of date or wrong? Tell us and we will correct it: permanaharianja@gmail.com.