Prior to Arrival
If you are a citizen of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, you do not need a visa. You only need a valid personal ID card or passport.
If you wish to stay longer than 90 days in Germany, you can obtain a visa after you arrive, provided you are a citizen of one of the following countries: Andorra, Australia, Canada, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, South Korea, and the United States of America.
All other foreign nationals wishing to stay longer than 90 days must apply for an entry visa in their home country before they come to Germany. You can do this at any German mission authorized to issue entry visas. You will have to appear for a personal interview either at the time of or after submitting your documents to the competent authority.
As there are several types of visa, be sure to apply for a student visa, and under no circumstances come to Germany on a tourist visa. You cannot study in Germany on a tourist visa, and a tourist visa cannot be converted to a student visa.
Student visas are usually issued for a three-month period. After you have arrived in Heidelberg and enrolled at SRH University Heidelberg, you will have to apply for an extended residence permit at the Aliens Registration Office in your town of residence (Heidelberg, Mannheim, Eppelheim, Schriesheim, etc).
We recommend contacting the German embassy in your country for a complete list of documents required for a visa application. A passport is always necessary, so make sure that you have applied for one well in time.
As a rule, you will be asked to present:
Proof of financial resources. At present, foreign students must prove they have at least 7,905 euros per year at their disposal (659 euros per month). Proof of financial resources can be provided in various ways. In some cases, the German embassy or consulate may require a specified amount to be paid into a blocked access bank account so as to ensure financial security for the initial period of the applicant’s stay in Germany.
Certificate confirming health insurance
Certificate of past academic work and achievements
Certificate of German language proficiency (Exception: international programs taught in English)
Notification of admission from SRHUniversityHeidelberg (“Final letter”)
The entire visa procedure can take eight to twelve weeks, so ideally, you should submit your application for a visa as soon as you have the letter of admission from SRH University Heidelberg. Detailed information about visas for Germany can be found on the websites of the Federal Foreign Office:
www.auswaertiges-amt.de; www.daad.de/deutschland/download
For students from India: www.india.diplo.de/vertretung/indien/en
Health insurance
As a student in Germany, you are required to have health insurance. Without proof of coverage, no German university will accept you.
Please check to see which of the following situations apply to you:
· You are a citizen of an EU country or of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland or Macedonia, and are insured at home. In this case, your medical insurance probably covers your stay in Germany. Germany has signed social insurance agreements with these countries to ensure cross-border coverage. With your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), you are also insured in Germany. Please check with your insurance provider to be sure.
· You are a citizen of a non-EU country and you are insured in your home country, butnot covered for travel abroad. In this case, you must buy insurance from one of the statutory medical insurance companies in Germany (e.g. AOK, BEK, BKK, DAK, IKK, KKH, TK). Doctors will charge the insurer directly for any medical treatment you receive. Cost of coverage: insurance rates for students are currently about € 75 per month. Though all public insurance policies cost the same amount, it is worthwhile to compare services and payment options offered by the various insurers. Exemption! If you are insured in the non-EU countries of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iceland, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Norway, Switzerland, Slovenia, Turkey or Tunisia, your home medical insurance probably covers your time in Germany. Check with your insurance provider to be sure.
· You are a citizen of a non-EU country and you are not medically insured in your home country. In this case, you must acquire medical insurance coverage in Germany.
· You are a citizen of a non-EU country, and you have sufficient medical coverage in your home country for international travel/study. If so, you can be exempted from obligatory student insurance. Be sure to bring your proof of insurance with you.
Further information can be found here:
www.1a-krankenversicherung.de/international; www.deutscheinsurance.de
If you have German insurance (or European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)),you must present your health card (chip or smart card) when you consult your doctor
A fee of 10 euros has to be paid quarterly when a dentist or a general practitioner is consulted. General practitioners and specialists may transfer patients to other specialists or physicians. In this case, no fee needs to be paid if the visit takes place in the same quarter of the year. Free choice of medical care is guaranteed for insured students.
Accommodation
First of all: Please get in touch with InternationalOffice@fh-heidelberg.de as soon as you have received admission and know when you will begin your studies.
Students in Germany either live in a student hall of residence or in private accommodation. In contrast to other countries, German universities do not automatically allocate rooms to students when they enroll. This means that even international students are responsible for finding their own accommodation. The International Office of SRH University Heidelberg provides useful information on finding a private or shared flat or a room in a dorm.
Dorms on campus: There are several dorms on campus, which are all managed by SRH Holding and not run by the SRH University Heidelberg. More information can be found at: www.fh-heidelberg.de/en/campus-life/living-on-campus
All rooms in these dorms are furnished with a bed, mattress, desk, chair, bookshelf, and wardrobe. Please bring bedding and pillows with you.
Erasmus Exchange students share a kitchen on the ground floor in the apartment building at Bonhoefferstr. 17.
Students who do not have a kitchen in their flat are permitted to have a microwave or an induction cooktop stove in their rooms.
As there isonly a limited number of dorms available, we recommend that you apply early.
Sharing an apartment. A room in a private house will generally be furnished, whereas rooms in shared student flats or houses are generally unfurnished. A reasonable rate to expect for a room in private lodgings or in a shared flat or house is between € 200 and € 300 a month. In a shared flat, everyone has their own room. Kitchen and bathroom as well as other utility rooms (if any) are shared, as are the costs for the rent, electricity, gas, water, Internet, etc. This arrangement certainly works out cheaper than living alone.
In most cases, tenancy contracts must be signed in person at the location itself. This means that you will have to wait until you arrive in Heidelberg before you can actually secure private accommodation.
There are many different ways to find a place to live off-campus. Most local newspapers publish a special accommodation section on Wednesdays or Saturdays. The Internet offers a lot of sites for housing searches, such as: www.suchezimmer.de, www.studis-online.de, www.wg-gesucht.de, wwww.studenten-wg.de, www.easyroommate.com, www.studenten-wohnung.de, www.easywg.de, www.mitwohnzentrale.de, www.wohngemeinschaft.de, www.studentenwohnungsmarkt.de
You will find many curious abbreviations and codes while reading rental ads:
2 Zi.-Whg = 2-room flat
2 ZKDB = 2 rooms, kitchen, hall, bathroom
zzgl.NK = plus extra charges (heating, electricity, etc.)
ZH = central heating
K = deposit
NR = non-smokers
KN = kitchenette
NMM = net monthly rent (plus costs for heating, electricity, gas, water, waste disposal)
Prov. = commission
WG = shared flat
kalt = heating extra
Heidelberg Youth Hostel: If you have yet not found a room when you arrive in Heidelberg, you can stay at the youth hostel for several nights. It is easy to reach by bus. Take line 32, which departs directly in front of the main train station. The bus ride takes about 10 minutes. For further information and current prices, visit www.jugendherberge-heidelberg.de
Final check: Bring the following items to Germany:
- Passport (must be valid for your entire stay, plus an additional 6 months)
- Visa, if applicable
- 2 passport photos
- Confirmation of health insurance coverage from your provider if your policy is recognized in Germany
- Sufficient money for initial expenses (i.e. deposit on rented accommodation)
- Cash in euros (for the shuttle bus, a cup of coffee, a phone card, etc.)
