Being admitted to Tertiary Study

Admission to postgraduate study is pursued through your university. Having made contact with a department and, if applicable, supervisor you will then attend to the details of your admission through the universities Akademisches Auslandsamt (International Students’ Office).

Language Note: German tertiary institutions usually require proof of your competence in German. You may be able to obtain an exception if your course is being taught in English or your dissertation is being presented in English. In general if you want to register for a full-time course of study, you must have passed either the Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang (DSH, German Language Examination for Higher Education Admission), or what is known as the TestDaF in your home country. The TestDaF examinations are conducted five times a year at one or more examination centres. Both exams test reading and listening comprehension as well as writing and oral skills.

Germany Entry and Visa Requirements.

As a general rule, all foreigners staying in Germany for more than 90 days wanting to work or study in Germany need a visa before entering Germany.  While citizens of Australia may apply for a visa after arrival in Germany this is not the case for a study visa. However do see the Student application visa notes below. (hyperlink to student application visa below)

If you plan to study in Germany, you submit an application for a student visa to the respective German mission abroad. Documents have to be presented proving inter alia that the applicant has been accepted for studies by a state recognised university. The embassy will then forward the visa application for an opinion to the foreigner’s authority in the town housing the university. The German mission abroad can only issue the visa for entry once the foreigners’ authority has given its approval. Thus it is important to allow time for this process to be gone through and to realise your first port of call is the university you wish to attend, since until they have confirmed your acceptance the visa process cannot begin.

However if you feel you need to actually visit the institution before deciding to go ahead then an alternative approach may be to seek a student application visa that can be converted in-country to a study visa.

Alternatively remember that you can enter Germany without a visa for a period of up to 90 days. This might be enough time to conduct inquiries into postgraduate options. However with this approach you would then have to leave the country in order to apply for a National visa/Student visa.

On these pages you will find an introduction to the German Higher Education system. The system is similar in some respects to the Australian system but it does differ in others. While this site is primarily designed to provide guidance for those seeking to pursue postgraduate study we have included an overview of most aspects of the German system here. This is so as to give you a clearer picture of the way the system works and the terms it employs, thus making it easier to find you way to a course of research that suits your purposes.