Visa

Costs and finance

Health insurance

Accommodation

Enrolment

With your letter of admission, you can go to the German embassy in your country to apply for a visa for study purposes or for a German course. In many cases the embassy/consulate will require confirmation of reservation from a course provider in Germany when you make your application for a visa to take a German course.

Important: please do not enter the country on a tourist visa. This type of visa expires after three months and cannot be extended or changed to a student visa.

Visa regulations

DAAD

German Federal Foreign Office

Costs of studying and living

There are no tuition fees at the University of Duisburg-Essen - this applies for international students as well. All students are, however, subject to a student services and student body fees  per semester.

Information on living expenses in Germany can be found on the DAAD website.
 

External scholarships

Some scholarship applications can often only be made in the student's home country. If you are already studying in Germany, it will usually be too late to make an application. Applications for funding should be made in your home country.

• DAAD scholarship database for studying in Germany
• Overview: Funding opportunities
• FAQs on scholarships
• Index of German foundations
• Scholarships of the Fulbright Commission (for US citizens only)
• Support for international students under the BAföG student loan/grant scheme
   

Scholarships of the University Duisburg-Essen

• Individual scholarships awarded by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia for gifted students from emerging and developing countries (see News)
• Graduation grants from the International Office (applications 1x per year in spring, see News)
• Duisburg-Essen University Foundation (Duisburg-Essener Universitätsstiftung)
• UDE scholarships

Prize for final thesis

• Duisburg-Essen University Foundation (see menu under "Requests for Applications")

In individual cases of social hardship, Catholic Student Community (Katholische Studentengemeinde, KOM) and the social advisory service (Sozialberatung) of the Studierendenwerk may be able to provide assistance:

You are also welcome to come to the office hours of the International Office for an initial interview. You can get an appointment here. The enrolment key is SoSe2021.
 

Working during your studies?

If you want to work during you studies you will have to pay attention to several regulations. Please find further information on the DAAD website.

It is compulsory for all students in Germany to have health insurance. It is not possible to enrol as a student without proof of valid health insurance. Germany has both statutory and private health insurance schemes. Do you want to remain privately insured during your studies or do you have family insurance or are you aged 30 or over?

Statutory health insurance

In order to enrol in their selected course of study, prospective students require a digital notification of their insurance status ('M10 notification'), which is to be requested from the relevant statutory health insurance provider. Enrolment is only possible when a notification regarding your insurance status has been received from a statutory health insurance provider.

For this notification to be sent digitally, the health insurance provider needs to be given the University of Duisburg-Essen’s reference number (Absender-Nr.), which is H0000277.

Do you want to continue being insured privately during your studies, are you covered by family insurance or are you over 30 years old?

In this case, an M10 notification that shows you are not subject to mandatory insurance from a statutory health insurance provider is necessary. Please contact a statutory health insurance provider of your choice and get information about the legal consequences of an exemption from the statutory health insurance obligation. The health insurance provider will then send the digital notification to the University.

There is no obligation to be insured by a statutory health insurance provider for:

• Those wishing to enrol in a German course
• Doctoral candidates who wish to enrol to pursue their doctoral studies only

If you fall into one of these categories, proof of private health insurance is sufficient for enrolment and you do not need to prove your insurance status via a statutory health insurance provider.

Private health insurance

German language students are not subject to compulsory insurance within the meaning of the German Social Security Code (Sozialgesetzbuch) and must therefore compulsorily choose private health insurance.

Admission to higher education does not automatically come with an offer of a place in a student residence as is common in other countries. This means that you are responsible for organising your own accommodation.

There are different ways of finding a room or an apartment:

Please note the following steps for enrolment:
 

!Please note that we will only enrol you once you have already entered Germany!

email to:    einschreibung-io@uni-due.de
email subject line: Your application number and/or student ID number (if available)

Necessary information:

• Full name
• Date of birth
• Place of birth
• Nationality
• Address in Germany
• Degree you wish to pursue, former studies if applicable for the subject/degree you want to enrol for

Attachments:

• Letter of admission
• Passport picture (JPG) for the student ID card 
• Passport copy
• Highest school leaving certificate or bachelor's degree certificate
• Complete transcript of records
• Language certificates (German, English if applicable)
• APS certificate for China, India and Vietnam
   
• For language course enrolment only: confirmation of registration/participation in a German language course (Registration for an intensive language course in Germany with at least 18 hours of teaching  per week that are usually spread over five days a week.)
• Health insurance ​(for language course enrolment = private health insurance -- for study enrolment = statutory health insurance)
• If applicable, a certificate of exmatriculation from a German university

  You can only be enrolled once we have received
  your complete email (providing all information and attachments as
  mentioned below)!

Semester fee: The semester fee can only be paid after enrolment. You will receive all necessary information. Do not send any money beforehand!
 

Deadlines

Enrolment for German language course students:
Possible throughout the year

Enrolment in a non-restricted bachelor's/ master’s degree programme:
Visit the pages of the the Registrar's Office

Enrolment in a restricted bachelor's/ master’s degree programme (NC):
Please see your letter of admission for the exact date.

Enrolment in a PhD programme:
Possible throughout the year - Information for prospective PhD candidates

Semester fee

All students are required to pay the semester fee. It is not a tuition fee and must be paid by every student per semester, irrespective of when they enrol. Once you have enrolled, we will send you a bank transfer form so that you can pay your semester fee at your bank in Germany.

Further information about the Semester Fee

Semester ticket

After enrolment, and once the semester fee has been received by the University (please allow 3 working days) you can use the Semester Ticket (Deutschlandsemesterticket) by downloading the campus app myUDE (https://www.uni-due.de/myude/).

Further information about the Semester Ticket
 

Student identity card

All students are issued a student identity card, which can be collected from the Front Office after enrolment. The student identity card doubles as your library card and Mensa card with payment chip. You can use the identity card at the self-service stations (to print student certificates, make changes to your address, print bank transfer slips).

The card is the property of the University of Duisburg-Essen. As a student identity card it is personal to you and cannot be used by anybody else. It becomes void once you are no longer on the register of students at the University and must be returned to the Registrar’s Office.

If your card is lost or damaged, you can only apply for a new one at the Registrar’s Office during the opening hours.

Further information about the Student Identity Card

User ID (“Unikennung”)

All students newly enrolled at the University of Duisburg-Essen are issued a personal user identification and password after enrolment. The user ID allows you to use the University’s IT services, for example for access to the internet (WLAN, PC workstations, LSF electronic lecture schedule, exam registration). Please contact the E-Point if you have any questions about your user identification and the IT services, or if you have forgotten your password.

Further information about the User ID (“Unikennung”)
 

Student certificate

After enrolment, and once the semester fee has been received by the university, you can use your “Unikennung” user ID to print copies of the student certificate at the SB stations or in the LSF.

You might need a student certificate to present to authorities, for example health insurance providers, banks or the Studierendenwerk.

Further information about the Student certificate