Entry and Insurance

Depending on their country of origin, people wishing to enter the Federal Republic of Germany are subject to different entry requirements. Exchange students are responsible for applying for a visa on their own.

Students from countries requiring visa (indicated by a “Yes” / “No” without a number next to your nationality) have to apply for a student visa in their country of origin, or the country of their home institution, before entering Germany.

You are not allowed to study in Germany on a tourist visa. It is not possible to exchange a tourist visa for a student visa once you have entered Germany. That means that you would have to go back to your home country in order to apply for a student visa.

Your visa application will require your official letter of admission issued by the University of Mannheim. Please contact the responsible German embassy or consulate in your country of origin or the country of your home institution and apply for a student visa immediately after receiving your letter of admission.

You can find more information on visa on the website of the Federal Foreign Office.

EU and EFTA citizens (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) do not need a student visa. After enrollment, they need to register at the residents' registration office.

Citizens from the following countries do not need a student visa either, they need to apply for a German residence permit at the respective foreigners’ office in Germany:

Australia, Israel, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, USA, the United Kingdom

Citizens of the following countries do not require a visa if they do not intend to take up gainful employment before or after their studies. However, they must also apply for a residence permit from the relevant foreigner's office in Germany (if there is a [4] next to their nationality):

Andorra – Brazil – El Salvador – Honduras – Monaco – San Marino

Your country is not listed? Then you need a visa.

Disclaimer: We are continuously checking the contents of the information materials published by the International Office. However, we do not assume liability for these contents. All materials are for general information purposes only and cannot be binding for every individual case. The information provided is not necessarily complete, comprehensive or up-to-date. We do not give legal advice nor legally binding information. Neither can we substitute for information given by experts in individual cases.

If you are a non-EU citizen enrolled at a university in an EU country except Ireland and Denmark and are planning a stay of less than 360 days in Germany for study purposes, you no longer have to apply for a German residence permit under EU Directive 2016/801, the so-called REST Directive for researchers and students, if your residence permit from the first EU country was issued for study purposes.
Still, the visa procedure is open to you.

After the application deadline, the International Office of the University of Mannheim will contact you by e-mail to check whether your residence permit entitles you to participate in the REST Directive.
If this is the case, we as your host university must submit a mobility application to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) on your behalf. You will need to send us some documents for this. The application to the BAMF must be approved before your arrival and the processing time is at least 30 days.

If you are planning a stay of more than 360 days for the purpose of studying, you must always apply for a student visa.

Our fall semester begins on 1 August and ends on 31 January. Our spring semester begins on 1 February and ends on 31 July. Yet, you do not need to arrive in Mannheim until the Welcome Week or, if applicable, before the start of the International Summer or Winter Academy.

Our Welcome Week serves to ease you into your new environment here in Mannheim. During a variety of events, you will get to know other students. You have to arrive in Mannheim in time for enrollment.

The examination period ends before Christmas (fall semester) or by the middle of June (spring semester), respectively. After your last examination, you may return to your home institution. The following list contains the official academic calendar, the lecture period, and the regular and alternate examination dates.

Membership confirmation of your statutory health insurance provider or a certificate from any statutory health insurance provider confirming that you have been exempted from compulsory insurance is mandatory for ALL students for enrollment. This information is electronically forwarded to us by the statutory health insurance provider.

Please make an appointment with ONE statutory health insurance provider to obtain membership or apply for an exemption from compulsory health insurance.

Do you have statutory health insurance coverage in Germany?

• Then please request that your statutory health insurance provider reports your insurance status via the reporting reason M10 for the University of Mannheim (“Meldegrund 10 für die Universität Mannheim”). The health insurance provider thus confirms to the university that you are insured with the health insurance provider.

Do you have an European/Global Health Insurance Card (EHIC/GHIC)
OR an AT-11
OR do you have private insurance?

• Then you need to submit a request for exemption from compulsory statutory health insurance to a statutory health insurance provider. Please request that the statutory health insurance provider reports your exemption from compulsory insurance via the reporting reason M10 for the University of Mannheim (“Meldegrund 10 für die Universität Mannheim”). If you have been previously insured under a statutory health insurance scheme, please contact your previous health insurance provider. Otherwise, you may contact a statutory health insurance provider of your choice.

Exception: If you are opening a blocked account to provide proof of financial resources for studying, please check whether the package includes membership in a German statutory health insurance scheme. If this is the case, please contact the relevant health insurance provider to request that they report your insurance status via the reporting reason M10 for the University of Mannheim (“Meldegrund 10 für die Universität Mannheim”).

Please request the reporting reason M10 immediately after receiving the “enrollment preparations” in order to ensure that we receive the certificate as soon as possible. Please note that you cannot enroll without this proof.
The exclamation mark symbol in the top right-hand corner of Portal² indicates whether we have received your reporting reason M10 from the statutory health insurance provider you contacted. The transmission of your M10 may take a few days.

Please note:

• It is not sufficient to submit your health insurance card/EHIC.
• We strongly recommend that students from non-EU and non-EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) take out statutory health insurance in Germany. Otherwise, you will usually have to pay medical and hospital bills yourself first. These can be very large sums (depending on the illness/injury, treatments can cost several thousand euros!)
• Moreover, it usually takes some time until you are reimbursed by your home health insurance provider, leaving you with the risk of running into financial problems. We would like to inform you that insurance companies in your home country often do not have the same coverage as (statutory) health insurance providers in Germany. The following benefits are often excluded with health insurance policies taken out in the home country:
  • Outpatient and inpatient treatment of chronic diseases in countries other than the country where the insurance was taken out
  • Accidents occurring under the influence of alcohol or caused by the driver
  • Dental treatments
  • Prenatal care
• Please note that, once you have decided against taking out a German statutory health insurance policy, this decision cannot be reversed. This means that, as long as you are a student in Germany, you can no longer switch to the student rate of a German statutory health insurance provider.
• All German statutory health insurance providers offer student health insurance for around EUR 125 per month. Insurance coverage will begin with enrollment. For the fall semester, however, insurance coverage begins on 1 August (start of the semester) at the earliest. If you enter Mannheim/Germany earlier, we strongly recommend that you take out travel health insurance for the time until the semester starts.
• Please note that student health insurance can only be taken out by students under the age of 30. When you turn 30, you have to take out private health insurance.
• In the following document, we have summarized the standard benefits of statutory health insurance: Standard benefits of statutory health insurance

Taking out a travel insurance policy is recommended for the duration of your travel to Germany and your first days here. Your home institution might be able to assist you in choosing a travel insurance provider.