To Dos after Enrollment
Credit: Anna-Lena Heins
You have been enrolled as a student and are ready to plan your courses? The following list of to dos helps you prepare for courses and gives an overview of bureaucratic matters of which you need to take care now.
Getting Ready for Courses
Attend the Welcome Week, Orientation Sessions and Campus Tour of your respective School
Double Degree students: You will receive information on your individual events from your double degree coordinator.
All other international exchange students:
When? 5 – 9 February 2024
Where? Find out about the details on our website.Are you curious about what our Campus looks like?
Take a virtual tour of the Campus of the University of Mannheim.Your Student ID ecUM
Your student ID card (“ecUM”) is very useful for your life on campus. It is used to print, pay your lunch at the cafeteria, or use the library lockers. Students who live in a student residence with Studierendenwerk Mannheim can use the ecUM to handle the washing machines and dryers at the dorm.
In order to apply for your ecUM you need to upload your photo in Portal². Learn more about your ecUM and how to receive it.
Important Bureaucratic To Dos
Residents' Registration Office
Following your arrival at the University of Mannheim, you have to register at the Residents' Registration Office within two weeks of your arrival. Every resident of a town must be registered at the Residents' Registration Office (Einwohnermeldeamt). Whether you live in Mannheim or in another town, you must register at the respective Residents' Registration Office.
If you live in Mannheim, make an appointment at K7 (ground floor). On the day of your appointment, you need to take a number from the machine. On the monitor, you will be able to see which counter you have to go to for your registration (handing in the form).
Since the website for making an appointment is exclusively in German, you can find an English guide on how to make an appointment here.
Address: K 7 (ground floor), 68159 Mannheim
Phone: 0621 / 293-3269Opening Hours:
Mon: 8.00 a.m. – 2.00 p.m.
Tue, Wed & Fri: 8.00 a.m. – noon/12.00 p.m.
Thu: 8.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m.Registration
For registration at the Residents' Registration Office, you need:- Passport
- Completed Residents' Registration form. You can use the translation help to fill in the German form.
- Confirmation from your landlady/
lord (It has to be signed by your landlady/ lord. If you live in a residence of Studierendenwerk, you will receive the confirmation from your hall manager when you move in)
De-registration
Please also do not forget to de-register before you leave Germany.
In order to de-register from the Residents' Registration Office, please send the following documents to buergerservice.mittemannheim.de:- Scanned version of your passport
- Completed and signed de-registration form (You can find a translation help here.)
Extend your Visa / Residence Permit (if necessary)
Please check if you need to apply for a residence permit after your arrival and enrollment in Mannheim:
1) Citizens of the European Union and members of the EFTA states (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland): You do not need to apply for a residence permit.
2) Members of the following nationalities:
Andorra, Australia, Brazil, Canada, El Salvador, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, South Korea, United Kingdom, USA
have to apply for a residence permit online. You will receive an appointment at the Foreigner's Registration Office (Ausländerbehörde) once your online application has been reviewed. Please see further instructions below.
3) Members of all other countries: You applied for an entry visa before your arrival in Germany. This entry visa is usually valid for a period of 3 months. Please apply online in order to convert your entry visa into a residence permit. You will receive an appointment at the Foreigner's Registration Office (Ausländerbehörde) once your application has been reviewed. Please see further instructions below.
How do I apply for or extend my residence permit?
To apply for a residence permit you will need the following documents:
- Passport (copy of the information page on your passport)
- Entrance/
student visa for the Federal Republic of Germany (ONLY required if you are a member of a country from which an entrance visa is required) - Proof of enrollment at the University of Mannheim (you need to download this document from Portal² on the day after your enrollment)
- Proof of financing your studies. Please find further information on the information sheet by the Foreigners' Registration Office and the Formal Obligation for the Foreigners' Registration Office. If you hand in the formal obligation you also need to hand in a scan of the signing parent's passport.
- Proof of health insurance
- Fees: €35 (exception: for students staying no longer than 6 months, the fees will be waived if you present the Letter of Admission from the University of Mannheim)
- Rental contract and in case your landlord is Studierendenwerk Mannheim also the Confirmation of Rental Agreement (PDF)
You can apply for or extend your residence permit online by filling the questionnaire on the website of the Foreigners’ Registration Office. Please select “English” by clicking on the German flag symbol in the middle of the page, and select “Residence Permit for Training” or use the decision-making tool at the bottom of the page.
After submitting the application, you will receive a confirmation of receipt by email (please check your junk mail folder regularly in order not to miss any emails by the authority). The online service is used to help prepare for your personal appointment at the Foreigners’ Registration Office. Please bring a recent and biometric passport photo (you will find a photograph booth at the Foreigners' Registration Office in K 7 on the first floor) with you to your personal appointment at the Foreigners' Registration Office.
The Foreigners' Registration Office is located in the same building as the Residents' Registration Office (K 7, second floor).
Make sure to bring your appointment confirmation with you to the appointment. Otherwise you will not be admitted. You also need to know your appointment code as this code will be displayed on a screen in the waiting room indicating which room you need to enter.- Email: auslaenderbehoerdemannheim.de
- Address: K 7, 68159 Mannheim | Phone: 0621 / 293-3221
- Opening Hours: Mon: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. | Tue, Wed & Fri: 8 a.m. – noon | Thu: 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Processing time:
Please plan with a processing time of six to eight weeks. Your residence permit will be issued as a separate, credit card-sized document. The electronic residence title contains a chip with your personal data, a photograph and two fingerprints, as well as data on your right of residence.
Since the residence permits will be produced at the Federal Printing Office (Bundesdruckerei) in Berlin, the issuing process might take up to four to six weeks.
Exception: exchange students staying no longer than 6 months will receive their permit right away (the permit will be stamped in your passport).
Public Broadcasting Fee “Rundfunkbeitrag”
What is the broadcasting fee?
Germany has a wide range of public broadcasting companies. These channels operate independent from commercial and political interests. In order to ensure their independence, each citizen needs to pay a monthly fee (€18.36) to support these institutions.
Who has to pay the broadcasting fee?
By law, every apartment/
household needs to pay the monthly fee. It does not matter whether tenants actually own a TV or radio and use it.
In case several people share an apartment or house (families, shared apartments), only one person needs to pay the broadcasting fee which then can be split among the residents.
Why is it important to take care of this matter as early as possible?
When you move to Germany, you will need to register with the local citizen’s registration office (Bürgeramt) as a new citizen. The Bürgeramt will forward your data to the Beitragsservice, the institution responsible for collecting the license fee, automatically. You will then receive a request to pay the license fee. If you do not pay the amount required, you will receive a payment reminder.
The notification sent by the Beitragsservice will be in German. The notification looks like this.
Please do not ignore the notification! Talk to your roommates at your earliest convenience about who will be responsible for the payment of the license fee and pay your fees regularly.
If one of your roommates is already registered with the Beitragsservice and pays the license fee, you can then de-register with the Beitragsservice by indicating his or her license fee number. Otherwise, you will receive an invoice or a payment reminder. As the de-registration form is only available in German, find English instructions on how to fill in the form below.
How is ‘apartment’ defined in this context?
The licence fee of €18.36 per month is payable for rooms in student halls of residence that are accessed via a public corridor. Single rooms count as a residence – regardless of whether they have their own bathroom or kitchen. If several rooms are separated from a generally accessible hallway or staircase bye a separate front door and are organised or used as flat-shares, one person in each individual flat-share is required to pay the licence fee. This fee can be split beween the members of each flat-share.
Tips:
- If your roommate pays the fee for your apartment and you are paying him or her your share, have him or her give you a receipt for your share.
- Make a copy of your roommate’s licence fee registration certificate or write down his or her license fee number so that you are able to de-register with the Beitragsservice, if necessary.
You will find more information here.
VRN Youth-TicketBW / Semester Ticket / Deutschlandticket
Since 1 March 2023, the state-wide valid “JugendticketBW“ exists. For €365 a year, students under 27 can use public transport all over Baden-Württemberg and the entire VRN area.
Trips to Heidelberg, Speyer, Worms, Kaiserslautern, Würzburg, Wissembourg in France and even Stuttgart, Freiburg, Ulm, Tübingen and Constance are included if you travel on regional trains.
Students over 27 can still purchase the semester ticket.
With the semester ticket, you can travel on local public transportation and on regional Deutsche Bahn trains within the VRN network (Verkehrsbund Rhein-Neckar) for the whole semester at a current cost of €185.
Trips to Heidelberg, Speyer, Worms, Kaiserslautern, Würzburg, and even Wissembourg in France are included if you travel on regional trains only.
The Deutschlandticket is available as of 1 May 2023. The ticket is valid for short-range public transportation throughout Germany and costs EUR 49 per month. The subscription can be canceled on a monthly basis. Information on the new ticket can be found on the VRN website: www.vrn.de/deutschlandticket (in German).
