Here you can find new step-by-step guidelines for the online application for a student residence permit.

Please do not send your documents via the Berlin Immigration Office contact form anymore!

A visa is a permit you need to get before entering a country for a specific reason, like studying or working.

A residence permit is like a visa, but you apply for it after entering the country where you want to stay.

• All citizens who are NOT from the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
• Citizens from Switzerland: please send your documents via the online contact form with the subject "other enquiries"

PLEASE NOTE that citizens from the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway must still register their new address (Anmeldung) at any Berlin Bürgeramt (registration office) within 14 days of arriving in Berlin.

Is your visa or residence permit about to expire?
You have entered the Schengen area without a visa and the 90-day period is about to expire?

Please apply for a residence permit for the purpose of studying at the earliest 4 months BEFORE your visa / residence permit / 90-day period expires. No applications will be processed before then. It is no longer possible to book an appointment online or on-site. Appointments will be allocated after you have uploaded your documents in the online application and paid the processing fee.

You can now use the new online application for a residence permit to study.Here you can find new step-by-step guidelines for the online application for a student residence permit.

Please do not send your documents via the contact form anymore!  All applications sent to the Immigration Office (LEA) by contact form, letter, fax or e-mail will only be processed as a secondary priority.

Online application step-by-step:
1. Compile documents - The application is currently only available in German.
A study forecast is required for an extension.
A complete list of the required documents can be found here (section Documents required):  https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/305244/en/

2. Start the online application
Click on the following link, go to "Jetzt online erledigen" (section ‘Online processing’) and click on "Starten".

3. Enter personal details, upload required documents and pay fees
Before you can submit the application, you must pay the fees by credit card or PayPal.

4. Print out the confirmation of your online application and keep it in a safe place. The confirmation certifies that your residence permit is still valid until your appointment at the LEA. This means that you can continue to study or work until then. Exception: Students who have entered the country without a visa are not allowed to work until their appointment at the LEA.

5. Wait until the LEA contacts you and invites you for an appointment. The processing time can take up to 8 weeks. If you have not heard from them after 3 months, please contact us.

PLEASE NOTE:
You cannot travel abroad in the period between the expiry of your residence permit and your appointment at the LEA. If you urgently need to travel within the next four weeks, please use the contact form ("Urgent appointment/Emergency") and upload your tickets, invitation, etc. in order to receive a fast appointment or a Fiktionsbescheinigung:
https://www.berlin.de/einwanderung/en/about-us/contact/formular.1442964.en.php

You must register your new address at any Berlin Bürgeramt within 14 days after you moved in, if:

- you moved to Berlin from abroad,
- you moved to Berlin from another city in Germany or
- you moved to a new address within the city.
 
This is obligatory for all citizens, regardless of their nationality (Meldepflicht). There are various ways to register your home address:

• If you have an EU passport, you can carry out your Anmeldung directly online with a Bund-ID account
•  You can book an appointment online (see section "für Sie zuständig" at the bottom of the website).
•  If you cannot find an appointment, you can send an e-mail directly to your local Bürgeramt or go there early.

You have not yet registered your address and need a residence permit to study?

• Instead of an Anmeldung, you can upload your rentral contract and the landlord's confirmation of residence (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung der Vermieter*in) in the online residence permit application form (see the step-by-step instructions in the section above)

Attention; If you stay abroad for more than six months, your residence permit will automatically expire — even if it would otherwise still be valid for a longer period.

A longer stay abroad can only be approved by the Berlin Immigration Office (LEA) if there is a public interest involved, for example in cases such as:

• an official exchange semester,
• a mandatory internship abroad, or
• employment with international organizations such as the United Nations.

If one of these cases applies to you, please contact the LEA as soon as possible using the contact form (subject: “Other inquiries”). Upload your residence permit as well as confirmation of the exchange semester or mandatory internship there. Here is the link to the contact form: Contact form for inquiries to Units B 1, B 2, B 3 and B 4 (skilled workers, training and further education, school visits, studies, science and other special residence purposes) - Berlin.de

The LEA will send you the approval by email. You must present this document when re-entering Germany.

If none of the exceptions above apply to you, these rules apply:

• If you stay outside Germany for less than six months, your residence permit remains valid. In general, you can re-enter Germany without problems. This is the better option.
• If you stay outside Germany for more than six months, your residence permit automatically expires. In this case, you must apply for a new student visa before re-entering Germany.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

It is possible to study part-time at UdK Berlin. Here you can find further information.

Please note that a visa or residence permit for study under § 16b is granted only for full-time study. Part-time study will only be permitted by the Berlin Immigration Office (Landesamt für Einwanderung Berlin) if you meet one of the following requirements:

•     Child care and education up to 10 years old,
•     caring for close relatives in accordance with the Caregiver Leave Act (Pflegezeitgesetz),
•     if a disability makes part-time study necessary,
•     during pregnancy,
•     during the exercise of a mandate of a body of the university, the student body or the StudierendenWERK Berlin,
•     for other serious personal reasons.

Would you like to change your degree programme within UdK Berlin and have been admitted?
-> Please inform the Berlin Immigration Office via their contact form, by sending them your currenct study certificate (Studienbescheinigung).

Have you transferred to UdK Berlin from another German university?
-> Please apply for an extension of your residence permit at the Berlin Immigration Office (see Residence permit application above).

Will you soon be graduating from UdK Berlin?
-> Here you will find an overview of your options for staying in Germany after your studies.

• Non-EU students may work 140 full or 280 half days per calendar year (full working day from 4.1 hours!).
• Self-employed (freelance) work is also permitted.
• As a student, you are not allowed to work more than 20 hours per week during the semester. This rule also applies to students from the EU. You can work as much as you want during the semester break.
• Exceptions: The working hours of student assistants are not counted towards the 140 days. This also applies to compulsory internships.
• The detailed regulations can be found on the Berlin Immigration Office website.
• Advice on labour and social law issues is available from Students@Work