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Visa: study & pathway program
Please note the following update concerning the registration for student visa appointments:
- As already announced in February 2023 the Embassy will open the registration list on May 22nd for students holding an admission letter from a German university for Bachelor or Master studies for winter semester 2023.
- As the average processing time is at least 4 to 6 weeks for regular student visa cases, we have stopped booking appointments for applicants from the sub-category “summer semester 2023” by the end of May.
- Unfortunately, the Embassy was not able to fulfill all appointment requests for summer semester 2023 due to the enormous interest of potential students. This demand far exceeded the capacities of the Embassy. We understand the disappointment this may have caused to those applicants who could not have been considered.
- All remaining registrations with sub-category “summer semester 2023” will be cancelled before May 22nd, the candidates will receive an automatically generated information by e-mail about the cancellation.
- As of June 5th only appointments for Bachelor and Master students holding an unconditional direct admission letter for winter semester 2023 will be entertained.

Due to the extremely high demand for student visa in the sub-categories of Bachelor and Master students holding an unconditional direct admission letter from a German university, the waiting time for an appointment at the Embassy will soon increase to several months after opening registration for winter semester 2023.
Waiting time regarding other subcategories (study preparation, language course) can be even longer.
Holders of scholarships from German institutions and PhD students will be prioritized. Please check also our online registration category “Registration to apply for a Master’s program – exclusively for students with a CGPA of 3.7 or above”. These student applicants will be prioritized as well.
The processing time for a study visa varies from a minimum of around 4 to 5 weeks up to 10 weeks or up in single cases.
Documents to be submitted for a study/pathway program (Studienkolleg) visa
Required documents: | Additional instructions: |
Please note that all copies of your documents have to be | Please provide two sets of A4 size photocopies. |
You have to arrange each set of documents according to the order in which they are mentioned below. 1. Application form | - signed by the applicant |
2. Biometric picture | - not older than three months and white background |
3. Letter of admission to a German University/acceptance to pathway program and proof about the working language/language requirement | |
4. Proof of sufficient financial means by way of one of the options | Proof of blocked account or scholarship award or official obligation from immigration office in Germany (further details: Blocked Accounts) |
5. Your curriculum vitae | |
6. Letter of motivation (only for Consulate General Karachi) | |
7. Documentation of your school, college and academic degree and employment history - if any | - B.A., BSC, B.COM, BBA, BCS, M.A., MSc. etc.- - The academic degrees and transcripts need to be attested by HEC (Higher Education Commission) if done in Pakistan |
8. Proof of your language skills | Please provide proof of your language proficiency according to the standards of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE): If your field of studies is going to be lectured in German, tests such as “Zertifikat Deutsch” at least A2 level certificate or better [by Goethe-Institut (GI)] need to be presented. If your field of studies is going to be lectured in English, tests such as TOEFL (minimum score of 550 points for the paper based test or 213 points for the computerbased test) or IELTS (Band 6.0) are required. However, such proofs are not necessary if the university you are admitted to confirms in its letter of acceptance that your language skill has been proved sufficient. Please note that it lies within the discretion of the visa sections to ask for further evidence of language skills depending on the individual case. |
9. Income proof and bank statements of last 6 months of yourself or of your sponsor in Pakistan (only for Embassy Islamabad) | If you provide income proof and bank statements from your sponsor, please attach a letter from your sponsor that he is ready to cover your expenses during your studies. If the sponsor is your mother/father, please also provide a copy of their ID card. If the sponsor is a sibling, please also provide their ID card and your FRC to prove your relation to the sponsor. |
10. Passport copies page 1 and 2 | Of all your passports starting with the most recent one you want to travel on. If you lost a passport, please provide police certificate regarding the loss instead |
11. Proof of adequate health insurance cover | Needs to be signed You will have to take out health insurance in Germany. However, for the time period until you are settled in Germany, you have to submit a preliminary health insurance with your application. For the possibilities to take out health insurance please see the following link: Please note that Category “D” national visas for work are normally issued with a validity of 3 months from the date of travel onwards to enable the passport holder to enter Germany and register at the relevant authorities (Ausländerbehörde). For the convenience of the passport holder it is now possible to issue such a visa with the validity of 6 months, if a matching travel health insurance or proof for subsequent, valid health insurance upon arrival in Germany is provided. |
12. Information about any previous visa refusals | If you have been refused a visa by an Embassy or High Commission, written explanation about reason for application and refusal letter are required. |
15. Appointment confirmation e-mail (only for Embassy Islamabad) | - including the provided booking code (e.g. “isla_9729717”) |
16. Information Sheet to be filled by the applicant (only for German Consulate General in Karachi) |
Please be informed that you have to provide all documents as originals (including all of your passports). They will be returned to you on the same day (except the passport you intend to travel on which stays with the Embassy during the processing time of your visa application).
You can find a print-out version of this page under the following link: Study visa - leaflet
Disclaimer
Although the information on this website has been prepared with utmost care, we can not accept any responsibility for inaccuracies contained herein.
Additional content
1) Blocked bank accounts From 1 October 2022, the presumed annual requirement that must be paid into the blocked account when applying for a visa will increase to 11,208 euros. This increased…