Studying in Germany, from India

You can study in Germany after Class 12, but in most cases not directly. Under the assessment German universities apply to Indian qualifications, a Class 12 certificate with at least 70% overall leads to a Studienkolleg, a preparatory college of usually two semesters that ends in the Feststellungsprüfung exam and then opens a bachelor’s. Two things shorten that. Passing both JEE Main and JEE Advanced gives direct entry to engineering and science degrees, with no minimum Class 12 mark. One completed year of a bachelor’s at a recognised Indian university gives direct entry in the same or a related subject. Below 70% with neither, there is no route under the rules in force from the Winter 2026/27 intake. Every route also needs an APS certificate.

A three-year Indian bachelor’s is accepted for a master’s in Germany, and anabin rates it as equal to a German three-year bachelor’s. What decides the application is the programme, because each one sets its own entry rule. Many accept 180 credits, the load of a three-year degree, and some ask for 210 or 240, which only a longer degree meets. Mannheim’s Master in Management, for example, accepts 180. Two conditions apply to every Indian graduate on top of that. The institution that awarded the degree must be rated H+ in anabin, or APS will not certify it. And from the Summer 2027 intake, graduates in commerce, finance, economics, business and engineering need the dMAT test before APS will issue the certificate.

The dMAT, or Digital Master Test, is an aptitude test that APS India requires from some master’s applicants from the Summer 2027 intake onwards. It applies to graduates in engineering, commerce, accounting, finance, economics, business and management, unless their APS registration or documents went in before 29 June 2026. It is run by g.a.s.t., the organisation behind TestDaF and TestAS, costs €150, takes three and a half hours in English, and is scored from 0 to 200. A low score does not by itself lead to a refusal, but APS prints it on your certificate and cannot issue the certificate until the result arrives. The first sitting was on 26 September 2026, with Ahmedabad among the centres, and no later date had been published when this page was checked.

The blocked account for a German student visa is €11,904 for the first year in 2026, and you can withdraw at most €992 a month from it. The figure is tied by law to German student aid, set each year, and unchanged since 1 September 2024. A rise has been reported for 2027 but not published, so check the German Missions’ student checklist before you transfer. An education loan does not replace it, because the consulate counts a loan only in addition to the blocked account, and an Indian affidavit of support is not accepted. A German or EU scholarship paying at least €992 a month does replace it, and so does a formal declaration of commitment that a sponsor makes at an immigration office in Germany.

Studying in Germany is free of tuition for Indian students at most public universities, though not at all of them. Every public university in Baden-Württemberg charges students from outside the EU €1,500 a semester, TUM charges €2,000 to €3,000 a semester for a bachelor’s and €4,000 to €6,000 for a master’s, and single institutions such as HMT Leipzig charge as well. Everyone pays a semester fee of roughly €100 to €400, which often includes a transport ticket. Private universities charge about €5,000 to €10,000 a semester, and the visa needs the first year paid in advance. Living costs are the larger expense, and the visa alone needs €11,904 blocked for the first year.

Students living in Gujarat apply for a German student visa through the Consulate General in Mumbai, not in Ahmedabad. The consulate accepts national visa applications at two places only: VFS Mumbai in Mahalaxmi, which takes students holding an APS certificate, and the consulate itself, which takes study applicants and students on programmes awarding a non-German degree. VFS Ahmedabad handles Schengen visas, and for a student it is only where the passport can be collected at the end. The application starts online on the Consular Services Portal, which the German Missions in India have made obligatory for study visas, and VFS asks for proof that you have lived in the consulate’s district for the last six months.

You can get permanent residence in Germany after studying there, through work rather than through the degree itself. A graduate of a German university gets up to 18 months to find a job, then moves to a skilled-worker permit or an EU Blue Card. After two years on a skilled-worker permit, with B1 German and 24 months of pension contributions, a German graduate can apply for a settlement permit. Blue Card holders can apply after 27 months, or 21 with B1 German. Time spent studying does not count toward those two years. Citizenship takes five years of residence, B1 German and your own income, because the three-year fast track has been repealed.