Before Your Departure

Application and admission

All information on application and admission requirements and necessary German-language skills can be found here.

Health insurance

Students in Germany must have health insurance during their studies. Without proof of a valid health insurance HSBI cannot matriculate you.

Students from the EU:

For a short stay in Germany (1–2 semesters), the EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) usually suffices. If you would like to complete your entire studies in Germany, you should get insured with a German insurance provider.

Students from outside the EU:

Please contact the appropriate German consulate on whether you need a health insurance valid in Germany for your visa application. In any case, you should get insured with a German insurance provider after your arrival.

Statutory and private health insurance:

There are statutory and private health insurance providers in Germany. Private insurance providers often offer rates for international students that seem to be rather affordable, but do not cover all benefits. That might mean that high costs could arise if you fall ill or have an accident. Therefore, most students decide to get insured with a statutory insurance provider. If you get insured with a private insurance provider, you will not be able to change to statutory health insurance during your studies!

Statutory insurance providers settle their accounts directly with the doctor; in pharmacies you only need to pay a small part of the costs yourself (a maximum of €10 per medication).  In private health insurance, you have to pay doctors’ invoices and medications from the pharmacy in full at first and will then get your money back from the insurance.

Please note:

Travel health insurance does not suffice for studying in Germany!

Visa

Students from the EU:
If you come from a country within the EU, you do not need a visa for entering Germany.

Students from outside the EU:
Information on whether you need a visa can be found on the German Federal Foreign Office’s website.

In order to apply for a study visa, you will usually need the following documents:

or

  • Confirmation by uni-assist that you have applied to HSBI and fulfil the requirements for studies in principle
  • Possibly proof of adequate German-language skills or a planned language course in Germany

Please note:

  • Please take care to apply for a student visa, not a tourist visa! You will not be able to study in Germany with a tourist visa.

It will take around 4–6 weeks for your visa application to be processed, sometimes longer. We recommend that you make an appointment with the appropriate German consulate or embassy upon receipt of the admissions letter or letter from uni-assist.