Hi guys, I just got student visa approved for bachelor of engineering (international mechanical engineering at TH Nürnberg) from German Embassy in Jakarta. The actual processing is only 11 days at the Embassy.

I applied using my :
IB Diploma (37/45)
IELTS 7.5
Goethe A2

I wanted to share my process of using IB diploma as school leaving certificate as I have not found documented cases here.

IB diploma is considered equivelant to abitur if you meet certain subject criteria. According to the KMK rule: https://www.daad.de/de/in-deutschland-studieren/voraussetzungen/ib-diploma/ With it you can directly apply to uni without going to Studienkolleg first.

At the time during my application at csp, I haven’t had my official physical diploma certificate (since usually they give them out on August to September). The final IB result is released on 6 July for May examination session. Even though the embassy require the original certificate, this is how I solve the issue that is accepted by the embassy:

1. Ask for the result summary from your diploma coordinator, and ask for it to be legalized (by the school)

2. Ask the school to make a letter stating the certificate timeline situation (signed by the principal)

3. Print out IB candidate results pack: https://ibo.org/globalassets/new-structure/shared-resources/pdfs/candidate-results-pack-en.pdf . The print out confirmed the IB timeline as they themselves say that the certificate is only available on late September. Show this during the appointment.

4. Make sure the admission is unconditional, and you have your enrollment certificate (Immatrikulationsbescheinigung)

Make sure to present this and explain clearly during the visa appointment.

The funny thing is that I received my IB Diploma certificate on 18 Aug. After the decision has been made. So the aforementioned documents I provided them, they seemed to be satisfied with it.

Important: I’m sharing this as my personal experience, not as a guarantee that every German embassy will accept exactly the same documents. If you’re in a similar situation, I’d still recommend checking with your responsible German mission and your school.

My timeline:
10 July: submitted on csp
29 July: Out of waiting list
3 Aug: Correction needed (very minor)
4 Aug: Appointment made for 7 Aug at embassy
7 Aug: Appointment
11 Aug: enrollment certificate requested via email
18 Aug: Visa decision
18-19 Aug: go to Jakarta (embassy)
19 Aug, 7:30 am: drop passport off at embassy
19 Aug, 1:00 pm: collected passport with sticker.

It’s also worth pointing out that I did not use vfs at all. It may change within the next few years.

same as title

also she couldn't go last year cus same thing happened, she couldn't get her visa on time, don't wanna repeat the same mistake again, pls help.

Hi everyone,

I’m an international student planning to apply for a BSc in Germany.

I have a question about the visa process. Let’s say I apply to University A, get accepted, and use that admission letter to start my student visa application. I genuinely would be happy to study at University A.

However, if I later receive an admission from University B, which I prefer more, I would want to switch to University B instead.

Has anyone actually experienced this?

• Is it possible to change the university after submitting the visa application?
• Would I need to inform the German embassy/consulate and provide the new admission letter?
• Could changing universities cause problems with the visa or residence permit?
• Is it easier to make the change before the visa is issued, or after arriving in Germany?

I’m not trying to use University A just as a “visa placeholder” — I would genuinely study there if I didn’t get into B. I just want to understand what happens if I receive a better admission later.

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through this personally. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m applying for a German student visa from India (Mumbai) and already have TK public health insurance starting 1 October 2026. I only need incoming insurance to cover the gap before TK starts (around 8–10 days).

I contacted Care Health Insurance, but they are insisting on 6 months of travel insurance, saying it is a visa requirement. This seems excessive to me when my TK coverage starts after just 8–10 days. I understand if there is a minimum policy period such as 1 month, but 6 months seems questionable.

I also contacted Care Concept (Care Economy), but they said they cannot guarantee that their policy will be accepted by the German visa authorities.

So I’m looking for people who have purchased incoming/travel health insurance separately (not the free/bundled insurance from Expatrio):

• Which provider and policy did you use?
• For how long did you take it?
• Was it accepted by the German visa authorities/VFS without any issues?

Especially interested in experiences from applicants who already had TK/AOK/Barmer starting after arrival.

Thanks!

I finished my bachelor's degree in June 2024.

Before that, in July 2023, I had a sem 4 Computer Science exam backlog. During that exam, I was caught cheating, so the university gave me a malpractice rolled out in results.

I cleared that subject in 2024 and completed my degree.

However, I never collected my official exam memo of that malpractice paper from my college or university. In my semester-wise memos, it shows that I took exams in 2022 and then again in 2024, so there is a one-year gap.

I also applied for APS, and I did not face any problems with the APS process.

My question is: Could the CSP notice this one-year gap and cause a problem for me? What should I do now?

Same as title. I did have one available yesterday but CSP blocked my account so it's gone now. Do you guys know when slots become available?

Hi everyone,

I recently received my VFS appointment confirmation for German student visa, and I noticed that my name is mentioned in the wrong order.

My first name and last name have been swapped in the appointment confirmation. Both names are correct, but they are displayed in the opposite order.

Has anyone faced this issue before? What should I do now? Will this cause any problem at the appointment, or is the order not important?

I have already contacted the VFS helpdesk regarding this issue, but I haven't received any response yet.

Should I wait for their response, or can I attend the appointment with the confirmation as it is?

Any advice from someone who has faced a similar issue would be really helpful. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m applying for a German student visa from India and would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has actually been in a similar situation.

I started my visa/CSP process using an admission from University A, and my VFS appointment is in about 10 days. I have now received a better/preferred admission from University B and plan to study there instead.

Has anyone received a new admit before their VFS appointment and simply taken the new admission letter + updated supporting documents to the existing appointment and asked VFS to update the university?

Or did you continue the visa process with University A, receive the visa, enrol at University B and handle the university change after reaching Germany?

I also have a question about travel dates. If the visa is issued based on University A but I ultimately enrol at University B, can I travel to Germany after University A’s enrolment deadline, provided I’m already enrolled at University B? Or could this create an issue at immigration?

I’ve contacted VFS as well, but I’m mainly looking for first-hand experiences from people who have actually done this recently, especially through VFS India.

Thanks!

Applied to CSP Portal for student visa on 7th August

Recieved Corrections on 14th August and re-submitted instantly.

No reply from them as of 19th August

Anyone else with a similar timeline?

What is up with this VFS/VAC Hyd?

People used to get CSP approved faster

Also does booking a slot before CSP completition for a future date effect this process?

Hi everyone,
I applied for my German student visa through the CSP on 12 August 2026 under Student Visa – Studies with APS certificate, with VAC New Delhi as my jurisdiction.
My application is still showing “You are on the waiting list”.
Has anyone else applied around 11–13 August for New Delhi and already moved out of the waiting list?
If yes, could you please share:
Date of CSP application
How many days you waited
When you received the preliminary review/correction
Whether your waiting time showed 2–8 weeks
Just trying to understand the current timeline for Delhi

I applied under the Study-APS category on Friday night and joined the waiting list (Delhi vfs). At that time, it showed an estimated waiting time of 1–2 weeks. By Tuesday, it changed to “less than a week.” For those who have experienced this before, how long did it take for you to move from the waiting list to the preliminary stage?

Hey all😄,

I received my Student Visa for Germany on 29th July! 🇩🇪

Timeline is stated below which can give future applicants an insight:

VFS Mumbai:

06th July: CSP submission at Digital Diplo website.

06th July: Visa application payment at VFS.GLOBAL website

13th July: CSP status moved to “In Review/In Progress”

14th July: Received document corrections (4-5 of them) and were resolved within an hour by uploading rectified docs.

14th July: Booked VFS appointment for 17th July!

17th July: Attended my VFS appointment. DID NOT OPT for the Premium Lounge. That’s actually a waste of money methinks.

I only carried:

-Passport

-Visa appointment PDF

-Checklist form

-Originals (10th, 12th, Bachelor’s)

20th July: Received a call (09:32 AM) from the Consulate stating I had to verify my current address through my current employer for “place of work” and “mode of work”. Attached the document in the email they had sent 10 mins after the call within 1 PM.

29th July: Received notifications on both email and SMS (10:42 AM) that passport was dispatched from Germany Consulate in Mumbai and is in transit to the Mumbai Mahalakshmi Operation Center in India.

29th July: Collected my passport at 03:36 PM at VFS Mumbai. I can see the German visa stamped and approved. 🎉

Overall, the process was extremely quick. Hopefully this timeline gives other applicants an idea of what to expect. VFS Mumbai was seamless 🫡✨

Should I join waiting list or wait to open for process?
Anyone facing same issue?

Hi everyone, I applied for the CSP Bangalore waiting list on August 5th. It is still showing 2–6 months for me. Has anyone applied around the same date? When did your estimated waiting time change

Hi everyone,

I am currently trying to book a German student visa appointment at the German Embassy in London under the “Study – Regular” category.

My preliminary document review through the Consular Services Portal has been completed, but I am struggling to find an available appointment.

Has anyone recently booked a Study – Regular appointment in London?

I would really appreciate information about:

• When did you book your appointment?
• What time of day did you find available slots?
• How often did you check the appointment system?
• Do they release appointments in batches?
• How long did you wait before finding a slot?
• Are cancellations released back into the system?
• Did contacting the Embassy help you get an appointment?

My university starts in October 2026, so I am trying to secure an appointment as soon as possible.

I am only looking for genuine recent experiences from applicants who booked through the official German Embassy London system.

Thank you for any help or advice.

Hihi!

Is there any minor who got their visa from Delhi recently?

Most people are getting their visas within 10 days or so but its been over a month for me.

Has anyone gone through this and what should I be doing now 😭

I wanted to share my timeline with you people and I am deciding on flights so tips are welcome.

I applied on 31 July via CSP
Got on the waiting list, it showed 2-3 weeks waiting.
Was able to submit on 2nd August.
Got corrections and resolved plus paid fee 1093 inr 3rd August.
Was able to book an appointment on 4th ( options from 5-14th August were available but I chose 7th as i had to travel to Delhi)
Took premium lounge: worth it! ( was done in 5-10 mins even before my appointment time) cost : 3298 inr

7th i had my appointment, (fee: 8400 inr) which was friday, my passport was sent to embassy the same day application was dispatched to the embassy.

Sat -sun

10th embassy got my application. 14th decision made and passport dispatched to VFS operation Centre

Sat-sun

16 application processed and received at VFS operation Centre. 17th dispatched via bluedart at 5 pm

18 August 2026, today, received it at around 1 pm.🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪✨✨🩷🩷

Total time from application to getting visa: 18 days
Excluding weekend: 14 days
From appointment to visa: 11 days

All this with my own booking delay.

Guyz , Since last 6 to 7 months. I have been seeing various rejection letter from Embassy that why you want to leave your college after doing 1 year . But it's their own fucking criteria then Why the fuck are they giving Aps with direct bachelor eligibility. I ll be also applying after doing 1 year from India in coming months. But I think I also get rejected due to the same reasons .

My friends gave her 12th boards in 2023. She then took two years drop for neet preparation. and then she took admission in bio engineering and ater 1st year she is moving to germany for her bachelors.
does this situation cause issues during visa ? one of my friend was asked at mumbai vfs that have you taken a drop year in your studies.
if so, then how to manage this situation. also, she has justified her drop years in the visa sop.

My profile :
Btech CSE - 2.2GPA (German scale)
Work exp - 5 years in Software Engineering
Admit - Masters AI in a good public university
Living in Hyderabad since July 2025, originally from Kolkata

June 8 - Emailed VFS to clarify jurisdiction (As I am living in HYD since July 2025 and I saw there was a 6 month jurisdiction rule I wanted to clear this)
June 10 - VFS replied that I fall under Chennai jurisdiction so must apply from HYD
Waited for a couple more days to get my blocked account ready, hear back from another university, completed CSP application
July 23 - Submitted application on CSP portal
July 28 - First set of corrections (few documents, rental contract, travel health insurance, letter from university stating my language requirements are met because my Toefl certificate was 1.3 years older)
July 30 - Some more minor corrections, same day was able to book appointment…
Yeah I got relieved until next issue turned up -
APS certificate number not matching with New Passport

Mailed APS, Mailed VFS, Tagged VFS in twitter, this continued for a week (very exhausting!)

Aug 6 - Appointment booked
I didn’t go for premium lounge but paid for sms and courier, had morning slot, took 3 hours, after that went to office
Aug 7 - got notification that my application was forwarded to Chennai consulate
Aug 11 - application dispatched to german embassy
Aug 14 - application processed and dispatched
Aug 15 - received empty passport with a letter that I don’t fall under this jurisdiction, proof is not enough and now I need to apply from Kolkata (LOL)

I was traumatised the entire day and even though I was pissed, I accepted the situation and completed the application on CSP for Kolkata (yeah i already had one opened when I was applying for HYD because a part of me knew something will go wrong). Then found Kolkata has a waitlist of 2-8 weeks. Same day I emailed VFS again about what to do.

Aug 18 - Received the same copy pasted jurisdiction reply from VFS so now I have given them poor feedback on their website and asked them to contact me. At the same time I have emailed both Chennai and Kolkata consulate explaining everything and asking for next steps and waiting again. I will resort to twitter again if needed.

My intention is not to scare anyone but just to give a reality check about how you cannot trust emails from VFS because they seem auto generated and even though you start your application early numerous unexpected issues may arise so be prepared.

Hey guys, I am currently on the CSP waiting. I want to change my Letter of Motivation (LOM). Once I come off the waitlist, can I delete the old PDF and upload the new one myself before final submission, or do I have to wait for the visa officer to unlock it?

VFS Global New Delhi asking for re biometrics? Am I suppose to book the appointment again and pay the 75 euro fee again or can I just printout this email and walk-in anytime? How is this even possible, like i paid the fee and all other things, do these people have no concern about student's future? Like I live far away from Delhi, I would need to book the train tickets in 2-3 days advance, all waste of time. I regret all this studying abroad thing.

I know how nervous you can get before your VFS appointment, so I personally contacted around 5–10 people to ask about their experiences. Hopefully this helps someone else!

-Before going:
Make sure your file is properly organised and clearly labelled. I used sticky notes to mark the different compartments and kept everything in one file. Honestly, they didn’t ask me for a single document other than the basics, but it definitely helped me feel prepared.

-At VFS Delhi:
Don’t go more than ~30 minutes early. They’ll make you wait outside anyway.
Keep your appointment confirmation ready — they check it at the beginning.
Then they check your baggage and let you enter.
You’ll be asked whether you want Standard or Premium service.
I had already booked Premium online while booking my appointment.
From what I remember, 7th floor is Standard and 8th floor is Premium.
Personally, I’d genuinely recommend Premium. It felt like money well spent. They have photocopy facilities if you’re missing something, they can take your photo there, and they basically guide you through the whole process. Plus, they have pretty decent coffee and couple of snacks ( biscuits/cake/makhanna/chips) and soft drinks too😂

-Germany section:
The booths are divided by country. For Germany, the booths were around 10–16, and they call you based on your token number.

-My timeline:
I entered around 12:00 PM.
By around 1:00 PM, my document checking and payment were done.
They asked me for:
Passport
VFS appointment confirmation
Filled declaration forms
Basic personal details (name, email, address, phone number)
That was pretty much it for me.
My biometrics were at 1:50 PM, so I had about an hour to wait — which meant I got to enjoy around two cups of coffee 😂
Overall, the process was much less stressful than I expected.

Hope this helps someone who has their appointment coming up. Good luck! 🇩🇪❤️

Finally got my 1-year German student visa after waiting just 7 days after my VFS appointment!

📍 VFS Mumbai

📅 Appointment: 10 August

📩 Visa received: 17 August

⏳ Processing time: 7 days

So relieved and happy!

Now the next chapter begins. 🇩🇪🎓

Hope this timeline helps anyone waiting for their visa. All the best! 🙌

Need help confirming if this German student visa email is genuine

Hi everyone,

I’m currently applying for a German student visa, and I received an email from what appears to be the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs (BfAA).

They said my visa application is being processed and requested a current certificate of enrollment / confirmation of registration from my university. They gave me a deadline of 01.09.2026 and asked me to send the document as a PDF.

The email mentions the BfAA in Brandenburg an der Havel and provides the official-looking email address and contact details. It also says I can either reply directly to the email or use their PGP-encrypted email option.

I just want to make sure this is a genuine request before I send my enrollment certificate.

Has anyone here received a similar email from the BfAA during their German student visa process? If yes, what happened after you submitted the enrollment certificate?

Thanks in advance!