German Visa Rules to Get More Tough for Indian Students, Here Is Why!

With Germany preparing to open student visa appointment slots on November 1, the visa requirement for Indians may become more stringent, as they must have their academic records evaluated by the Academic Evaluation Center and obtain APS certificates before applying for student visas.

The Academic Evaluation Center verifies the applications of students with university degrees from China, India, or Vietnam who wish to pursue higher education in Germany.

According to the German Embassy, applications for APS certification have been open since October 1, and the certificate will be required to be submitted along with the visa application.

A Sharpe increase in the number of Indian students applying for courses in Germany has also resulted in an increase in the number of fraudulent practices, such as attaching forged language and residency documents.

According to German Ambassador Philipp Ackermann, the move was initiated because “up to 15% of the applications have fraudulent academic documents, which sometimes leads to genuine students being rejected.” The APS certificate background investigation looks into a student’s academic record.

Shorter-term courses do not require an APS certificate, but those lasting more than 90 days do. One can register online at www.aps-india.de and then print and sign the document.

APS Certificate

The first step in obtaining an APS certificate is to register online, which requires applicants to create an account on the APS India website before printing and signing the application form. Applicants must pay ₹18,000 for the APS procedure, which must be transferred to the APS bank account.

The printed and signed form should be delivered to APS India in person or by courier.

It is important to note that the APS certificates are not required in some cases, such as for applicants whose thesis supervisor does not require such a certificate for registration and students who have won a German or European scholarship.

New Slots for Student Visa

The German Mission also stated that new appointment slots for student visa applications through VFS Global will be made available. These slots are available for applications beginning November 1st, 2022.

• Apply for APS certificate starting October 1st
• Book your appointment via VFS after having obtained the APS-certificate
• Appointments will take place starting November 1st.

Because there are still a number of entries on the appointment waitlist for the winter semester of 2022, please be aware that the Embassy/Consulates are unable to verify who is in possession of a still valid admission from a German university.

As a result, all students are kindly asked to register for an appointment only after they have obtained all required documents.

Over 3,000 Indian students have applied to study in Germany during the academic year 2022-23.

In the last seven years, the number of Indian students in Germany has tripled, with Indians now constituting the second-largest group of international students at German universities. According to the Free Press Journal, there are currently 33,753 Indian students studying in Germany.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) reported that 33,753 Indian students travelled to Germany in 2021-22, an increase of 18% from the previous year’s total of 28,542.