International students International students

We unfortunately cannot tell you whether your school-leaving and/or university certificate is sufficient to study in Germany or specifically at HAW Hamburg. Your higher education entrance qualification is processed by uni assist. However, you can use the DAAD database on admission requirements to see if your school-leaving certificate allows you to study in Germany. If not, you can complete a preparatory year at a Studienkolleg (German required).

The first thing you need to do is decide on one degree course. Which deadlines apply and which documents you need to submit depend on the particular course. You can find the right course for you on the degree courses A–Z page.

Do you need help choosing a course? Talk to our Student Counselling Office or take the career-interests quiz (in German only). The HAW navigator self-testing tools can also help you get oriented. Most of the Bachelor's degree courses require EU applicants to compete the self-test before they can apply.

General questions about studying and choosing a degree course
Central Student Counselling Office
Stiftstraße 69, 20099 Hamburg, rooms 121/122
Tel.: + 49.40.428 75-9110
studienberatung (at) haw-hamburg (dot) de 

Organise your time well – Please note that you should start preparing your application at least three months prior to the application period. Our application guidelines for international applicants can help you get organised. 

Get your application documents ready – International applicants also need to submit the following additional documents:

• Higher education entrance qualification – preliminary review documentation (VPD) from uni assist (Applicants from China, India and Vietman must submit an APS certificate to uni-assist when applying for the VPD)
• Language certificate
• The other documents required depend on your which degree course you choose!

Improve your chances of being accepted – A HAW Hamburg selection committee awards study places for non-EU applicants using a point system. In addition to points for the grade point average on your school-leaving certificate, points are awarded for completed practicum placements, special language skills and previous university studies. Use this opportunity to improve your chances of being accepted and upload the supporting documentation with your online application.

NOTE: This point system does not apply to the Information Engineering B.Sc. The degree course has its own point system, which you can find in the MyHAW online portal.

The application process includes several steps:

Check the application deadline – Applications can be submitted during specific time periods only. Please check when applications for your degree course are accepted.

Online application – Register online for our myHAW application portal. Please be sure to note your application number and password. If the degree course you are applying to takes part in the dialogue-oriented service procedure, please also register with hochschulstart.de. There you will be assigned a BID (applicant ID) and a BAN (applicant authentification number), both of which are required to submit an application to myHAW. You can find out which degree courses participate in the dialogue-oriented service procedure here.

Submit your documents – Submit your application documents online via the myHAW portal before the deadline. It is important that you submit all of the documents on time, otherwise your application cannot be reviewed. If your application is successful, you will then have to submit hard copies of some of your documents.

Check your emails – Check your emails and your myHAW account regularly so that you don't miss any important information. Please be sure to also regularly check your spam folder to make sure that you are receiving all of your mails.

Once the application period has ended, all of the documents will be checked and processed. Because we receive several thousand applications each semester, this can take some time. We ask that you please be patient. If you are offered a study place, you must accept the offer by a certain deadline. To do so, you need to fill out an acceptance form, submit some additional documents (e.g. proof of health insurance coverage) and pay the semester contribution. If you do not accept the study place by the deadline, it will be given to someone on the waiting list.