Visa, residence permits and other legal questions

As an international degree-seeking student there are several questions that need to be dealt with before you start your studies in Germany:

• do I need a visa to enter Germany?
• do I need a residence permit to study in Germany?
• do I need health insurance in Germany and how can I get it?
• can I work part-time while I am studying?
• can I stay in Germany after graduation?
• are my foreign academic qualifications recognised as a job qualification in Germany?

These pages provide the answers to these questions. If you have problems regarding your residence status as a student, please speak to the Ausländerbehörde, where you registered your address and got your residence permit, when you started your studies in Hamburg. 

If, once you are a degree-seeking student in Hamburg, you have legal problems, e.g. problems with a rental contract, you can get legal advice from a public legal advice office:

Öffentliche Rechtsauskunft (ÖRA)
Dammtorstr. 14
20354 Hamburg
Tel.: 040.428 43-3071
Mondays - Fridays 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.
(no appointments given, please go early to ensure you are seen)

For people with a low income the service costs 10 Euros. Please speak to them before you speak to a lawyer, as they cannot give you advice once you have spoken to a lawyer.