[#] Process overview; you’d need to do the following in same order of priority:

1. Get your passport made/renewed asap (must be from the city of your origin)
a. Skip this and move to 2 if you already have a passport with at least 2-year validity as of today
2. Apply for student visa appointment here (Long term / national visa (stays exceeding 90 days)
a. Alternate registration link to apply for a visa for a Master's program - Exclusively for students
with a CGPA of 3.8 or above. (Smallest queue, newest visa category for master students)
b. Islamabad embassy has just resumed the “application process” after 3 months break but the
“visa process” remains discontinued for now.
c. Do not delay in getting in the queue, pre-COVID wait for student visa was 11 months on avg and
I’m expecting it to go somewhere around 14 months
d. Here is an informal (best-effort) visa appointment # tracking portal maintained by the students
e. There is no visa application/processing fee
f. It is normal to miss semester start date and apply for deferment due to visa wait time delays
3. Get your degrees attested by HEC, fill this online-submission form rn
a. Apply today as it can take up to 4 months to get your appointment slot
b. Go for the urgent one which would cost a bit more, but you’d get into a 1-2 months queue
4. Apply for statement of comparability certificate from KMK
a. Apply today as it can take up to 2 months to get through the process
5. Look for scholarships on DAAD website. It has everything you need to know.
6. Apply for programs admission programs through UNI-Assist – the only formal way to apply, I guess.
a. Admissions are open rn for ~400 universities offering 1600 Master courses
b. Tuition fees are MOSTLY none, especially for (a) govt. universities and (b) the IT programs but
you need to pay registration, transport and other miscellaneous costs which vary by university
and accounts to a sum of anywhere b/w 50-350 euros/semester.
• excludes living, travel, food and insurance expenses
c. However, there is another category, the scholarships, in which everything is free and on top of
that university will pay you your living costs too (terms and conditions varies by scholarship)
7. Get a block account made for 10236 euros
a. Just to show that you can support yourself while in Germany if the need be, you can probably
withdraw funds from 2nd semester or something.
8. Prepare for visa appointment, get the following docs ready: (checklist in PDF)
a. 2x copies of the detailed visa application form filled and signed (different than step 1)
• 1 recent photograph (stapled not pasted) on each application form
b. 2x copies of letter of admission from the university
c. 2x copies of proof of blocked account or scholarship award (step 7)
d. 2x copies of your updated CV
e. 2x copies of the motivation letter
• Very freaking important, covers 50% of the university application criteria
• Here are some guidelines on how to write a good one
• I’ve seen embassy folks asking candidates to rewrite the letter on-spot during the
interview so do not copy past from someplace else
f. 2x copies of the ZAB certification from KMK (step 4)
g. 2x copies of HEC attested degrees & employment history if any
 h. 2x copies of IELTS/TOEFL certificate
• Minimum 6.0
• should not be expired
• some universities may not require IELTS at-all and in that case, you ask them to
issue you a letter for same that can be presented to the embassy at the time of
the interview
i. 2x copies of income proof and bank statements of last 6 months of yourself or of your sponsor
in Pakistan
j. 2x passport copies page 1&2
k. 2x copies of health insurance
• Must be a German insurance like TKK or BKK etc.
• Validity 6 months or more from the date of visa appointment
l. Copies of travel insurance
• Validity 6 months or more from the date of visa appointment
m. 2x signed copies of application declaration form
n. 2x signed copies of form 54 (2) & 53
o. 2x print outs of the appointment confirmation e-mail (step 2)
p. 2x signed information sheet
9. Receive visa stamped passport by courier within 5-11 weeks from the visa interview date
10. Book your one-way flight, check availability here
11. Residence permit appointment, city center registration etc.
12. Get student job //yes you can work while studying
a. Educational jobs: RA jobs working with professors
b. University jobs: Non-research/teaching ones
c. Work student: Working with some company as paid intern
• Can’t work more than 20 Hrs
d. Odd jobs: 9.19 euro/Hr – 14euro/Hr
• Can’t work more than 20 Hrs

During my research, I found

• this girl -- who is a student in Germany herself and makes informative videos for the newcomers
• this guy -- a working student with most up to date info on all things students.
o runs an admission and relocation startup, website in-making

I personally like these two vloggers. There channels have a wealth of info for starters:

1. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjevgtx-nFPwhjXD0xINxZA/videos
2. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChaoXUDVHq_u9vDMF8BB26Q/videos
3. and then there is this crazy Indian guy who has video on literally any topic you can think of related to
Students in Germany: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgZqY6QG3BanMYQaE_arNGA/videos

You'd also want to watch these videos in particular:

[#] A detailed guide applying for Erasmus Mundus scholarships

• Part 1 - https://youtu.be/HFXblZGB1gM
• Part 2 - https://youtu.be/HFXblZGB1gM
• Part 3 - https://youtu.be/puLxMoH_AUg

[#] Complete procedure to fill out uni-assist application form for German Universities

• Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpTyojbBWcY
• Part 2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPfpisrfyLo