Getting started: registration, insurance, bank...

Just like German citizens, international students have to register their residence at the registration office of the town hall of the city in which they are currently living.

When you move into a flat, room or shared apartment, you have to register yourself at the registration office within one week. You should also do this if you move to a different address.

In order to register yourself at the registration office, you will need to bring the following:

• Passport or ID card (citizen of EU Member States)

• Rental contract

• Registration form

• Enrolment certificate

Registration in Wildau

If your main residence is in Wildau, you can apply for 50 EUR of 'Welcoming Money' every semester.

Registration Office of Wildau:

Karl-Marx-Straße 36
15745 Wildau
Tel: 03375/5054-59 or–60
Consultation hours:
Mondays 09:00 - 12:00h
Tuesdays 09:00 - 12:00h and 14:00h- 18:00h
Thursdays 09.00 - 12.00h and 14:00 - 17:00h

Registration in Königs Wusterhausen

Registration Office of Königs Wusterhausen

Schloßstraße 3
15711 Königs Wusterhausen
Tel: 03375 273 373
Consultation hours:
Mondays 8:00 - 13:00h
Tuesdays 8:00 -19:00h
Thursdays 8:00 - 18:00h
Fridays 7:00 - 12:00h

Registration in Berlin

If you live in Berlin, you can find the registration office for your district on the Internet.

There are at least three different types of insurances that are important for you as an international student at TH Wildau. Within the next paragraphs, we will inform you about health insurances, accident insurances and liability insurances.

Health insurances

Anybody who wants to study in Germany will need a health insurance. Without this, you cannot be enrolled at the university. You should enroll to health insurance as soon as possible upon your arrival in Germany.

You have to be enrolled at the health insurance until your 31th birthday or 14th semester at the university, and will be exmatriculated from the university in case you do no longer have a health insurance.

As an EU-student you can keep your insurance in your home country. You do not need to take an extra health insurance in case you have the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).

Choosing a health insurance

In Germany there are two types of health insurances: public and private health insurance schemes. Untill your 31th birthday or your 14th semester at university, however, you will basically have to take a health insurance at a public health insurance fund. You can only take a private health insurance in exceptional cases.

Attention: the moment you leave the public health insurance scheme, you can no longer return to it and you will have to take a private health insurance!

In most of the cases the public health insurance is the cheapest option - only in case you are privately insured with your parents, the costs might be lower.

Validating a foreign health insurance in Germany

With some countries (among them are the member states of the European Union and the European Free Trade Area), agreements have been put in place so that if you are insured at a public health insurance fund in your home country, that insurance can be recognized in Germany. In this case, you do not have to take another insurance in Germany. Please check in you home country what you need to apply for this. Students can usually get a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), for which they have to apply at their domestic health insurance fund.

Your insurance does perhaps not cover all costs in Germany. Please ask the health insurance fund in your home country, which costs will be covered in Germany. If you do not have sufficient health insurance coverage in your home country, you will have to take a health insurance in Germany just like all other students.

Some foreign private health insurances, too, can be recognized in Germany. Please ask your domestic health insurance fund whether this is possible.

If your private health insurance is recognized in Germany, you will need a confirmation of a German public health insurance fund that you do not need to extra health insurance coverage for your stay in Germany. Please, however, note that you can then no longer take German public health insurance coverage for the entire duration of your studies in Germany!

(Source: Deutsches Studentenwerk)

Accident insurance

As a student at TH Wildau, you are insured against accidents that take place on the way to and university (and from university to your home) and for your time on the campus. Moreover, the Students Union Potsdam has taken a group accident insurance for all students at TH Wildau. This insurance also covers accidents taking place during leasure activities at university, during internships and during activities that take place in order to prepare for exams if these events take place outside of university.

The International Office, however, recommends all of you to take sufficient accident insurance cover.

Liability insurance

A liability insurance, which makes sure that the insured person is covered against damage claims from third parties, has not been taken by TH Wildau. The Internatioinal Office therefore recommends you to take a liability insurance so that damage claims from third parties are covered.

Payments

In Germany, cash payments are the most common form of payment. Certainly for low amounts of money, people usually pay in cash. Credit cards are relatively widespread but are not used for everyday shopping.

The most widespread form of electronic payments is the 'EC Karte', that is a debit card which comes with every standard bank account.

Open a bank account

Please open a bank account as soon as possible after your arrival in Germany. Like this, you can manage monthly payments for the health insurance and rent in a more efficient way.

In order to open a bank account you will need the following:

• Enrolment certificate of the university
• Passport or ID card (EU)
• Confirmation of the registration at the town hall (more info here)
• Appointment at the bank (recommended)

At the bank you should ask to get a student's account which is usually free of charge.

For stays up to six months, foreign driver's licenses remain valid in Germany. However, it could be that a German translation of your national license has to be made, or an international driver's license has to be used in Germany.

After six months, your foreign driver's license is no longer valid in Germany and you will have to pass the tests in Germany again in order to get a driver's license. Please note that driver's licenses from EU countries remain valid in Germany and do not fall under this rule.

With your student ID, you can use all public transport in Brandenburg and Berlin (except for high-speed trains). For more concrete information on the public transport in Berlin and Brandenburg, please take a look at the following website: http://www.vbb.de

With S-Bahn line S 46, you can travel from Berlin to Königs Wusterhausen. The second last stop (direction: Königs Wusterhausen) is 'Wildau'. This S-Bahn station is directly in front of our university campus.

You receive your personal university account from the Department of Student Affairs on the day of your enrolment. Use your “username” and “password” to log into the TH Online-Portal where you can manage your personal data relating to your studies.

Every student at TH Wildau receives a student ID which has the following functions:

• Proof of student status
• Library ID
• Public transport ticket for Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB)
• Access to the car park
• Access to the parent and child room
• Access to the rooms in buildings 16 and 17 (electronic key)
• Payment method (cashless payments) in the dining hall, cafeterias and copy centre
• Copy quota (only for student employees of TH Wildau)

Enrolment must be completed before the enrolment deadline via the TH Wildau Online Portal. Registration is then performed by yourself or an authorised representative by the fixed deadline indicated on your notice of admission.

There are no tuition fees, except for master's programmes at the Wildau Institute of Technology (Graduate School). However, all students are charged a semester fee each semester, similar to all other German universities.

This includes contributions for the students’ union, student council, enrolment and re-enrolment fees as well as the cost of the semester ticket for using public transport.

Here you can find the current semester fee and its individual components (in German): Semesterbeitrag.

After having arrived in Germany, everything will be new for you: the university, the town ... At the beginning of each semester we organise an orientation day at our university to provide you with some basic information about life in Germany and in Wildau.
During this event you will also have the chance to meet other students.