Sponsor instead of a blocked account: the Verpflichtungserklärung for your German student visa

Your sponsor must live in Germany. The German visa office in India (the German embassy and consulates) asks for a letter from a sponsor who lives in Germany. So a parent, uncle or friend who lives in India cannot be this sponsor.

Berlin, for example, accepts these sponsors:

• a German citizen,
• a citizen of another EU country, or of Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway, or
• a foreigner who lives in Germany with a valid permit, for example a residence permit or a permit to stay for good.

Some papers do not count. In Berlin, a sponsor with only one of these cannot sign: an Aufenthaltsgestattung (a paper for people waiting for Germany to decide if they may stay as refugees), a Duldung (a paper that stops them being sent out of the country for now) or a Fiktionsbescheinigung (a paper that keeps an old permit valid while a new one is decided). Hamburg also says the sponsor must not get money under two German laws. One is the Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz (the law that pays money to people asking Germany for asylum). The other is the Sozialgesetzbuch (the law book for money help from the state). If your sponsor gets money from the state, they should ask the Hamburg office before asking for an appointment.

If the sponsor’s own permit has an end date, it must last long enough. Munich wants it to run longer than the 5 years of the promise.

The sponsor signs at the office of the city where they live. Munich and Berlin both ask for the sponsor’s main home to be in their city.

The German name is Verpflichtungserklärung. It means “declaration of commitment”. The visa office calls it a formal obligation letter: an official promise letter.

Your sponsor signs it in person at the Ausländerbehörde in their city. That is the foreigners’ office, the office that handles residence permits.

By signing, your sponsor promises to pay your living costs in Germany. That means food, rent, clothes, doctor visits and medicine. It also covers the cost of sending you home if the authorities ever have to.

The promise lasts 5 years, counted from the day you enter Germany. If the German government pays for your living costs in that time, it can ask your sponsor to pay that money back. This is in section 68 of the German Residence Act (AufenthG).

So your sponsor may really have to pay. They should know this before they sign.

In Berlin, Munich and Hamburg the letter costs 29 EUR for one adult. Your sponsor pays it, not you.

When they pay depends on the city. In Berlin the fee is paid online, before the request is sent. In Munich it is paid at the appointment, and it is charged even if your sponsor fails the income check. So check the income rule below before your sponsor starts.

The foreigners’ office checks if your sponsor has enough money to pay for you. The German word for this is Bonität, which means the ability to pay. The rule depends on where your sponsor lives. Here is how Munich, Berlin and Hamburg check it.

Munich

Munich checks how much of your sponsor’s pay the law would let a lender take if they owed money. For a student who already has an admission, that amount must be at least 992 EUR a month. Only a part of anyone’s pay can be taken this way, so your sponsor must earn well above that. Munich asks for proof such as the last 3 payslips, a pension letter, or for self-employed people a tax notice and a note from their tax adviser.

Munich gives out appointments online. New appointments appear at 7:30 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and at 8:30 am on Tuesday and Thursday. See the Munich sponsor letter page.

Berlin

In Berlin, these count as income for a student visa:

• a salary (with the last 3 net payslips and the work contract),
• income from self-employed work (with a tax notice or a letter from a tax adviser), or
• a pension.

Savings alone do not count for a student visa. Unemployment money does not count either. In those cases Berlin still writes the letter, but marks it “Bonität nicht nachgewiesen”. That means “ability to pay not shown”. The visa office does not accept a letter with that note.

In Berlin your sponsor first does a quick online check, then applies online. After Berlin reviews the full request, it gives your sponsor an appointment. That can take 3 to 6 weeks. Start on the Berlin sponsor letter page.

Hamburg

Hamburg checks that your sponsor’s income is enough to pay for you too. It also looks at how many people your sponsor already supports. Your sponsor writes to the office by email first, and the office sets the appointment. Hamburg only gives the letter in the 6 months before you enter Germany, so do not ask too early. See the Hamburg sponsor letter page.

Your sponsor lives somewhere else? Search for “Verpflichtungserklärung” and the name of their city.

After the appointment, your sponsor gets the original letter. Your sponsor then posts that original to you in India. Use a courier you can track.

Bring the original to your visa appointment. The visa office wants original papers, or copies that a German office has stamped as true. A copy stamped by an Indian notary does not count.

Do not wait too long. Munich says the visa office usually accepts the letter for up to 6 months after it was made. So plan your visa appointment soon after the letter arrives.

Most students have their visa appointment at VFS Global, the company that books appointments for the German visa offices in India.

The visa office lists the ways to prove you can pay for your life in Germany. You need one of them:

• a blocked account with 11,904 EUR for the first year, from which you can take out no more than 992 EUR a month,
• a sponsor letter (Verpflichtungserklärung) from a sponsor who lives in Germany, or
• a German or EU scholarship (money paid to you for your studies).

Some things do not take the place of a blocked account:

• An Indian affidavit of support, a signed paper from India saying your family will support you. The visa office says clearly that it does not accept it in place of a sponsor letter or a blocked account.
• An education loan. A loan does not count alone. You still need one of the three ways above.

A scholarship counts if it pays at least 992 EUR a month for your living costs. If it only pays your tuition fees, you still need a blocked account or a sponsor letter.

The full list of papers is on the German Missions in India student visa checklist.

Give yourself time. Berlin can take 3 to 6 weeks before the appointment, and the post to India takes more days.

A sponsor letter only replaces the blocked account. It does not change anything else in your visa papers.

If you studied in India, you almost always need an APS certificate (a German check of your Indian school and degree papers). The visa office only skips it in a few cases, for example a PhD, a scholarship paid by the German government or the EU, or a degree from outside India.

Want to compare the sponsor route with a blocked account? See how the blocked account works, work out your amount with the blocked account calculator, or compare blocked account providers. If your visa is taking long, read what to do when your visa is delayed. For help with your visa papers, see our student visa application service.