Supporting oneself as a foreign student

I was just admitted to the TUM and now i have the rather daunting problem of figuring out how i am going to support myself for the next two years. My student visa only allows me to work about 10 hours a week, which barely even covers rent.

I just wanted to know if anyone had advise on Scholarships for foreign students, financial aid (aside from BAfoeG), and/or student jobs?

Student visa which allows u t owork for only 10 hrs a week??? are u sure?? i too have a student visa and i am allowed to work 19hrs a week.

Its 180 half days or 90 whole days but only on weekends and holidays. Feasibly that is about 10 hours a week. How can i get a normal office type job related to my studies if these are the only times I am allowed to work?

ya, i too have the same visa... I took a HiWi job in the Univ.. had a contract for 11 hrs/week. But had friends who were doing 19 hrs job/week. Lots of companies in and around Aachen offered jobs for students on a flexible time basis. Students made good money too.. around 800€ per month. In Munich i am pretty sure there will be lot of companies looking for student-workers. did u google???

says who?


on what calculation basis?


Again, where has it mentioned that u r allowed to work only on weekends and holidays? Many of my friends worked everyday in the evenings. For bars, restaurants etc.

you are right, I just checked and it does not say weekends and holidays in the actual visa. My former boss told me that and i never questioned her. I think that i will only be able to work about 10 to 15 hours anyway due to my school schedule. The idea of Studying in German is still terrifying to me and since i am coming from an architecture background and moving into a more engineering field for my masters, i assume i have a lot of work ahead of me.

hmmm,

not pretty much different from my situation. I am currently pursuing my masters in Productions engg. During my studies i had taken up 2 internet jobs. i.e. one for website translation which i worked only for a few months and a second one for AutoCAD drawing. i needed to report only once a month and usually got work via email. But still had an 19hr/week contract. so, got good money, worked more when i was free and got months free when i had exams and got paid yet. Only that i had to compensate for the pending hours before and after the hols. The companies dont mind that to an extent. Since the student liberations are always given and moreover, we are cheap, qualified and efficient labour for the companies. So, its a win-win situation.

Are u sound with AutoCAD? there are millions of job offers on the net... check that out.

give a little more details so that i can advice u more accordingly.

I have not used CAD in the last year, but after living on it throughout 4 years of college I am sure i would still be proficient. That is an excellent suggestion. Any ideas as to where to begin looking?

I got my bachelor in Architecture from Berkeley and i will start the masters program Baustoffe, Bauchemie und Instandsetzung in the fall

AutoCAD, for that matter and CAD or design related softwares are a safe bet since the language skills are not tested very deeply. Having said that, the company i worked for gave a small booklet which had ENglish to German and vice versa words used in the company. So, just had to look into the correct work and put it in there.

There were a few websites pretty famous for offering jobs to students. I am not able to recollect it at the moment. But can lookup in one of my books. In my first days in Aachen, i had gathered a big list.

other than that, whts ur specialisation?

In German?

I am thinking i will focus more on bauphysik and sustainable materiality, but i am really not sure yet

in German, thats why i am so terrified

I googled "München studenten jobs" and landed with the following,

take a look at them...

http://muenchen.kijiji.de/f-Stellenangebot...hen&cat=246

http://www.jobcafe.de/de/pub/home.cfm?CFID...FTOKEN=81050690

Uff... good luck then.. i had my complete studies in English...

I will do that.

Thanks you so much, you have been an amazing help!!!

Its my turn to post replies in TT for a really long time have been just posting questions here... so, welcome!

one tip:

I have no idea how its in Munich, but must be the same as in Aachen. For student jobs, there were always numerous clippings posted on notice boards and updated almost daily. This could be found in the hallway in all Aachen libraries, studentenwerk, wohnheims, all departments, big class rooms etc etc.

I would suggest u to go to ur department and see the notice board there. There will definitely be lots of job offers pertaining to ur fiend of study. This is the best method. By doing this, if u r lucky enough then u could actually land up with a HiWi job in the univ itself.

try that!

Are you already living in Germany?
When you register at the KVR they will probably ask you to demonstrate how are you going to support yourself. Usually it is not allowed that you support yourself with part-time jobs as a foreign student.

However, if you really want to go down that path there are a couple of ways of making it easier. Get a statement from someone back home (parents, relatives, someone you can ask for a favor) implying they will support you financially while here. They don't need to give you a cent, you just need it written on a paper with a bank statement to show that's possible.

Then on the how long are you allowed to work issue there are different ways to look at that as well. Your residence permit says you are only allowed to work 180 half-days or 90 full days. However, this regulation was slightly relaxed in 2006 and you are allow to work without time limit if you can show that your work is closely related to your studies. That means you can have a HiWi job or a werkstudent position for an indefinite amount of time if the description is written in such a way that it fits your studies.

This is unfortunately not a complete solution to your problem because you won't be allowed to work more than 20 hours a week as a student during lecture periods. Students, even german ones, are allowed to work full-time only during semester breaks.

It would be ideal if you could apply for a DAAD scholarship, but I assume you are coming here soon and therefore it's already a bit too late for that.
The TUM has some additional financial programs which you could discuss with the head of your program. However, the ones I've heard from are not applicable for non-european students.

Another possibility would be to take a student loan back home. That's what I did and managed to complete my MSc program without any major financial problems.

But i think this is true only in the case of Praktikum or Diplom/Masterarbeit. correct me if i am wrong... I am allowed to work 40 hrs a week now since i am doing my master thesis...

@ Fondle My Sweater,

are u already in Germany or?? when is ur course beginning?

One more thing be sure to get in touch with the International Students Office at TUM.
Under certain conditions you can get a rebate on your semester fees. Look at this FAQ: http://portal.mytum.de/studium/bewerbung/i...denten/faq/#aid

@long-haul
There is a limitation on how long can you have a job and a limitation on how many hours per week are you allowed to work.

You are not allowed to work more than 20 hours a week unless you are already working on your thesis or as part of a compulsory internship.

However, you may work more than 90 full days (still at 20 hours per week) in a year if you can show that your job is closely related to or very important for your studies.

@ Panama,


Didnt know this. Anyways, thanks 4 d info.

i recently heard from my friends in Aachen that the per hour salary for HiWi's has been increased. Atleast for the new comers its a good news.

I am already in Germany and i have been here for about a year and a half now, so i do not need to worry about financial backing. I will start studying in October (if i pass the DSH anyway). Since i have been in Germany for over one year i do not qualify for any DAAD scholarships. When i went to the financial aid office at the TU they told me i did not qualify for any loans since i am a non-German. I have tried to email my adviser in the International office, but he seems not to want to email me back. I do not want to be too annoying given that they are wrapping up the semester and he is probably occupied.

Actually, that's just a legal status issue. If you work more/other than that, you might use the legal status as "student". Relevant primarily with regard to insurances and taxation.
Of course, as a foreign student, that might also reflect on your visum...