Resident permit and Change of course - Germany

Hello everybody,

Am a student here in Bremen and from India. I joined a course here in an University and now I realise I cant do this course. But I have planned to do German Language course from one of the language schools.

I have submitted my passport at my univ to porcess residence permit. I dont know when I would get it. But if I get the residence permit, and leave the univ will they cancel my residence permit. perhaps, I would be joining very soon at the language school.

My visa i valid until Nov end. Could any of you let me know whats the procedure?? Is it fine If i have the rsidence permit in hand and leave the univ formally and study langauge?? Or should I get enrollment confirmation from the language school n go to BSU or stadtamt to extend my visa??

Kindly let me know asap..

Thanks a ton...

Nandhini,

First of all,how did you manage to get into this mess? How did you decide one day that this course is not for you? There are two options for you. You can wait for them to process your residence permit,then go to the Foreigners office again and change your residence permit based on your enrollment for a language course or you can go right away to the language school( register at least for 6 months or one year preferably) and then ask the guys at the Foreigners office to cancel your first application. Tell them you changed your mind and you would like to study German. Hopefully, they will not be pissed and grant you a visa. There is no surety for this though. When you do come to a country that is miles away from India or SL, make sure you have made up your mind.

However, do not try to stay here and study German on the same residence permit that will be given to you based on your enrollment at the university. Good luck.

Dear mathew,

thanks for your instant reply. Well, I did not change my mind over a day. I was struggling for almost a month n now i took a decision. Well, I could get my residence permit in a day or two. The first option seems good. I can get my residence permit and then go to the foreign office and change it based on my enrollment with the currect language school. Perhaps I would not be able to register for 6 months but ofcourse for a level as of now.

I really hope things will work out on a smooth side.

Thanks again

Hmmm,

I am a little skeptical about this. Your entry visa to Germany must have been given to you as you would be pursuing a higher education here. On the same note too if you had received a bank loan for the expenditure. It's not a good idea to ditch the course. Once you de-register at the univ, they will immediately let the health insurance and foreign office know. So, as you are here on a student visa, German language course does not quality for that in your case. You will be facing uphill with this whole thing.

Secondly, once you get your visa and discontinue your course, the next extension will not be that easy.

cheers

Edit: Disadvantages of not being a student: I don't think you have found yourself a job. If not then,

1. Health insurance
2. Can't live anymore in a students hostel
3. No semester ticket etc to name a few.
4. Mobile contracts as a student.

And the above mentioned first 3 points are very very essential for staying in Germany.

Shift to some other course in the UNIV and not in a language school.

Since when have the Univ's started to take up the passports? Is this normal? I just had to go with it to the Visa office and get it stamped.

You are welcome Nandhini but as long-haul said; nothing is going to be easy. You can get a students visa based on the fact that you have registered for your German course. There is no guarantee that the guys there would give you one because they might suspect that you are being economical with the truth (in short lying about your true intentions)

Long haul ,

You can get student visas just by enrolling at language courses. I know many people who did so but all of them happen to be Europeans but non-EU nationals.

Universities do accept passports and do all the work for you. It depends on the university though. Wake up mate.

That can be true for EU nationals. That's not the case for Indians at least. It's difficult to get a German visa from India. Given the proper grounds, then it's not difficult. But i am pretty sure it's not easy to get a German visa on language school grounds. Anyways, I am not an expert in this field and am interested in knowing how things work.

I studied in TU Aachen and i always got the visa stamped when i went with my passport and brought it back immediately. I have many friends studying in other TU's too and have never come across anyone mention about having to hand over the passport. They too got their visa's the way i had got mine. Anyways, i accept that this can't be true to all the Univs. Personally, I am not comfortable handing over my passport to some bloke at the univ.

Long-haul,

I know a Bosnian who got a students visa for two years after enrolling at a German language school in Berlin for a course (till C1). It is possible but it might be difficult for an Indian girl who came over here to study at a university and then changed her mind.

I did my MBA in Hannover and my school did all the paper work for me. Like I said, it depends on your university.You might not be comfortable handing over your passport to some bloke but most foreigners are not comfortable meeting those blokes at the Foreigner's office who ironically speak no English most of the time and also happen to be hard nosed most of the time.