HackMD
title: Study in Germany
tags: Germany
ZAB Timeline in 2023
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 11 Mar | ZAB received my online application |
| 15 Mar | Sent all docs to ZAB from Taiwan |
| 17 Mar | The mail arrived Germany |
| 18 Apr | ZAB wrote to inform me they received my mail on 20 Mar and requested my payment |
| 19 Apr | My friend's sister in Germany paid the fee to ZAB for me |
| 25 Apr | ZAB mailed me they received my payment |
| 08 Sep | ZAB told me they have sent my certificate via Deutsche Post’s regular mailing service |
| 26 Oct | Received mail from ZAB |
Student Visa Timeline in 2023
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 11 Mar | IELTS exam |
| Mid Mar | Enquiries with UE 2-3 times, and decided to apply for UE |
| 24 Mar | Got IELTS result - Your IELTS test results on Mar 11 are L: 7.5, R: 7.5, W: 6, S: 6 and overall: 7. |
| 29 Mar | Applied for UE |
| 5 Apr | Got offer letter from UE, was requested to sign a study contract |
| 5 Apr | Signed the study contract |
| 6 Apr | Paid for the tuition fee |
| 13 Apr | UE confirmed receiving the tuition fee, got my official Admission Letter and other documents for student visa applying |
| 14 Apr | Contacted with the Student Support Officer(Visa Advisor) |
| 17 Apr | Dealed with German bank account with Expatrio |
| 17 Apr | Got Blocked Account Opening Confirmation from Expatrio in 2 hours and 43 mins after submitting |
| 21 Apr | Made the payment |
| 26 Apr | Got Blocked Amount Confirmation |
| 30 May | Went to German Institute Taipei to submit a student visa application but got rejected because can only apply within 3 months before start of lecture |
| 14 Jun | Made an appointment with German Institute Taipei on 24 July at 10:45 |
| 24 Jul | Submitted a visa application successfully |
| 21 Aug | Got an E-Mail from German embassy that my visa is approved and I have to reply my arrival date and insurance |
| 28 Aug | Received my passport through delivery |
Everything about student visa applying as a Taiwanese
Things to do after arrival Timeline in 2023
10 Sep
- Arrive in Berlin airport
- Buy 4 times ticket Berlin ABC districts
- Get fraenk eSIM, but failed
- Contact fraenk customer service online
- They said, with Taiwan passport, you can't register the eSIM, but you can request a physical SIM card to use
- Fraenk eSIM needs a physical residence card for registration
- SIMON might also needs a physical residence card for registration
- Go to short term accommodation
- Claim for flight cancellation
- Search and apply for long term accommodation
11 Sep
- Buy Aldi talk
- ID verification failed
- Go to view a room
- Search and apply for long term accommodation
12 Sep
- Go to UE in Potsdam to collect my semester tickets
- Apply for more rooms
- Get a room on HousingAnywhere
- Go to the nearest post, but they don't have POSTIDENT
13 Sep
- Go to the post in Potsdamer Platz to do POSTIDENT
- https://goo.gl/maps/TAc9vhCn348tamQGA
- There are other posts around Berlin city centre that you can do POSTIDENT
- https://www.berlin.de/en/tourism/travel-information/1756284-2862820-post-offices-mailboxes.en.html
- Train station Friedrichstraße, that post office is permannently closed
- Get the confirmation email from Aldi Talk, and active the SIM, start to use
- Select a plan to use
- With enough balance under your account, it will automatically renew your plan when your current plan expires
- Book an appointment for Anmeldung
- Get a contract from HousingAnywhere
27 Sep
- Get the Cancelled Flight Compensation from airline
- You received 205.68 EUR from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. - Hotel and a meal
29 Sep
- Move to Spandau, my longterm accommodation.
- Go to Anmeldung
- Wohnungsgeberbestätigung
- Anmelde-Formular
- Auto-generated Anmeldung form in English
- https://allaboutberlin.com/docs/anmeldung
- Reisepass
- Get Anmeldebestätigung or Meldebestätigung
- Sometimes you just need to provide "Wohnungsgeberbestätigung" and bring your passport
- Register for IKEA membership
2 Oct
- Purchase 3 metal gigs tickets
3 Oct
- Register for Mi membership
6 Oct
- Get my tax number from Bürgeramt
8 Oct
- Open Commerzbank "Kostenloses Girokonto", fill the application online
- Please remember your online banking information
- username (Benutzername)
- passowrd (PIN)
- N26 needs a physical residence card for registraion
- Please remember your online banking information
- Rigister for DHL APP
- Didn't read the rules on the website, I just try online POSTIDENT again and again, and fail again and again.
- Register this, then you can use Packstaion to receive the package, in case the postman doesn't ring your doorbell or you don't hear the postman, and your package might be put around your door, be sent to your neighbour, be sent to the nearest post office, or just disappear, anything could happen.
- Login to my Amazon account
- I had lived in Ireland, so I had Irish address and Irish mobile number on my Amazon account
- I modify my information, add the German address and mobile number, and would like to delete the Irish one, and my account gets suspended and is blocked by Amazon
- Amazon sends me a letter saying "Your Amazon account has been suspended", I reply the email 15 mins after getting the email
9 Oct
- Go to Commerzbank to "legitimieren"
- Please bring your passport (Ausweis / Reisepass) and Anmeldung certificate (Anmeldebestätigung / Meldebestätigung)
- Write a letter to Amazon again because I haven't gotten any reply
11 Oct
- Get 3 letters, description, PIN code and photoTAN
- Active photoTAN
- Be careful!! I know you have received 3 letters at the moment, including 1 letter with a PIN code, that PIN code with 4 numbers is just for your Girocard. Here on the app, the PIN code is the online banking password that you created when filling in the information online when you opened your bank account.
- If you enter the wrong password 4 times, your account would be locked for 2 hours.
- From now on, as you have gotten your "Teilnehmernummer" (literally "Participant number"), please use this "Teilnehmernummer" instead of your "username", because sometimes your username might not work, and you will be considered as 1 time failure
- Expatrio Blocked account activation
- Click on "Activate", fill in the information
- Get an email that I need "video verification"
12 Oct
- Expatrio Blocked account activation
- Complete the "video verification"
- Expatrio will detect the default language of your phone and if it is a supported language they will connect you to an agent speaking that language, if not, then you will be automatically connected to an English speaking agent
- Write a letter to DHL stating that I can't do POSTIDENT online
- I tried 6 times and failed, but some Taiwanese did succeed.
- Click on "Deutsche Post" option
- People who succeed said they uploaded these combination
- 2 people said 資料頁 + 簽證頁
- 2 people said 封面 + 資料頁
13 Oct
- Get the reply by DHL that they will send me a physical letter to my registered address
16 Oct
- Write a letter to Amazon again because I haven't gotten any reply, YES, my Amazon account is still blocked! But to a different Amazon email address this time.
- Register for Komoot membership
- Register for PAYBACK
19 Oct
- Pay for my semester ticket at my university
- Go to Commerzbank to ask about my Girocard, the staff said it takes 2-3 weeks to get the Girocard.
- Go to the post to pick up my letter (DHL QRcode), get the letter with a QR code
- The letter contains a QR code
- Open the Post & DHL app
- Click on the "Packstation" on the navigator below
- Click on the "activate" button and scan the QR code
- If you see error instead of this active button, it might because of the cache on your mobile, you can just uninstall the app, and re-install the app, it will work
- Get Commerzbank Girocard
- For security reasons, the contactless funtion will active only after you use the card for the first time at ATMs or in a shop with PIN code being used
21 Oct
- Reply DR-WALTER by email, mentioned my
- Your date of arrival in Germany
- Your German address
- Your German bank details (IBAN)
- Your estimated date of departure from Germany or end of classes
- Get 4 documents from DR-WALTER
- Please use the attached medical info card ("Ärzte-Info-Ticket") every time you visit a doctor.
- It contains important information for the doctor or hospital about the coverage of your insurance.
- No physical insurance card
To do list for me that might inspire you a bit
- Close redundant bank accounts in Taiwan
- Close bank account in Ireland
- Terminate public insurance in Taiwan
- Quit labor insurance in Taiwan
- Buy contact lense, clothes, laptop, stationeries, you name it that is cheaper in Taiwan
- Open Wise account before arrival, then I can have an European bank account while I am in Taiwan
- Pre-designated account with Taiwanese bank account
- Note: Some banks might take longer or ask more detail, and you might be rejected!
- Pre-designated account with Taiwanese bank account
- Go to a dentist and other doctors if needed before leaving
- Apply for a student visa
- Collect documents
- Make an appointment
- Find an accommodation in Germany
- First few days after arrival
- Short term accommodation
- Experience the vibe around your desired area
- Until you find a long term one with registration possibility
- Long term accommodation
- Meet your friends
- Get a mobile plan
- Failed with fraenk, they don't accept Taiwan passport
- Got Aldi Talk instead
- Self online ID verification failed
- Go to the post in Potsdamer Platz to do POSTIDENT
- 6GB/28 days
- Collect semester transport ticket and student ID at university in person
- Get the registration appointment
- Wohnungsgeberbestätigung
- Anmelde-Formular
- Reisepass
- German bank account
- Only after getting a long term accommodation, finishing registration, then you can open a German bank account (to receive money from blocked account)
- Active private insurance
- Only after getting a German bank account.
- Register DHL member to receive package with self-service
- Buy private liability insurance Haftpflichtversicherung
Apply for a German Driver's License as a Taiwanese
In Berlin
Bonus
- If you need white light bulbs, IKEA might not have that, go somewhere else. For example: Bauhaus, Tedi.
- If you want to buy Twinings, go to Kaufland
- There are plenty of Aisa supermarkets in Berlin
- You can get a type of alcohol called "Korn" in the supermarkets as the replacement of 料理米酒
- Public transport is awesome in Germany, but always nice to have a backup plan because anything could happen
- The lighting on the top floor is great
- It's normal some old building doesn't carry an elevator
- If you want to rent an apartment, it is recommended to try drinking water when viewing the house. Sometimes the water pipes are dirty, so the water tastes strange.
- Bring some cash with you, some shops don't take credit cards, and some shops only accept Girocards or cash
- Many landlords would like to lent the room only for people who have SCHUFA
- You can only apply for your physical residence card when your visa on your passport is valid for, that's say, less than 3 months, and it takes 2-3 months to get that physical card.
- There's no real-time bus information in Germany
- Don't expect the internet quality to be as good as in your country, public WIFI might not be as common as you expected
- Cash back in the supermarkets mostly accepts only Girocard
- The best time to get an Anmeldung Termin, 7am - 8am would be the best, or no later than 10am
- Can't find the things you want in the shops? You can get everything on Amazon
Motivation Letter for visa
I am ***. I am a software engineer focused on frontend development and carry more than 3 years of related work experience. I was into computers at an early age, which is why I chose to study computer science in my senior high school when I was just 16 years old, and also studied related subjects at my university.
During my job searching period in the middle of 2022, I started to apply for senior roles as I was already a senior frontend developer in my company at that time, also because in software development, most of the information firstly comes up in English, not Mandarin Chinese, so I wanted to find a job with English as their working language. But the more jobs I applied for, the more I realized how small I am, and I understood what I lacked, so I want to dive into my professional knowledge deeper, go to bigger companies to work with more professional people, and be able to share knowledge with the software development community. Hence, I decided to study for a master’s degree in software engineering.
After making the decision to study, I started to search for my destination. I did not consider Taiwan, because, in software development, the information and documents would be available in English at first, so I would like to choose English master programs, also, I want to find a destination with a more international and mature tech scene. Studying aboard is a big thing for me, and it also means I will live in another country during my study. In Taiwan, we were taught to recycle as much as possible when we were young, so personally, I prefer countries that are serious about both recycling and environmental sustainability.
Based on my previous travel experience and friends around the world, I had a few countries on my list, and Germany is definitely on my top. I traveled to Germany once at the end of September 2013. I attended Oktoberfest in Munich, and went to a metal music gig in Hamburg. During the time, I learned the word “Pfand”, I was surprised to know how much I can get when recycling a plastic bottle compared with the price of buying a plastic bottled water. So I started to search for schools in my listed countries but mainly in Germany and read their course contents.
I found M.Sc in Software Engineering, at the University of Applied Sciences Europe in Potsdam (also known as UE). The curricula I saw on the UE website completely matched what I want to learn! As an experienced software engineer, I understand how important software design and software optimization are, and besides the technical parts, how to make our products needed and accepted by clients is also essential, we don't want to build an app with poor user experience and/or does not make money. Recently Machine Learning and Vehicular Technology are becoming popular, for example, we can see AI bots being used commonly to replace manpower in some ways, and there are more sharing vehicle systems coming out. About this area, I also would like to mention I participated in a project in the past - building an AI bot for the most popular bike-sharing system in Taiwan, this experience makes me so ready and happy to learn more about Machine Learning and Vehicular Technology.
Not only because UE’s course outline fits what I want, but also because the campus location is just near Berlin, one of the tech hubs in Europe, I will have chances to attend various tech meetups, make new friends in the software industry, discuss and learn from each other.
I began to learn German on Duolingo (an app for learning languages) in November 2022 even though I was under a full-time job, I also purchased 2 German online courses. I quit my job at the end of February 2023 to focus on applying for the master’s degree program, preparing for everything related, and improving my German because I really want to be able to communicate and discuss properly to maximize my learning during my study in Germany.
To sum up, these are my plans when studying my master’s degree in Germany:
- Get at least a B1 certificate (ideally B2), and to be able to communicate and share ideas in life and at tech meetups.
- Attend tech meetups to meet other people, and share and learn from each other. I am sure, with my 3+ years of work experience, I have some valuable knowledge to exchange.
- Go to metal music gigs when I am free, I know Germany has a very big metal music scene, and I am a big metal fan.
Thank you in advance.
