Blocked account and health insurance for Germany

What the student visa asks for

• €11,904 for the first year in a blocked account in Germany, with a blocking confirmation that no more than €992 a month can be withdrawn.
• Instead of a blocked account: a formal declaration of commitment (Verpflichtungserklärung) from a sponsor in Germany, a German or EU scholarship, or proof of an education loan.
• A certificate of statutory or private health insurance valid from the day you intend to arrive in Germany.
• The provider’s fees come on top of the blocked amount. The money stays yours: it is paid out to you month by month in Germany.

German missions in India: student visa · Federal Foreign Office: blocked accounts

Choosing a blocked account

You are free to choose where you open it. The Federal Foreign Office deleted its list of providers in mid-2022 and makes no recommendation, and neither do we. Before you pay, ask each provider:

• What is the one-time set-up fee?
• What is the monthly fee, and for how many months is it charged?
• How long after the money arrives do I get the blocking confirmation for the visa file?
• If my visa is refused, how do I get the money back, and what does that cost?
• Is health insurance sold as a bundle, and can I take the account without it?
• How do I pay from India: which transfer methods and currencies, and who pays the bank charges?

Providers that take new customers on their own websites include Expatrio and Fintiba; there are others. This is not a recommendation.

Student health insurance

• At TK, statutory student insurance costs €141.16 a month under 23 and €146.29 from 23 without children (2026, health with TK’s additional rate plus long-term care). Other statutory insurers differ slightly by their own additional rate.
• The student rate ends at the latest with the semester in which you turn 30. After that you pay the regular contributions for voluntarily insured members, which depend on your income.
• A preparatory language course or a Studienkolleg does not count for the student rate: ask an insurer which cover you can take for that time, voluntary statutory or private.

TK: contributions for foreign students · TK: when the student rate ends · TK: who the student insurance covers

Opportunity Card and Ausbildung

• Opportunity Card: at least €1,091 a month for your living costs, by a blocked account or a formal declaration of commitment, and health insurance valid from the day you enter Germany.
• Ausbildung: the vocational-training visa list asks for no blocked account. It wants the health insurance from your German employer, valid from the start of employment, and travel health insurance for any days before that. As a trainee you are a member of a health insurer yourself; you and your employer each pay half of the contributions.

German missions in India: Opportunity Card · German missions in India: vocational training · TK: insured as a trainee