QUESTIONS ABOUT THE APPLICATION
PROCEDURE
When can I apply?
You may send your application
anytime prior to the expiration of the deadline, even if the application period
of the university has not yet begun. However, please note: In case you cannot
yet make an application for the study programme of your choice, you have to
check if the application period for this course has already begun. In this
case, please contact the university of your choice and ask them when an online
application via the portal of uni-assist will be possible.
We recommend to apply as soon as possible,
at least six weeks before the deadline expires. The advantage of applying early
is to ensure an early reply from us regarding the result of our processing. You
will then have the chance to submit any missing documents before the deadline
expires.
Which application form should I use?
The member universities of
uni-assist have decided that an online application via the uni-assist online
portal for applicants will be mandatory starting with summer semester 2014:
Register in our online portal, create
your application form and submit it electronically to uni-assist. Then print
the application form, sign it and send it together with your documents to
uni-assist.
Enquire at the university you would
like to apply for whether you have to hand in the university's own specific
application form. If this is the case, please have the application form sent to
you or download it from the university's website. This application form must
then be completed, signed and submitted additionally.
Can I use one single application
form for applying to several universities at the same time?
No, this is not possible in general.
You must complete and hand in a separate application form for each university
you wish to apply to.
When filling in the application form
I made a mistake. Do I have to send a new application form or can uni-assist
rectify it on my behalf?
uni-assist is generally not allowed
to make any changes to the statements in your application form, not even if you
agree expressly.
However, in most cases it is not
necessary to send a new application form. It is important that you fill in your
application form complete and truthful. A typo would not be a problem as you
have to proove all relevant data – regarding your educational background, your
grades and language proficiency – anyway by submitting certificates. If
something changes afterwards (f.ex. because you got a new language proficiency
certificate), it is not necessary to correct your application form because they
were correct when you submitted your application. Even if you wish to change
your study wish you may usually inform us accordingly via our contact form.
Which documents should I attach to
my application?
uni-assist is not a Student Advisory
Service. It is the privilege of the universities to advise you on application
matters. Please go directly to the university of your choice for information on
conditions to fulfil.
Each university has different
requirements and deadlines. They vary not only from university to university
but may also vary from degree course to degree course. Therefore, please inform
yourself of the exact requirements for each of your applications and then
submit everything as required. If you have questions on the requirements, then
please address the university's admission office for counselling.
Where can I have my certificates
authenticated?
The uni-assist member universities
have agreed on a set of standards regarding official authentication. Further
information can be found on our website:
Standards
Where can I have my certificates
translated?
The uni-assist member universities
have agreed on a set of standards regarding sworn translations. Further
information can be found on our website:
Standards
Please note that translations have
to be certified. However, in case the copy of a translation which you submit
bears the translator's original stamp then an additional certification is not
necessary.
I apply to several universities. How
many sets of documents do I have to submit to uni-assist?
We only need one set of documents.
Your documents must fulfil all requirements of all universities you wish to
apply for. Note that usually all documents have to be certified and submitted
in paper form.
Please do not send additional
copies, neither certified nor simple copies. We provide your application
documents only electronically, your paper documents will be archived at
uni-assist's. Expendable copies cause unnecessary work (for us) and additional
costs (for you).
However, this does not apply to
application forms: You have to submit a separate signed application form for
each university you would like to apply for.
Can I apply online?
Yes, you even have to, because the
member universities of uni-assist have decided that an online application via
the uni-assist online portal for applicants will be mandatory starting with
summer semester 2014.
Can I submit my application
documents online?
You may upload all those documents
which do not have to be certified or do not need an original signature.
If you apply early you may upload
your complete application documents and pay the handling fee. uni-assist will
then check your application and inform you on the result. Thus you improve your
chances to submit an application on paper which is complete and meets all
requirements of the university.
We can finalize processing of your
application only if you send us hard copies of all required documents together
with the printed and signed application form. Your documents must reach
uni-assist by the end of the deadline, it is not sufficient to submit only the
online application in time.
Why is it not possible to submit
authenticated documents online?
Please be sure to bear the following
information in mind: copies of certified documents - regardless of whether they
are presented electronically or in paper form - are only simple copies and
themselves are not certified. A copy is only certified if it has the original
certification stamp on it.
Where do I send my application to?
Please send you application on paper
to this address:
uni-assist e.V.
Helmholtzstrasse 2-9, Entrance E,
2nd floor
10587 Berlin
Germany
Write the name of the university/
one of the universities you are applying for (no matter which one) in the top
line and below the address.
How can I know that my shipment
arrived at uni-assist's?
Applicants will receive a
confirmation of receipt via e-mail for everything they send to uni-assist –
even if the shipment or the payment has not been sent by the applicant himself
but by another person or institution.
Only if no e-mail address has been
provided or the e-mail address provided is not working, all these confirmations
of receipt will be sent by mail.
When will I get to know if my
application is complete?
If an application is complete can
only be determined upon completion of the evaluation. As soon as your
application has been processed, we will inform you by letter and by e-mail on
the result of our pre-check. In case you application is not complete, then our
notification will list all documents that are missing or do not meet the
requirements.
Unfortunately, it is generally not
possible to neither check the completeness of an application nor make a list of
each single document when we register. Such a check requires special knowledge
of all certificates from all countries as well as of all requirements for their
complete study offers – and this can only be done by our specialists.
Therefore, our post room files only by the categories „appliation forms“,
„certificates“ and „further documents“.
My friends also apply via
uni-assist. May we send our applications together?
You can of course send documents for
several applicants at the same time. However, please make sure that it is clear
which documents belong together and which are from a different applicant. It is
best if you use an individual envelope for each applicant with a name and an
applicant number (if available) on it, and then put all the envelopes in a
bigger envelope.
What happens if I send an
application to uni-assist for something uni-assist is not responsible for?
uni-assist can only process
applications by order of its member universities. All other applications must
be rejected in general.
If during the course of processing
the application, it turns out that uni-assist is not responsible for your
application you will be notified in writing. As a rule, applications that are
sent to uni-assist by mistake cannot be forwarded to the universities and in
most cases cannot even return the documents. The handling fees can only be
reimbursed in part because uni-assist had expenses processing your application.
If you apply late then the deadline for your application may already have
expired and you would have to apply for a later semester.
What do I have to submit to
uni-assist before expiration of the deadline?
Generally all required documents
have to be submitted to uni-assist complete and in the required form before the
deadline expires. The handling fees must also be completely booked into our
account by the end of the deadline. If something is missing or your shipment
does not reach uni-assist in time, then the university's requirements are not
met and we cannot forward your application to the university.
I will receive my certificate only
after expiration of the deadline. What can I do?
Kindly note that we can only forward
applications that arrived at our office within the deadline, with all documents
complete and in the prescribed form of attestation and translation. The
deadline of the university has always to be met, regardless of when we inform
you on missing or wrong documents, and uni-assist is not allowed to make any
exceptions from this.
However, there are some exceptions
at some universities:
For several universities it is
sufficient if you only submit proof of enrollment for the DSH or TestDaF exam
and present the certificate not until the immatriculation at the university.
In some European countries the
school leaving certifcates are issued quiet late and some universities grant a
general grace period for this certificate only.
Applicants for master degree courses
do not generally have to have their bachelor degree course completed, some
universities only ask for a transcript with record of all semesters completed.
Before applying please inform
exactly at each university about possible exceptions and on the respective
conditions. If a university does not offer an exception and you are not able to
submit all of your application documents in time and completely, then you have
to apply for a later semester.
Can I still make changes or submit
further documents after uni-assist has received my application?
Of course you may do so. As long as
uni-assist did not forward your application to the university and the
application period has not expired, then you can still make changes or submit
further documents. No additional costs apply for this service.
If your application has already been
forwarded then uni-assist is no longer responsible. In this case please contact
the university's immatriculation office.
How long does it take uni-assist to
process my application?
Evaluating of your application(s)
usually takes some four to six weeks after we received the application and the
payment. We will inform you on the result by mail and e-mail.
I have to apply for my visa, can
uni-assist hurry up the processing of my application?
We intend to treat all applicants
equal and therefore do not offer any kind of privileges in evaluating
applications. Kindly consider that many other applicants have the same problem:
If we would favour some applicants then others would have to wait longer – that
would be unfair.
Therefore we recommend to apply as
soon as possible. With uni-assist's written confirmation that at least one
application has been forwarded to the university you may already apply for a
study applicant's visa at the German Embassy / German Consulate in your
country. However, the letter does not grant a legal claim for the issuance of a
visa.
The deadline has already expired but
uni-assist did not yet process my application.
The deadlines which are set up and
published by the universities are effective only for applicants, not for the
evaluation by uni-assist. uni-assist fixes separately a different deadline for
processing all applications that have been submitted and paid before expiration
of the deadline. uni-assist grants to the applicants that all applications are
processed in view to this special deadline and the universities will not start
their selection process unless uni-assist has forwarded to them all appropriate
applications.
What happens if my application
documents are not complete?
uni-assist is allowed to forward
only those applications which have been paid for, fulfilled all requirements
and were complete by the deadline. So if something is missing or not in the
prescribed form of attestation and translation, then we unfortunately have to
reject your application by order of the university.
However, at the same time we also
inform you exactly what is missing or does not meet the formal requirements,
and if the deadline has not expired, you may put things straight.
So the advantage of applying early
is to ensure an early reply from us regarding the result of our processing. You
will then have the chance to submit any missing documents before the deadline
expires.
Please note that generally all
required documents have to be submitted to uni-assist before the deadline
expires, late submissions are not allowed in most cases. The deadline of the
university has always to be met, regardless of when we inform you on missing or
wrong documents, and uni-assist is not allowed to make any exceptions from
this.
What can I do if I do not agree to
the result of uni-assist's pre-check?
uni-assist carries out the pre-check
of your documents with the greatest care and accuracy.
Should you however feel that we have
made a mistake in our pre-check, please write to us. There are no special
formal requirements, you may f.ex. use our contact form for your message. State
the reasons for your complaint and please include your application number.
uni-assist's management will look into your complaint and get back to you in
writing. If you still disagree with this response, we will forward your
application to the respective university. The university will then issue you a
decision vested with legal capacity.
QUESTIONS ON ADMISSION
If my application is forwarded to
the university, will I then be automatically admitted?
No. uni-assist only evaluates by
order of the university if your application could be admitted at all. If this
is the case, then we will forward your application to the university's
admission office. The responsible staff of the university will check all applications
and subsequently decide on the allocation of study places. They will inform you
about their decision and all further steps.
When will I get to know if I get
admission?
The universities will not start
their selection process unless uni-assist has forwarded to them all appropriate
applications. This means that the university will be able to inform you on
admission not earlier than approximately four to six weeks upon expiration of
the deadline. Please contact the university you have applied to directly in
order to get precise information on their timeframe.
What happens if I get admission by
several universities?
You are free to decide which
admission offer you would like to accept. However, in the interests of other
applicants you should make you decision as soon as possible and inform all
other universities at your earliest convenience that you will not accept their
offer. Thus the study places at those universities can be given to other
applicants.
QUESTIONS ON HANDLING FEES
How much do I have to pay for the
processing of my application(s)?
All information on handling fees can
be found in our
Regulation of Fees
How much do I have to pay if I apply
for several degree courses at the same university?
The handling fees are charged per
university and semester. This means that the handling fees will not increase if
you apply for more than one degree course at the same university.
How can I pay?
All information on payment options
can be found under
Methods of Payment
Payment methods that are not listed
and explained there cannot be accepted.
Which deadline applies for paying
the handling fees?
The deadline for payment is always
the same as for the choice of study, and out of goodwill we grant an extension
of seven days. Meeting the deadline is determined by the day of receipt at
uni-assist.
Shall I send my application first
and then pay or shall I do it vice versa?
It makes no difference whether you
send your application documents first or your payment or do both at the same
time. We can start processing your application only after we have received and
registered your documents as well as your payment.
If you apply for the very first time
via uni-assist, we will not be able to confirm receipt of your payment until we
will have received your application, because otherwise we do not have the
necessary data. Of course you may register online: Thus you get your applicant
number immediately and can indicate on your transfer voucher as well as on your
application sent by mail.
You may, of course, send your
application first and pay the handling fees only upon receipt of our
confirmation. However, it is not necessary to wait: Even if your post gets lost
or damaged during transit, you will not lose your money. It will remain as a
balance in your account until you use it for another application or ask for
reimbursement.
Will I get a refund if uni-assist
does not forward my application to the university?
No. The handling expenses are
charged for the one-time processing and evaluation of your application
documents by uni-assist. uni-assist is allowed to forward only those
applications which have been paid for, fulfilled all requirements and were
complete by the deadline.
This means that paying the handling
fees does not qualify your application for being forwarded to the university.
After having processed your application we cannot reimburse the handling
expenses, even if your application has not been forwarded to the university.
OTHER QUESTIONS
What do I need to be careful of when
I apply again?
uni-assist is obliged to archive all
application documents for one year after you applied. If you apply for another
uni-assist member university within this period of time you do not have to
submit anything we already have. However, there are some things you should know
so we compiled the relevant information for you:
Applying again
May I ask a friend or relative to
deal with my application?
You may, of course, commission a
friend, relative or an agency to deal with your applications. However,
uni-assist will need an authorization by you to be able to provide information
to another person or agency or to accept changes in your applications initiated
by somebody else. This authorization must be issued either in German or English
and signed by you. It remains valid until it is revoked in writing.
We provide two different samples.
You may use one of these or draft one on your own. Sign the authorization
personally and send it to us by post, by fax oder upload it into your online
account.
1. limited authorization: By using
this sample you permit the authorized person or agency to gather extensive
information on your applications. This means, we would answer to this person
all questions we would also answer to you.
Download limited authorization
2. comprehensive authorization: By
using this sample you permit the authorized person or agency to gather
extensive information on your applications and to act on your behalf, for
example to sign application forms, indicate changes of your choice of study or
even withdraw an application.
Download comprehensive authorization
Will I get my application documents
back?
uni-assist does not send any
documents back in general. We are obliged to archive all application documents
for one year after you applied. If you apply again within this period the
retention period will start again. Upon expiration of the retention period the
documents will be shredded.
Please do never send us any
originals but only authenticated copies of them!
What will happen to my application
documents?
Our postal department records all
mail and stamps it with the arrival date. Since we record everything manually,
a delay between the actual arrival of the post and its registration in our
system can occur. As soon as the documents have been recorded with the arrival
date, we will automatically send you a confirmation of receipt via e-mail.
Your documents will be placed in a
wallet and filed in our archive. Each applicant has their own wallet in which
all of their documents are kept, so that nothing can get lost. Any later
deliveries will be stamped with the date of arrival and placed in the personal
wallet as well.
The wallet will remain in the
archive until the handling fees have been paid and all previously submitted
applications have been processed. We process all received applications in order
of their arrival, determined by the date on which the post and payment arrive
at uni-assist.
During processing, all documents are
sorted, with any surplus copies removed and placed separately in the wallet.
The application will then be scanned, so that the administrators responsible
for the university you have applied to can examine your documents, even if your
application cannot actually be forwarded on. Pages have to be scanned one by
one and cannot be oversized, otherwise we will have to cut them down. Cutting
documents down causes authentication seals to lose their validity, in which
case the documents will only be valid for any other applications via
uni-assist, and only up until they first leave our offices.
Once scanning is complete, your
wallet will be returned to the archive where it will remain until it is needed
again. If you send us any new documents, we will process and scan your
application again. Your application documents are sent on to the universities
electronically, all paper documents will remain in uni-assist’s archive in case
any questions should come up later.
Upon expiry of the retention date,
your documents will be destroyed.
What will happen to my personal
data?
All application documents that have
been submitted on paper will be kept at uni-assist for a period of one year.
After that they will be destroyed. Digital data will be stored for a period of
four years and then deleted. During storage, all data privacy regulations will,
of course, be respected:
Only uni-assist and the universities
applied to can access the data. Your data will never be given to third parties
and no statistics will be made which would allow any conclusions about
individual applicants.
Please find further information on
data privacy on our website:
Data Privacy
Universities also delete forwarded
application data after a period of up to four years. However, after you have
enrolled at a university, your data will be kept at least during the whole
period of study – in most cases, even several decades.
I have another question that is not
listed here.
Please call us or send your enquiry
to us via our contact form. However, please note that we only are able and
allowed to answer questions connected to the processing of your application:
uni-assist is not a Student Advisory
Service. It is the privilege of the universities to advise you on application
matters. Therefore please contact the university of your choice directly if you
have questions about requirements, deadlines or responsibilities for your
choices of study.
