Applying for a student visa to a European university especially for a third-world passport holder is a nerve-wracking experience. There’s a lot of online resources detailing the process but I haven’t encountered a post for Filipino students in particular.  I made this article in the hopes of reducing any mental and emotional stress for other Filipino applicants. This also serves as my personal thank you to all the other Filipino students (such as Kathy Buenaventura and Leni Papa) who have helped me during the process.

Disclaimer: The process laid down below is specific to an application for a German student visa  (not for a language course or a student application visa) or any type of visa for that matter. 

STEP 1: Scheduling the appointment

Processing time for the student visa could take up to 6 months, including the waiting time for the visa interview schedule. Hence, it is important that you schedule the visa appointment as soon as you receive your acceptance to the German university of your choice. I personally waited for the scholarship grant before scheduling my visa appointment but I think it would’ve been a lot better had I scheduled it beforehand, the moment I received the acceptance letter from the German university. It’s better (and a lot easier) to cancel a visa appointment than schedule one.

To put things into perspective, the timeline for the processing of my visa went something like this:

Continue reading →