Additional and Postgraduate Studies

Continuing your studies after completing your first degree course

In the cases listed below, it is generally possible to continue studying after you have completed a degree in Germany. In these cases you will be reissued with a residence permit or receive an extended one without having to leave the country first. However, you will still be required to provide the necessary documentation (valid passport, proof of means of subsistence, health insurance coverage).

• Studies which lead on directly from the degree you have completed and are intended to last no longer than two years (postgraduate studies), if the university confirms that
  
  • they lead on from your completed degree and continue in the same academic direction
  • they are particularly useful for the career you wish to embark on (e.g. Business Management for engineers),
• or a second degree if the German Foreign Office confirms that in your country of origin it is necessary for the career you have chosen.

If you have received a grant during your stay in Germany and have not left the country first, you may only embark on a postdoctoral lecture qualification, a junior professorship, or a second degree or further professional training if there is particular official interest in you doing so (e.g. significant aspects concerning political developments or new blood in the fields of science and academia).

Whatever the case, you must make an informal application to the Immigration Office.