Aufenthaltserlaubnis zum Zweck der Ausbildung Erteilung zur Teilnahme an Sprachkursen und zum Schüleraustausch

You can receive a temporary residence permit to participate in a German language course or a student exchange in Germany.

If you are a citizen of a country that does not belong to the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA), you will need a residence permit to take part in a German language course or a student exchange.

The German course must be an intensive language course that serves to acquire comprehensive German language skills and not to prepare you for your studies.

The duration of the intensive language course must be limited in time. Attending and following up on the course should take up all of your working time. As a rule, this means lessons from Monday to Friday with at least 18 lessons per week. Evening, weekend or part-time language courses are not sufficient.

In a student exchange, you take part in a temporary school stay, which usually lasts no longer than one year and is often organized by student exchange organizations. You can also choose a privately or commercially organized exchange year. No direct exchange is required in order to obtain a residence permit. This means that no return visit by a guest student is necessary.

During the language course and the student exchange, you must be able to cover your living expenses and health insurance without drawing on public benefits. The current rate of the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG) applies as a guideline for student exchanges and the BAföG rate plus 10 percent for language courses.

You can take up employment of up to 20 hours per week during your stay for the language course. The student exchange stay does not entitle you to take up employment.

If you have not yet reached the age of 18 at the time of the student exchange, your parents or legal guardians must consent to your stay in Germany.

The procedure is usually carried out in German.

The duration of your residence permit is issued according to the purpose of your stay, usually one year in the case of a student exchange; in the case of language courses, the duration of the language course determines the period of validity of the residence permit.

• The granting of a residence permit is at the discretion of the responsible immigration authority. As the applicant, you are therefore only entitled to a decision that is free of discretionary errors.
• During your stay to attend a language course, there are no restrictions on changing the purpose of your stay.
• After completing language courses that are required for taking up employment or training, the appropriate residence permit can be issued without prior departure.
• Following participation in a student exchange, a residence permit for a different purpose of residence may only be issued if a legal entitlement exists.

• Appeal against the decision of the immigration authority
• Legal action before the court named in the notice of objection if the objection is not upheld

• a residence permit can be issued to attend a language course in Germany or to take part in a student exchange program
• living expenses and health insurance must be secured and must be able to be paid without recourse to public benefits. The current rate of the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG) applies as a guideline for student exchanges and the BAföG rate plus 10 percent for language courses
• if the applicant has not yet reached the age of 18, their legal guardians must consent to their stay in Germany
• the language course must be an intensive language course that serves to acquire comprehensive German language skills, but not to prepare for studies. An intensive language course requires that its duration is limited in time from the outset and generally comprises at least 18 lessons per week. Weekend courses do not meet the requirements
• A student exchange is a temporary stay at a school, usually lasting no longer than one year and often organized by student exchange organizations. A privately or commercially organized exchange year is also possible
• The term student exchange also includes guest students who complete a guest school year in Germany without a direct exchange taking place. This means that no return visit is required