tyboss:
Happy new year nairaland family, wishing you all the best this year has to offer and actualization of all our goals and dreams this year.

This forum has given a lot to me and I believe it is time for me to give back to the community. Unfortunately this forum isn's as active as it used to be, so some of the information here are outdated. I intended to write this article a long time ago but procrastination .

I strongly believe everything we do in life is in stages, and no matter who you are or where you are, you will belong to a particular stage. Some people will be at a former stage and some at a latter stage, it is therefore my hope that someone can learn from my experience and avoid a lot of common pitfalls, as I also did and learnt from others before me on this platform.

[NB: this was my process for my[b] MASTER'S STUDIES [/b]NOT UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES]

I will walk through my journey from the start up till when I got my visa. Almost 2 years in the making, not for the faint hearted.

STAGE 1: This stage actually isn't compulsory but it can make your journey much easier. (NOVEMBER 2021) I had just finished my undergraduate studies, and instead of going directly for my youth service, I enrolled in a 6 month programme to learn german from a german learning institute in Lagos, as of this time the appointment/visa process took 6 months. It was quite tough learning the language, the language proficiency level ranges through (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) with C2, being the highest and A1 being the lowest. For most Universities in Germany particularly for (engineering courses) you will need a minimum of B1 to apply for admission. For more reserved courses like medicine you will probably need a higher language proficiency requirement B2 or C1. Moving on, after 6months I wrote B1 certification exam at the goethe institute (this is where you should always take the certification not anywhere else) similar to IELTS but german. Needless to say I didn't make it on the first try. I decided to retake and waited for another 5 months, this is because goethe only conducts it's certification exams a certain number of times in a year like 4 to 5 times (as of 2022).
During this 5 months I went for my NYSC and started personal study in preparation for the exams, while I was serving I retook the exams and passed all the papers.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:
1. Learn the language if you have the time, it saved the me a lot of stress down the line.

2. I advise you enroll in goethe if you want to learn the language, as there are a lot of benefit, as compared to other private establishments (cheaper fees, familiarization with the exam systems, ONLINE CLASSES, materials and so much more). Unfortunately I learnt this the hard way.

3.Do not take the exams if you are not adequately prepared but because you want to meet a certain exam date. you will waste money!!

4. Get your certification from goethe they are the most recognized in germany.

5. As of November 2022, B1 exams cost #48,000

6. MOST IMPORTANT. I regret not having applied for my appointment during this period. Always apply for your appointment as early as possible even if you are just starting.


STAGE 2: I applied for an appointment for a masters visa (category B) on the 7th of APRIL 2022. Make sure you find out which category you fall under either (CAT A, OR CAT B) and apply accordingly. As of this point I didn't know I would have to wait for 18 months for my interview, beacause during that period the waiting time was still 8-9months.

One has to be careful during this stage beacause you have to plan your admission carefully around possible expected visa date.

KEY TAKE AWAY:
[/b]1. Make sure you apply for the right category, with the correct details. I had an incidence of someone at the embassy sent back because of incorrect details.

2. No matter what, even if you are getting frustrated do not cancel your appointment except you have decided to change your plans.

3. Be patient and keep in mind it might take a long time.

4. German embassy visa application: [url]https://nigeria.diplo.de/ng-en/service/visa

[/url]


[b]STAGE 3: During this period of waiting for your appointment you have the following goals:

a. Gather all you necessary documents for both visa and admission purposes.

this will help for the visa requirements: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/nigeria/germany/student-visa/


b. Get an admission before your appointment date. VERY IMPORTANT. It doesnt matter if the shool would have resumed or not.

c. Get your blocked account or sponsorshipl letter(SL) ready. This will make your process faster

While I was waiting I gathered all my necessary documents for my admission:
waec, university certificate, unofficial-transcript, statement of purpose, reference letter, IELTS cert, German cert from goethe.

with this, I opened an account with uni-assist and sent copies of all my original certified documents to uni-assist (NB: Cerification can be done by any notary public, it doesnt have to be at a court).
With this I was the able to apply to any number of schools I wanted without having to send my documents multiple times (NB: not all schools use uni-assist so few may still require you send your documents).
The fees ranged between 75euro - 30euro per application. At this point I made crucial mistakes and lost some money, I unfortunately applied to 2 schools which resumed very early while I was still waiting for my appointment, so I had to forfeit my admission since I was not ready to pay semester fees for schools I knew I wouldn't be able to resume in time for, so plan wisely.

I aslo opened a blocked account with expatrio to block a sum of 11,208 euros, which is the amount required by law, the advantages of using expatrio is that it comes with both health insurance for admission purposes and travel insurance for visa purposes. I can't over emphasize how this saved me a lot of stress down the line. Getting the required amount was by no means an easy feat, fortunately for me this was before the floating of the naira so the exchange rate was lower then compared to now. And the easiest way to get this was "black market" if you want it done quickly. It might be frustrating to block such huge amount while waiting for a long time but it saves you in the long run agains the fluctuating exchange rate, If I had waited till late 2023 to block the account, I would have had to pay almost 2million naira extra, so be wise if you are using a blocked account.

so in summary during this stage of waiting, I gathered my document, applied for admission, and prepared my blocked account.
and you should have the following additional key documents if everything is done right:
1.A blocked account confirmation/ SL - (for the embassy)
2. Admission letter and if possible an erollment certificate - (for the embassy)
3. Travel insurance - (for the embassy after visa approval)
4. Health insursance - (for the school)

And lastly, make sure you are engaged doing something, fortunately form me afer serving, I was retained and kept on working while waiting for my visa, it was also during this time I took the IELTS to help boost my chances of getting an admission. While waiting, on august 2023 I applied to a school in cottbus via uni-assist for a fee of 30euros and got an offer on(after 3 months) october 2023. It was this offer that I used before the arrival of my interview on december 2023.

KEY TAKE AWAY:
1. Use uni-assist and DAAD to search for suitable schools and apply, it will save you money and time:
uni-assist: https://my.uni-assist.de/login
daad: [url]https://www.daad.de/en/
[/url]

2. Apply for admission strategically, since you may not know your exact possible interview date due to the fact that it is always changing (as of now 18+ months, when I started it was 8-9 months). Do not apply too far or too near, it doesn't matter if you can't resume on time, the most important thing is to have an admission on hand on or before your interview date, do not risk it.

3. If you are using a blocked account use expatrio, it is fast and will save you a lot of stress (they provide health and travel insurance which you will need for your admission and travelling respectively)

expatrio: https://www.expatrio.com/

4. Make sure you are engaged in something, 18+ months is a long time to wait doing nothing, you can take IELTS, learn German or continue working while you wait. So do something!!.

STAGE 4:
I received my appointment mail on the 3rd November 2023. After waiting for 18 months from the 7 April 2022 - 3 Nov 2023, I receive a mail. to come in 1 month time for my interview (1 dec 2023).

I will talk about my interview experiece and things you can do to avoid pitfalls, and also the follow up to the interview.

After cross-checking my documents and making sure I was prepared I headed to VI-LAGOS for the interview.

1. Make sure you print all your documents from home the boys at the embassy areas are animals and will try to rip you off,

2. Do not worry about arranging your documents, that will be done for you at the embassy, just make sure you have everything on the checklist.

3.You have to get a prepaid envelope before heading to the embassy for your documents to be returned in.

4.Make sure you carry at least 2 copies of every original documents like certificates. follow the visa checklist link I posted very stringently.

5.Be very time cautious they are very strict with time at the embassy make sure you get there before your interview time.

6. The visa fee is not the same for all visa categories. I paid 65,000 for study visa, that of travelling visa is different and so on.... so make sure you confirm,

7. Make sure you print out your email invitation very important.

8.Bring your money from home, you will be ripped off by the animals around the embassy.

9.I honestly believe if you do everything right the only business you should have at the business centre around the embassy should be to keep your bag incase you are carrying one, and to purchase a prepaid envelope. One of them tried to convince me that my passport picture is not the right size for the german embassy and I should come and take a new set of passport for 10,000 meanwhile it was perfectly fine, so be careful and wary of those boys.

10.Be wary of the man who collects/arranges document at the entrance and gives you your gatepass, listen to all he says and don't argue with him, let me just say he is a very unfriendly person, even the cranky securities are better than him, so just be careful.
(when he call you up to bring your ducuments do not take along the prepaid envelope you brought).

11.After he arranges your document, and everything is satisfactory he will usher you in (not into the building to my suprise) just beside the security post, my interview was conducted by a lady across me in an office opposite the security post, It took me almost 2 minutes to realize I had started my interview lol, I thought it was just another security checkpoint.

12 This was where the benefit of learning german paid the most for me, she was impressed I could speak and converse a little bit. She asked for my perosnal info name .e.t.c, the school I was going to, what course I was going to study, just some basic questions and lastly why germany and not any other country, in about 20-25min the interview was over.

13. I was given back my international passport, and If need be they will ask for me to send it to the embassy (I guess she meant if the visa is approved), she also explained that it is beacause of the long process they no longer hold peoples passport.

Fast forward, exactly 4 weeks later, I got an apporval mail and was told to bring my PASSPORT AND TRAVEL INSURANCE to the embassy.

I hope my little article helps someone who needs it, wishing everyone a wonderful year ahead, and by God's grace those who have been waiting for their inretview/visa will get it speedily. Do not give up, I almost did, but you guys here encouraged me to be patient. Goodluck all.

Man I'm so happy for you my brother. I remember when you were almost giving up and @intercontinental was encouraging. Kudos

@tyboss congratulations brotherly. The year started on a good note.
Please which city is your school in

[quote author=Benifu post=125493785][/quote]
Na wa o. It is well
I'd suggest you send them a screenshot of the mail you got when you registered last year May indicating the date you received it, then throw in some words about your school resuming soon and how this whole misunderstanding is affecting your admission and future plans

Benifu:
You are really luck, I have mailed them, when I asked if they system automatically cancel appointments (although I wanted to write “cancel reservations “ they replied that my name is not in May 2022 and they are still send appointments to those of March 2022.
Then I mailed them again, maybe different person onboard, they said I was scheduled to have appointment on 28.07.2023.
I forwarded the mail the sent, that they are giving appointment to those that booked in March 2022, how come that I booked in May 2022 and I have already been scheduled in July 2023. They did not reply. I mailed the next day, they said nothing can be done that my May registration is now history.

Hi bro,
Did the embassy really said they are still giving appointment to those that booked in March?

Can we see a screenshot of the section where they said that.

Today is Friday.

Please has anyone gotten AD??

Hgf1:


Booked march 15th 2022

Appointment date 11th august 2023

Please bro can you share your the reference number to your booking. I want to use it to calculate the estimated date of getting mine. Thanks

Hannania:
Congratulations! Are you for Summer 2023 or winter admission? I applied in Feb this year, and from the look of things, my date would come by May where by my Starting date is April since I'm going for summer 2024.

Move it to winter semester.
Wait time seems more likely to increase as we go. From 13 to 15 months, next would be 18+ months

ChiomaMC:
My school is not a problem here, I'm only concerned about the embassy and if I should do a new booking of appointment against next year, or leave the one I already booked for this year

Don't cancel it. After booking it takes more than one year. If you cancel, na you do yourself o

iTRIEDOG:
April 2022 or 2023?
Category A or B?

bros na admission no be visa appointment

Temiodeyemi:
Is there a WhatsApp or telegram group for prospective German students. Someone should please share with me

There is a telegram group. Send me a mail

Please incase you are switching application to other EU countries or others, don't forget to cancel your application to help reduce the backlog biko.

Intercontinenta:

He applied February 20th, scheduled for June

Please when is his appointment scheduled in June.

Delediamond:
Please I have an appointment with German embassy on 22nd of May 2023, and I have paid for my Block account through expatrio since 16th of May 2023, but I’m yet to receive a confirmation from them, I reach out to them and they told me it usually take 1-5 days before they can see the money and without seeing the money, they can’t issue a confirmation for me, please can I go to the interview with the receipt of payment from my bank or what should I do? Please I need your genuine advice

When did you book and when were you given an appointment date

Kofoworolaog:
[color=#990000][/color][center][/center][left][/left]
Hi
I’m also for May 22nd

Sorry bro, I had to quote you here. Please have you gotten a date yet for the German studies interview

Bobby5524:
Thanks. I really can't say what went wrong, the interview presumably went well. I checked the website and it says in the letter that I can remonstrate but I just need some help on how to go about writing the appeal letter.

Did you use a sponsorship letter or a block account?

CondenseMilk:
Good morning all

Please I would like to know if there's a WhatsApp group of students studying in Germany that I can join !

I'm hopeful this winter.


Thanks

there is a telegram group. Send me a mail

TinoVal147:
Good day everyone.
Pls is there any hotel close to the German embassy in Lagos?

Bros you get appointment, but you no wan share testimony to motivate others.

No be so o. It is well

Frenchturnup:
Lecturers and students deserve to be denied visas because they abuse the educational route to run from the country.

While politicians should be approved visas so they can learn from other countries how to use our little resources to our advantage.

With all due respect sir, You dey craze.

daewoo2010:
Please a friend has his interview on Friday 28/04 and he hasn’t received his original sponsorship letter. Original letter is e route Nigeria from Germany. What would be his best option right now?

mail the embassy and ask for a reschedule

donaldjones:
Thank you for the detailed explanation, I'll be sure to try out your suggestion about the public school.

He can also apply for CAT A if he graduated with a first class

sholape1500:


Hopefully cus I booked for appointment 7th of February last year and I haven't gotten an appointment yet

Please have you gotten?

Elinson31:


Sorry It was on 31 January I received an email from them stating that I should send an UP TO DATE letter of enrollement for summer semester 2023.
Which I sent to them the following day via DHL and also via their email too.

I used blocked account as means of fund I also had a sponsorship letter too sef to support Omo I no been won hear one thing one thing

Abeg who I dey okay because I still dey wait

You may probably hear from them by next week

Elinson31:
Hey guys so I booked my appointment on 1st December 2021 I have been attending my classes online since then, till when I received an appointment date this year 13 January 2023 two weeks later I received an email from the embassy stating that I should send my enrollment letter for summer semester 2023 I am still waiting to get a response from them I don’t know how long is going to take

Did you use a sponsorship letter?
That might the cause of the delay

Abiodun397:
Thanks for the Insight.

Considering the current Nigeria VISA situation and for someone that might be travelling around July, do you think A2 language level is okay for a start?..as that is possibly the most achievable between now and July.

Lemme guess, you booked in April last year?

Mimiomotoyosi:

Yes they did ask me for an enrollment letter 3 weeks after my interview. However, I'm still waiting for Am, and this is like the 7 week of waiting.

Did you use SL?

pepper247:
Greetings all
I received a mail from the embassy for appointment, now the issue is I no longer have a valid/updated letter of admission
Pls advise me on wat to do

If your interview is in 3 weeks, get a private uni in Germany and apply. Send a mail to the embassy requesting for a reschedule.

When did you book?

Muzansama:
Yeah but it's like a receipt right?

yes

Muzansama:
Guys please if I use a blocked account, all I need is the receipt from the blocked account deposit as proof of funds right?

what you will need is a block account confirmation

sowetto:
Hello guys, my brother wants to apply for visa appointment for April 2024. But I have seen on this thread that Cat B takes a little over a year.

Is it too late to apply for April 2024?

no its not.
you will be about just in time for an appointment

Excel221:


I don’t have an appointment yet but I want to put everything I need together so I won’t fall short of any document. Please do you know anyone concerning the sponsorship letter?

SL is usually valid for 6 months. i'll suggest you calculate the likely date of your appointment being forseeable within a 5 or 4 months range before actively searching out for it.
the group is still here.

Excel221:
Good afternoon everyone
Please and please does anyone have any plug for sponsorship letter?
I will pay please
Anyone that can help with sponsorship letter so submit at proof of funds during interview🙏

When is your appointment