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Study in Germany from India: Every Fee From APS to First Rent, in Rupees (2027)

Study in Germany from India: Every Fee From APS to First Rent, in Rupees (2027)

Shikha Gupta

Author

November 14, 2026

Study in Germany from India: Every Fee From APS to First Rent, in Rupees (2027)

TL;DR: For an Indian B.Tech graduate applying to 12 master's programmes through uni-assist for a 2027 intake, the full bill from passport to first rent comes to about Rs 15.9 lakh at the ECB rate of Rs 104.16 per euro (13 November 2026). Rs 12.4 lakh of that is the blocked account, which is your own money paid back to you at EUR 992 a month, and Rs 1.25 lakh is a rent deposit you get back when you move out. The part that is actually spent on fees, tests, the visa and the flight is about Rs 2.2 lakh.

This is the full cost to study in Germany from India for a 2027 intake, listed in the order you pay it: passport, English test, APS, applications, blocked account, visa, flight, and the first bills in Germany. Every fee below was checked on the official page on 14 November 2026. Rupee figures use the ECB reference rate of Rs 104.1575 per euro from 13 November 2026, and your bank will charge a little more than that.

Monthly living costs city by city are a separate question, covered in our cost guide in rupees. This post is about the one-off payments before you land and in your first weeks.

The full bill at a glance

The worked example: a B.Tech graduate with no passport yet, taking IELTS, applying to 12 programmes in one semester, self-funding the blocked account through Expatrio, starting at TU Berlin and renting a student room at the Munich Studierendenwerk's average price. We mixed cities on purpose, because those are the published figures we could check.

Step	Euros	Rupees
Passport, fresh 36 pages, normal	-	Rs 2,500
IELTS Academic	-	Rs 19,000
APS certificate	-	Rs 18,000
dMAT (B.Tech, B.E. and some other degrees)	EUR 150	Rs 15,624
uni-assist, 12 programmes in one semester	EUR 405	Rs 42,184
Blocked account deposit	EUR 11,904	Rs 12,39,891
Blocked account setup (Expatrio)	EUR 119	Rs 12,395
TCS on a self-funded transfer	-	Rs 4,798
National visa fee	EUR 75	Rs 8,300
VFS service and logistics fee	-	Rs 2,444
Flight, one way (rough estimate)	-	up to Rs 50,000
First semester contribution (TU Berlin)	EUR 379.06	Rs 39,482
Residence permit	EUR 100	Rs 10,416
Rent deposit, 3 months on a EUR 400.60 room	EUR 1,201.80	Rs 1,25,176
Total		Rs 15,90,210

A leaner student lands near Rs 15.3 lakh and a heavier one near Rs 16.7 lakh. The last section shows which lines move.

Before you apply: passport, English test and APS (about Rs 55,000)

Passport. Since 1 July 2026 a fresh 36-page passport with ten-year validity costs Rs 2,500, up from Rs 1,500. Tatkaal adds another Rs 2,500. Plenty of sites still quote the old fee.

English test. IELTS Academic costs Rs 19,000, whether you sit it on computer or with the writing part on paper. IDP is now the only IELTS provider in India; the British Council stopped running the test here. If one band lets you down, the One Skill Retake costs Rs 12,650, which beats paying for the whole test again. TOEFL iBT costs Rs 15,729, and most German universities take either. See the minimum scores universities ask for.

APS. The APS India fee is Rs 18,000, paid online through CCAvenue. APS warns that paying by manual bank transfer slows verification down. The fee is not refunded whatever the outcome, and a re-evaluation needs a new payment. The certificate comes as a digital PDF by email, so nothing is posted back to you, but you pay your own courier to send your documents to APS India. Our APS guide covers the document list.

dMAT. This one catches people out. The Digital Master Test costs EUR 150 (Rs 15,624), paid to g.a.s.t., not to APS, by PayPal or credit card. Debit cards are refused. You need it if you are applying for a master's with a B.Tech, B.E. or any other engineering degree, or a degree in commerce, accounting, finance, economics, business, management, tourism or hospitality, and your APS application relates to an intake from summer semester 2027 onwards. You are exempt if you registered with APS before 29 June 2026 or already hold an APS certificate. The next test dates are 16 January 2027 (register by 4 January) and 13 March 2027 (register by 1 March). More in our dMAT explainer.

What 12 uni-assist applications cost (EUR 405)

uni-assist charges EUR 75 for the first programme and EUR 30 for each additional programme in the same semester. Twelve programmes come to EUR 75 + 11 x EUR 30 = EUR 405, or Rs 42,184. A VPD costs exactly the same as a standard application.

The fee resets every semester. Apply for winter, then try again for summer, and you pay the EUR 75 again. So put your whole list into one semester where you can.

From India you pay by 3D Secure Visa or Mastercard credit card, or by international transfer to the personal IBAN uni-assist gives you, with the OUR charge option. Any foreign-transfer fee your Indian bank adds is yours to pay. The whole process is digital: you upload scans, and the APS certificate goes up as the original sealed PDF. No courier to Germany.

Not all 12 have to go through uni-assist. RWTH Aachen says its application is free of charge, and the University of Stuttgart charges no application fee. TUM takes applications directly too, but master's applicants with a bachelor's from outside Germany need a uni-assist VPD first, so TUM still lands on your uni-assist bill. Check which universities use uni-assist before you count.

Blocked account, TCS and visa (about Rs 12.7 lakh)

The blocked account is EUR 11,904 for the first year, with withdrawals capped at EUR 992 a month, according to the German missions in India. That is Rs 12,39,891 at the ECB rate. It is not a fee. The money comes back to you month by month once you are in Germany, and it pays your rent, food and insurance.

The amount follows the German BAfoeG maximum. The federal cabinet adopted a BAfoeG reform on 12 August 2026 that raises the housing allowance from 1 April 2027, and the Bundestag sent it to committee on 15 October 2026. If it passes, the blocked account figure could rise too, so check the missions' page again in the week you transfer.

Provider fees come on top. Expatrio charges EUR 119 to open and EUR 9 a month; Fintiba charges EUR 159 and EUR 9.90 a month. Both sell the account without their insurance bundle. Our provider comparison goes through the differences.

Then TCS. Since 1 April 2026, a self-funded remittance for education carries TCS of 2% on the part above Rs 10 lakh in a financial year (it used to be 5%). If the money is an education loan from a bank, TCS is nil. Sent as your first big transfer of the year, the blocked account attracts 2% of Rs 2,39,891, which is Rs 4,798. It counts as tax already paid by whoever sent it, claimed in their income tax return. The full rules are in our TCS guide.

The national visa fee is Rs 8,300 (EUR 75) for applicants over 18, paid in rupees at the rate on the day of your appointment, and it is not refunded if the visa is refused. VFS adds a service fee of Rs 1,024 and a D-visa logistics fee of Rs 1,420, so Rs 2,444, GST included.

Flight and baggage: what fits in your fare

Budget up to about Rs 50,000 for a one-way ticket. That is a planning figure, not a quote. Fares move with the date, and bookings made late in the August and September rush cost more.

The baggage allowance matters more than a small difference in fare, because you are moving a year of your life in it.

Airline and fare	Free checked baggage, economy
Air India student fare (ages 12 to 30)	2 x 23 kg, plus 10% off the base fare and one free date change
Air India Economy Classic or Flex to Europe	2 x 23 kg
Air India Economy Value	1 x 23 kg
Lufthansa Economy (Classic, Flex)	1 x 23 kg
Lufthansa Economy Light	No checked bag
Emirates Economy from India	20 to 35 kg depending on fare; the student fare adds 10 kg or one extra piece

A second 23 kg bag on Lufthansa costs EUR 120 to EUR 220 online depending on the route band, and EUR 160 to EUR 260 at the airport. That is Rs 12,499 to Rs 22,915 before you even reach the counter. Adding a first bag to a Light fare costs EUR 70 to EUR 85 online. Lufthansa's page doesn't say which band India falls in, and it charges in the departure airport's currency. Emirates' student fare needs a Skywards membership, is open to ages 16 to 31 and must be booked by 31 March 2027.

Two 23 kg bags carry a first-year move comfortably. One usually doesn't, once a winter jacket goes in.

First weeks in Germany (about Rs 1.75 lakh)

Semester contribution. You pay it when you enrol and again each semester when you re-register. TU Berlin charges EUR 379.06 for winter 2026/27, the latest published figure, which includes the Deutschlandsemesterticket at EUR 226.80. TU Dresden charges EUR 361. The University of Stuttgart charges EUR 184, but Baden-Wuerttemberg adds tuition of EUR 1,500 a semester for students from outside the EU. TUM charges master's students from outside the EU EUR 4,000 or EUR 6,000 a semester, rising to EUR 4,600 or EUR 6,800 for those starting in winter 2027/28. See tuition fees by state.

Residence permit. The first electronic residence permit costs EUR 100 under the Residence Ordinance. Berlin adds EUR 6 if you have your photo taken at the office terminal.

Rent deposit. German law caps a deposit at three months' rent without utilities, and you can pay it in three monthly instalments. The Munich Studierendenwerk's rooms average EUR 400.60 a month, so a full deposit is EUR 1,201.80. Its cheapest rooms start at EUR 283.20, but the wait can run from one to seven semesters.

Once you are settled, the regular bills come out of your EUR 992 a month. Student health insurance at TK costs EUR 141.16 a month under 23 and EUR 146.29 from 23 if you have no children. The broadcasting fee is EUR 18.36 a month per flat: one person pays it in a shared flat, but a dorm room off a shared corridor counts as its own flat. Whether EUR 992 stretches far enough depends on the city; see our city-by-city check.

Where your number moves

Passport already in hand: Rs 2,500 less.
TOEFL instead of IELTS: Rs 3,271 less.
Bachelor's degree outside the dMAT list: Rs 15,624 less.
Blocked account paid with a bank education loan: no TCS.
Each of your 12 that goes direct to a university like RWTH Aachen instead of uni-assist: Rs 3,125 less.
Fintiba instead of Expatrio: Rs 4,166 more.
A cheaper room: the deposit on a EUR 283.20 room is Rs 88,491 instead of Rs 1,25,176.
One extra bag on Lufthansa: Rs 12,499 to Rs 22,915 more.
A university in Baden-Wuerttemberg: Rs 1,56,236 more every semester in tuition.

Put the savings together (passport in hand, TOEFL, no dMAT, a loan, TU Dresden, the cheapest room) and the total is about Rs 15.3 lakh. Fintiba, an extra bag and a EUR 576.60 room take it to about Rs 16.7 lakh.

The cheapest line on this page is the one people skip: a shortlist that is right the first time saves a second round of uni-assist fees and a lost semester. Our profile evaluation checks your degree, grades and English score against real programmes before you pay anyone.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

About Rs 15.9 lakh from passport to first rent in our worked example, with fees as they stood in November 2026 with 12 uni-assist applications, at Rs 104.16 per euro. Rs 12.4 lakh of that is the blocked account, which is paid back to you at EUR 992 a month, and about Rs 1.25 lakh is a refundable rent deposit. The money actually spent on fees, tests, the visa and the flight is about Rs 2.2 lakh.

EUR 405 if all 12 are in the same semester: EUR 75 for the first programme and EUR 30 for each of the other 11. That is Rs 42,184 at the 13 November 2026 ECB rate. Applying again in a later semester means paying the EUR 75 again.

Rs 18,000, paid online and not refunded whatever the result. Master's applicants with a B.Tech, B.E., engineering, commerce, finance, economics, business, management, tourism or hospitality degree also need the dMAT for intakes from summer 2027, which costs EUR 150 extra.

Rs 19,000 for IELTS Academic at the moment, on computer or with writing on paper. IDP is the only IELTS provider in India now. A One Skill Retake costs Rs 12,650, and TOEFL iBT costs Rs 15,729.

Air India's student fare gives two 23 kg bags in economy, as do its Classic and Flex fares to Europe. Lufthansa economy gives one 23 kg bag, and Economy Light gives none. Emirates' student fare adds 10 kg or one extra piece to the normal allowance.

It is EUR 11,904 a year, or EUR 992 a month, for now. A BAfoeG reform adopted by the federal cabinet on 12 August 2026 is in Bundestag committee, and since the blocked account follows the BAfoeG maximum, the figure could rise if it passes. Check the German missions' page in the week you transfer.

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