Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf

International applicants from non-EU countries apply under a dedicated 'Application as a foreign student' procedure managed by the Student Services Centre (SSC). Entry qualifications are assessed for equivalency to the German Hochschulreife (university entrance qualification); applicants whose school-leaving certificate does not directly qualify for admission may need to attend a Studienkolleg or complete additional preparatory studies. Indian, Chinese (mainland, Hong Kong, Macau), and Vietnamese applicants are required to hold a valid APS (Akademische Prüfstelle) certificate before the university will process their application. For master's programmes, a recognised bachelor's degree in a relevant subject is required; the anabin database of the KMK is used to assess foreign qualifications. Language of instruction requirements must be met: German-taught programmes require DSH-2 or TestDaF TDN 4 (all four components); English-taught programmes require proof of English proficiency (IELTS or equivalent). Applications are submitted via the HHU application portal; uni-assist is used for document verification for most non-EU applicants.

Specific deadline dates are managed through the HHU application portal and vary by programme type (locally restricted / NC-free / medicine) and applicant group. As a general reference for NRW universities: Winter Semester (October start) applications for non-EU students typically close in mid-July; Summer Semester (April start) applications typically close in January. Applicants must verify exact deadlines for their specific programme on the HHU portal, as some programmes are not available in the summer semester.

uni-assist VPD mandatory for non-EU citizens. Non-EU applicants with a foreign higher education entrance qualification must submit a Vorpruefungsdokumentation (VPD) issued by uni-assist specifically for HHU (a plain uni-assist assessment report is insufficient) for all Bachelor/Staatsexamen programmes and for Master programmes of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and the Medical Faculty; uni-assist should be contacted at least 8 weeks before the deadline. Exceptions: non-EU citizens with an EU-country HZB need no VPD for subjects with unrestricted or national admission (they submit their certificates instead); Feststellungsprüfung certificates are included in the VPD.

The primary language of instruction is German. HHU offers a number of English-taught degree programmes at both bachelor's and master's level; the university's official site lists a dedicated section for English-taught study programmes (see source URLs). Students in German-taught programmes typically need at least DSH-2 or TestDaF TDN 4 per faculty requirements. German language courses and tandem exchange programmes are available on campus through the GetConnected@HHU initiative.