Depending on your nationality, a visa is required for entry into the Federal Republic of Germany. Therefore, please inform yourself at a German diplomatic or consular representation in your home country about the valid entry and residence regulations. You apply for the visa at the responsible German mission in your home country.

•    German embassies worldwide
•     Overview of visa requirements or exemptions for entry into the Federal Republic of Germany
•    Visa regulations (e.g. fees, application period, procedure)

The visa is issued depending on the reason for stay. Make sure that you apply for a visa for studying. When applying for a visa to study, you must present, among other things, the letter of admission from the University of Trier.

Important: Expect a processing time of several weeks, possibly even several months, and apply for your visa early! If you do not need a visa for your entry and are not an EU citizen, you must still apply for a residence permit after your arrival. Please make sure before your arrival that you can prove the necessary financial means!

You can reach Trier in many ways. There are several airports in the region. The airports

•     Frankfurt (Main)
•     Luxembourg
•     Cologne/Bonn

are particularly suitable if you are traveling from North America, South America, Asia, Oceania or Africa. For shorter flight routes you can also use the airports Frankfurt (Hahn) and Saarbrücken. Trier is also easy to reach by train. You can find out about connections and ticket prices on the Deutsche Bahn homepage. Another way to get there is by long-distance bus. You can find more information on how to get to Trier here.

The International Office will assist you in registering with the City of Trier during the introductory seminar.
Please note: If you are not participating in the introductory seminar, you must complete the registration with the city on your own and make an appointment for this at the Bürgeramt of the city of Trier in good time.

After you have registered with the city, you must register your accommodation in Germany with the contribution service. You can find more information about the contribution service and registration in this guide.

For your stay in Germany and for enrollment at Trier University you need sufficient health insurance coverage.This exists if you

•     have a German statutory health insurance (e.g. AOK, Barmer, DAK, TK or another statutory German health insurance). or
•     you have a valid European Health Insurance Card (valid until the end of your stay in Trier!) or
•     there is a social security agreement between your home country and Germany through which you are insured (Turkey or Serbia).

► In these 3 cases you are sufficiently insured for enrollment at Trier University.

If you do not have insurance as described in points 1-3, you must in any case take out German health insurance before your arrival in Trier. Private or statutory health insurance from your home country will not be recognized. You will receive exact information about which health insurance is applicable for you during the application process. Please do not purchase health insurance for your stay beforehand.

There are two types of health insurance in Germany: statutory and private health insurance. As a rule, the statutory health insurances are cheaper. You can obtain statutory health insurance at a favorable student rate, provided you have not exceeded the age of 30 (or the 14th semester of study). Although the monthly premium is cheaper than with private health insurance, you must pay for all medical services (and medication) yourself in advance. You can only settle your expenses with the insurance company afterwards. In addition, there are different levels of personal contributions to consider.

In order to be able to handle your payment transactions (e.g. the transfer of the monthly rent) smoothly and inexpensively, you should independently open a checking account at a bank in Trier. In the city center of Trier, but also near the university, you will find branches of almost all large and well-known German banks, but also some foreign banks. Please note that you have to open the account on your own! Unfortunately, the International Office cannot recommend a bank or accompany you to open an account. Please check if it is possible and reasonable to open an account at a pure (German!) online bank before arriving in Trier.

Documents you need to present when opening an account:

    Identity card or passport
    Certificate of registration from the local residents' registration office
    German tax identification number
    If applicable, certificate of enrollment from Trier University (can be found on PORTA under: My Studies > Student Services > Notices / Certificates).

Important:
It can take up to two months to open an account. Therefore, make sure that you bring enough cash with you and/or have access to your home account, especially for the first weeks in Trier.

Attention:
You cannot pay with a credit card everywhere in Germany.

Basically yes, every household has to pay a monthly licence fee (€18.36 as of 2025) - regardless of how many people live in the home or how many devices are used. The fee is due for the opportunity to use the numerous radio, television and online programmes offered by ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio. When you register with the city, the licence fee office is informed that you now live in Germany. You can either register yourself or be contacted by the licence fee office by post.
 

Exemption is possible if the studies are financed with BAföG (Federal Education and Training Assistance Act). The exact regulations can be found at: www.rundfunkbeitrag.de  . Please note: In a shared apartment, this exemption does not apply to other roommates. Only if all roommates receive BAföG and are therefore exempt themselves does the entire shared apartment pay the broadcasting fee. 

Here you will find a presentation regarding the media licence fee. 

You can access the university's management systems via the university's homepage. There you will find links to PORTA, Stud.ip, to your e-mail account and to the university library's search portal TRICAT.

The TUNIKA (Trier University Card) is your student ID card, which you will receive after successful enrollment at Trier University. The chip card contains your name, your matriculation number, your library number, and the study period for which you are enrolled and re-enrolled. The TUNIKA provides access to various university services (library, sports and fitness center, refectory/cafés, etc.). It is a means of payment at the university for canteens, cafés, vending machines and for printing on the multifunctional machines available at the university. The TUNIKA is also your library card, which allows you to borrow books and gives you access to the PC pools. In addition, the TUNIKA is also a cultural semester ticket. Detailed information about the TUNIKA can be found here.

Trier University has several dining halls and cafeterias. You can pay with the TUNIKA or at selected cash desks with an EC card (not with cash).

You can find the detailed opening hours under the following link: https://www.studiwerk.de/cms/standorte_und_oeffnungszeiten-1001.html

Here you can find instructions on how to search for courses on PORTA. Please also have a look at the second FAQ category (FAQ Learning Agreement and Course Search)!

You can register for courses via PORTA as soon as you have received your ZIMK access information after successful enrollment at Trier University. Please also note the registration deadlines for courses here or in the basic course data on PORTA. You will not be able to register outside of the registration deadlines. Here are instructions on how to register for courses on PORTA. Once you are registered, your registration will be transferred to the Stud.ip system within one day. Please also have a look at the second FAQ category (FAQ Learning Agreement and Course Search)!

This is decided by your home university. Trier University also has two deadlines for the Learning Agreements: a) start of the courses and b) five weeks after the start of the courses. 

Yes, this is possible in principle! Please ask for the exact information at your home university!

Please check with your home university!

Please contact the subject coordinators at the University of Trier. ECTS points are not available in PORTA!

Yes, this is possible in principle! Please ask for the exact information at your home university!

You can obtain information about the courses offered via the pages of the subjects/departments or via PORTA.
An overview of the ECTS contact persons of the subjects/departments can be found here.
There are no special course lists at Trier University for exchange students only, but you can choose your courses from the general course catalog (PORTA). Please note that the current courses for the next semester can only be found in the course catalog approximately 2.5 to 3 months before the start of the lecture period. You do not need to log in to PORTA to search for courses.

All presentations can be found at the following link: https://www.uni-trier.de/en/international/coming-to-trier/exchange-students/after-the-application. 

The course catalogs of Trier University are released at the end of January for the following summer semester and in mid-July for the following winter semester. You can search for current or past courses in PORTA at any time.

Under the following link you can find all instructions regarding the course search and course registration: https://www.uni-trier.de/en/international/coming-to-trier/exchange-students/after-the-application

If you are unsure, please contact the subject coordinators and/or the lecturers.

If you are unsure, please contact the subject coordinators and/or the lecturers.

If you are unsure, please contact the subject coordinators and/or the lecturers.

The course catalogs of Trier University are released at the end of January for the following summer semester and in mid-July for the following winter semester.

You can either do two different Learning Agreement processes or fill out one Learning Agreement for two semesters, whereby the information for the second semester is tentative.

Basically, it is important that you clarify with your home university which courses and how many ECTS credits you need. There are certain restrictions with regard to the number of participants, language level for participation etc.. In general, however, you can request courses from all subjects/subject areas.

Basically yes! It is possible to enter more courses than you will actually take and you can also withdraw from courses later. However, please be as precise as possible when creating your Learning Agreement.

If you are not sure, please contact the subject coordinators and/or event directors. You can change your Learning Agreement up to five weeks after the start of the event period. This is the internal deadline for Trier University. Please check with your home university if you have a different deadline.

The language courses for foreign students at Trier University are offered by the Language Center of Trier University. The responsible subject coordinator is Mrs. Zita van Wylick - [email protected]

This is a technical process only. The course registration remains in place. You do not need to do anything else.

You can withdraw from courses. Please note that any changes to your courses should be reflected in your Learning Agreement. For this reason, the so-called "Changes Agreement" (second part of the Learning Agreement) is an integral part of the Learning Agreement process.

Yes, this is possible! But please note that there are open or time-limited registration and deregistration periods depending on the course.

Yes, this is generally possible! Nevertheless, different courses have different conditions for participation, e.g. a minimum requirement at the level of the language of instruction, number of students per course, etc. If you are not sure whether the course is suitable for you, please contact the subject coordinator and/or the lecturer.

Try changing the parameters of your search in the PORTA system - title, course number, course teaching language, subject, instructor, etc. Please note that courses can still be updated continuously in PORTA.