Germany Blocked Account Amount (2024): Hands-on Guide 🇩🇪 (2024)

If you're from outside Europe and aiming to study in Germany, there's a high chance you'll need a German student visa! To ensure your visa application sails through smoothly, you'll need to understand the concept of a Blocked Account(Sperrkonto in German). Why is it so important? Well, without a Blocked Account, you might risk your visa application being declined, preventing you from chasing your dream degree in Germany.

Although most of the study programs in Germany are tuition-free, students still need to plan with a certain budget if they want to pursue a degree in Germany. And the Blocked Account makes up the cornerstone of that budget! In this article, we will inform you about one of the determining aspects of the Blocked Account - the amount of money the international students need to open the German Blocked Account and to maintain it for the required period of time.

As of February 2024, the current Blocked Account amount required to apply for a German visa is 11 208 Euros. This amount is blocked on the student's bank account for a year, and the student has access to no more than 934 Euros per month. It is worth mentioning that 11 208 Euros per year or 934 Euros per month is the minimum amount of money in the Blocked Account that is required for a German student visa.

The exact amount of money that you need to allocate to your German Blocked Account is determined by the German government. Although the new German Blocked Account amount for international students in 2024stands at 11 208 Euros, it is important to emphasize that this amount is not set in stone, and it can often change due to various socio-economic reasons. Let us take a closer look at Table 1, which demonstrates how the German Blocked Account amount has changed since 2019.

As you can notice, the funds that the German authorities require students to deposit to the Blocked Account have seen multiple increments, rising from 10 236 Euros (equivalent to 850 Euros per month) in 2019 to the present-day amount of 11 208 Euros. Simply put, within a span of roughly fiveyears, there has been a hike of over 9% in the Blocked Account amount in Germany.

Consequently, it is absolutely critical to consistently review the local German Embassy/Consulate's website in order to stay informed about the current minimum amount required for the proof of financial resources. We would also suggest checking the websites of the Blocked Account providers to make sure that the information you possess is correct. Do you wonder why this cross-checking might be required? The answer is simple: interestingly, some German Embassies/Consulates may have outdated information on their web-pages, and, hence, may not accurately reflect all of the details with respect to the existing regulations of the German Blocked Account.

In most cases, international students who need to open a Blocked Account to get a German student visa and/or German student residence permit have to pay for the Blocked Account service. So, having a Blocked Account in Germany is usually not free.

There are four possible scenarios that you may encounter depending on the German Blocked Account provider that you choose:

Table 3also provides valuable insight into how much approximately you as an international student should budget for the whole German Blocked Account issue depending on the length of your study course. It is noteworthy that international students in Germany who opt for a Blocked Account for their German student visa application need the Blocked Account for each year of their studies - as long as they cannot provide a proof offinances throughalternative waysfor the 2nd (or any other additional) year (as a general rule). In particular, if you want to do a 1-year Master's in Germany, you need to deposit 11 208 Eurosto a German Blocked Account. In case you chose to pursue a 2-year Master's degree in Germany, you would need a total deposit of 22 416 Euros over two years; for a 3-year Bachelor's study program in Germany, you would need 33 624 Euros total deposit over three years and so on.

Besides, do not forget to add to these numbers the set-up, monthly and extension (when applicable) fees. For example, if you are going to do a 2-year Master's in Germany and you want to open a Blocked Account with Fintiba, the total amount of money that you will need for the Blocked Account (including Fintiba's set-up, monthly and extension fees) will be around 22 711.6 Euros over two years. If instead of Fintiba you choose ICICI, then the total amount will be around 22 662 Euros.

Hence, the total amount that students need to invest into the Blocked Account differs depending on the provider they choose. As you can see, the difference per year is not really significant across the providers. Hence, it should not be the sole decisive factor when choosing the Blocked Account provider. The overall amount of money that is involved in this process is quite a significant sum, that's why you should take your time and find out the answers to the questions like:

• Am I eligible to open a blocked account with the given Blocked Account provider? For example, not all of the providers offer a service for minors. Also, some providers cannot offer a service to students from particular countries, while others may be just for the students from specific countries.

• Which Blocked Account provider promises more safety for my money? Here check the banking model.

• How reliable is the Blocked Account provider? How experienced it is? For instance, pay attention to the number of students that have already opened an account with the provider. Also, for example, check the reviews on Trustpilot and Google.

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• How easy it is to open a Blocked Account with the given Blocked Account provider? Research what are the documents that the provider requires (aka assess the level of bureaucracy), and how quickly you can open an account and receive the blocking confirmation.

After answering these questions, you can combine the acquired information with the details regarding the pricing, and then you will be able to make quite an informed decision and choose the right provider that is suitable to you based on your preferences.

Yes, students in Germany need a regular (also known as a "current") bank account alongside the German Blocked Account. Why is this important? Let us present to you two key reasons for that:

1. If you have ever asked yourself "How can I withdraw money from the Blocked Account", here comes the answer: without a regular bank account, international students will not be able to withdraw their money from their German Blocked Account. In other words, having a regular bank is indispensable for students to get their monthly payouts of 934 Euros from the Blocked Account.
   

2. You should remember that students cannot use their German Blocked Account for standard transactions. To be more specific, you cannot use the Blocked Account to pay in shops or cafes, to transfer money for your health insurance or rent, etc. It is the regular bank account that you should use for your "daily business".

To put it simply, there are two key ways through which you can transfer your money to the German Blocked Account:

1. Via special money transfer companies;

2. Via international bank transfer.

Bear in mind that some of the German Blocked Account providers partner with particular money transfer services and suggest you the best options when it comes to money transfers tailored to their company.

In case your application for a German student visa is rejected, your Blocked Account provider will give your money back to you. In other words, your money is safe! Make sure to get an official letter of rejection from the local German Embassy/Consulate that is responsible for your student visa application. This document is crucial for getting your refund.

Besides, the procedure of closing your Blocked Account because of the visa rejection can differ from provider to provider. Thus, it is of utmost importance to be directly in touch with your Blocked Account provider and find out what are the exact steps that you need to undertake to close the Blocked Account and get your money back into your pocket. It is noteworthy that the whole refund procedure might take over a month.

In addition to that, it is also noteworthy that there are two important aspects that students need to remember when contemplating whether the Blocked Account money will be sufficient for them:

1. The lifestyle

2. The area of residence

It goes without saying that different students have different basic needs, and that is why the basic living costs vary from individual to individual. For example, the student who prefers to eat at home and live in a shared flat will need much less money per month to live a decent life in Germany rather than the one who eats in a restaurant every day and lives in a luxurious apartment. Thereby, whether 934 Euros per month will be enough for you depends on the lifestyle you follow.

However, it may also happen that students with the same lifestyle will need different amounts of money to live a quality life in Germany. Here comes the importance of the area of residence: the city/town where the students live in Germany is a significant determinant of the monthly budget required. For instance, according to the statistics for 2020, living in an unfurnished single room in a shared apartment (incl. costs for heating) in Münich would cost students about 2.7 times more than living in the same setting in Magdeburg.

Yes, it is possible to avoid a Blocked Account requirement for a German student visa. Put differently, there are alternatives for a Blocked Account in Germany, which prospective students can use to prove their funds and, hence, get a visa to study in Germany. For instance, you do not need a Blocked Account for a German student visa if you have a:

1. Letter of obligation; or

2. Scholarship.

Let us delve into these alternatives.

• First, there's the Letter of Obligation (also known as Verpflichtungserklärung, declaration of commitment, or letter of commitment). This is a special document from a German resident who pledges to financially back you during your stay in Germany.
  

• Second, you can prove your financial sustainability for a German student visa via the full scholarship, aka the scholarship that provides you with 934 euros per month. Keep in mind that in order to use this option as proof of funds, the scholarship should be from either German or EU public institutions.