If you are in the process of enrolling in a German university, there are multiple things to have in mind, one of them being health insurance. Most of students are highly recommended to go for public health insurance, and in this article, we are going to explain what exactly is the process of signing up.
I am a German or EU/EEA citizen
First thing to have in mind is that EU/EEA students are recommended to stay on their home insurance. So you only need to signup for German health insurance once you start working here along your studies.
However if you want to sign up for a German public health insurance, the process is very straightforward:
Apply for student public health insurance, and upload your university acceptance letter. That will, as mentioned above, allow for university enrolment (your chosen insurance provider will send an M10 Meldung to your uni within 3 working days, confirming your insurance status). So there is no need for insurance number at this point, and your uni does not have the right to request it. M10 Meldung is the official procedure. Since this happens only between the public insurance provider and university, you will not be informed about the status. Therefore, simply check with your uni within 3 working days from your signup.
Upload enrolment letter: once the university is informed of your insurance status, you can obtain your enrolment letter, and provide it through your Feather account.
German address and IBAN: once you arrive to Germany you can finalise your public insurance application by providing these. No need to send these before if you do not have them. Once your main public insurance is valid, you can use it to apply for a residence permit in Germany, since your first visa will only be valid for a few months.
I am from a third country and I need a visa
If you are required to apply for a student visa in order to enter Germany, signup will be the same, but there are a few other things to have in mind.
The visa you are going to be applying for is a type of National D visa.
Procedure outlined:
Apply for student public health insurance, and upload your university acceptance letter. That will allow for university enrolment (your chosen insurance provider will send an M10 Meldung to your uni within 3 working days, confirming your insurance status). So there is no need for insurance number at this point, and your uni does not have the right to request it. M10 Meldung is the official procedure. Since this happens only between the public insurance provider and university, you will not be informed about the status. Therefore, simply check with your uni within 3 working days from your signup.
If you sign up through us for TK, you will also receive the preliminary confirmation of insurance right away. BARMER, DAK and AOK will take about a day or two to send it directly to you.Upload enrolment letter: once the university is informed of your insurance status, you can obtain your enrolment letter, and provide it through your Feather account.
Take out additional travel insurance for your first visa. Since your public insurance is only going to start together with your semester, you will have to take out additional travel insurance for the period between your arrival and the start of the semester. Some German embassies will only request it to be valid only for that initial period, and some will request for it to be valid for the duration of your visa (around 3 months). Please check with them.
You are now ready for your visa appointment. You have both the preliminary confirmation of public health insurance, and travel insurance confirmation.German address and IBAN: once you arrive to Germany you can finalise your public insurance application by providing these. No need to send these before if you do not have them. Once your main public insurance is valid, you can use it to apply for a residence permit in Germany, since your first visa will only be valid for a few months.
Once you finalised your application, and your chosen insurance provider confirmed it, your policy is entirely in their hands. They will reach out to you via email (keep in mind your inbox/spam) or post, and inform you of the next steps.
They will issue your health card directly, and are entirely in charge of payments, and everything going forward.
How do you use your insurance?
Public health insurance is pretty straightforward: you simply show your health card when visiting a doctor, and they will debit your health provider directly for every event which is covered under your policy. No need to pay out of your pocket, and submit claims later on:)