Uni-Assist – Procedure to make a payment for the Application

Fees are incurred for the processing and evaluation of your application documents. On this post, you will find everything you need to know about the procedure to make a payment for the application for admission via Uni-Assist. This post covers the different topics in the following order

1. Handling Fees
2. Cost transfer
3. Payment options
4. Bank details
5. Refunds & credit

Handling Fees

Uni-Assist assesses your international educational certificates and checks additional criteria set by the universities you want to apply to. The handling fees are set by the uni-assist universities. Fees must be paid irrespective of the result of the checking procedure.

In one application semester these handling fees apply:

• Costs for the first desired course of study: 75.00 EUR
• For each additional desired course of study: 30.00 EUR

(System of handling fees)

• You pay per the desired course of study. A desired course of study can be an application for a bachelor or master’s course or an application for a Studienkolleg (preparatory course) or a preparatory German language course.
• Are you reapplying for a new semester? If so, the fee is 75.00 EUR again for the first desired study course and 30.00 EUR for every other desired course of study.
• These costs are the same for all forms of application, whether standard or VPD procedure. The fees cover registration, processing and evaluation of your documents and educational certificates, irrespective of the results of this procedure.

Example of one application semester

Free Handling fees

Some universities pay for their applicants’ handling fees. In that case, your application is free. The following list contains the courses, persons and universities affected:

• Free applications for bachelor courses
• Free applications for master’s courses
• Cost transfer for refugees

Free applications for bachelor courses

• Gelsenkirchen University of Applied Sciences: All bachelor course applications are free of charge.

Free applications for master’s courses

• Goethe University Frankfurt (Main): All master’s course applications are free of charge.
• Gelsenkirchen University of Applied Sciences: All master’s course applications are free of charge.
• Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin): All master’s course applications are free of charge. Fees are levied for applications to introductory courses.
• University of Potsdam: All master’s course applications are free of charge (Exception: “European Masters in Clinical Linguistics”).
• University of Cologne: Faculty of Philosophy Applications for master’s courses at the Faculty of Philosophy are free of charge if you have an EU citizenship. Applications for the course “Culture Environment Africa” are generally free of charge.
• Philipps-Universität Marburg: Master’s course applications are free of charge if you hold a German bachelor degree or an equivalent German degree. Applications for master’s courses as extension studies (“Weiterbildung-Master”) are generally free of charge.
• HfWU Nuertlingen-Geislingen University: Master’s course applications for the course “International Management” are free of charge. Applications to other master’s courses as well as the “study programme: preparatory studies for master’s courses with the focus on ‘sustainable development for cities and rural areas’” are free of charge if you are an EU citizen or hold a German bachelor degree.

Cost transfer for refugees

The German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD, pays the handling fee for refugees. As a refugee, you may apply free of charge to up to three universities per semester.

Payment options

You may pay the fees for your uni-assist application either by bank transfer or by credit card. The following content provides the information related to your payment

• Payment deadline
• Payment by friends or relatives
• Paying for multiple universities
• Bank transfer
• Credit card (Visa or MasterCard)

What is the payment deadline?

The deadline is the same as for your application. This is why it is important to inquire about application deadlines with the universities.

Two important notes:

• The relevant date to meet the deadline is the date on which uni-assist received your payment. When you instructed your bank to make the payment cannot be taken into account.
• Uni-Assist is unable to process your application before you have paid the handling fee in full.

This is why uni-assist recommend payments to be made as early as possible! Make sure to plan enough time for your payment to arrive. Keep in mind that bank holidays may delay your payment.

Payment by friends or relatives

Another person can pay the handling fees for you. Separate transfers must be made for each individual applicant. This helps uni-assist to avoid problems linking payments to applicants.

Paying for multiple universities

When applying to multiple universities, please transfer the total amount in a single payment. This speeds up the process of linking the payment to you and you save money on additional transfers.

Bank transfer

You can pay uni-assist by online bank transfers or by online banking.

• International bank transfers: Some banks charge additional fees for international transfers to Germany. This is true especially for transfers in a currency other than Euros. You are responsible for paying these fees. Your bank can give you information on any additional transfer fees.
• Important information for bank transfers: Please tell your bank, that you want to use Euro transfer to pay your handling fees. This ensures that the full amount of the transfer is paid by you.
• Bank transfers from a German bank account: Bank transfers from a German bank account generally do not incur additional fees. You may ask friends or relatives with a German bank account to help you: uni-assist also accept transfers made for you by friends or relatives.

Filling in your transfer order

Include the following information in the reference field:

• Your uni-assist applicant number,
• Your family name (as written in your passport),
• Your given name (as written in your passport),
• Your date of birth (dd.mm.yyyy),
• The semester in which your course starts, e.g. SoSe19 or WiSe19/20.

Please fill in your transfer order legibly and without omissions.

Example: This is what the reference field could look like on your transfer order:

1234567, Mustermann, Max, 01.01.1991, SoSe19

Not enough room in the reference field?

Please select an unambiguous combination, ideally applicant number + family name + first name or application number + date of birth

Bank details

Please use the following bank details for bank transfers to uni-assist:

For payments from non-EU states to Germany, some banks require the address of the German receiving bank:

HypoVereinsbank Filiale
Berlin-Charlottenburg
Leibnizstrasse 100
10625 Berlin
Germany

For payments within the European Union, the SEPA procedure applies. Transfers are possible only using IBAN and BIC. Transfers made using the only account number and bank number are no longer valid.

Credit card (Visa or MasterCard)

If using a 3D Secure credit card, you can make your payments easily with your uni-assist online account. Both Visa and MasterCard are accepted.

Payments with 3D Secure offer increased security for credit card transactions. In order to use this system, you need to be already signed up for the 3D Secure system. For further information, please contact your bank.

Notes:

Sometimes, payments with credit cards from certain countries may not be accepted by the bank for security reasons. Also, transfers to us may be rejected. Ask your bank about international transactions.

Refunds and credit

This is how you can find out when you may receive a refund or credit for the handling fees you paid, and how to request a refund. This topic covers the following points

• Credit or refund
• Paying out credit to a bank account
• Legal notice

Credit or refund

You can receive a refund or credit in the following cases:

• You paid too much.
• You paid for the processing of an application that is free of charge for you.
• You withdraw your application before uni-assist process it.
• Uni-assist has determined in processing that they are not responsible for your application.

What would you like to do with your credit?

• Credit: Would you like to use your credit for other applications in the same or for a later semester? In that case, your credit will remain with your uni-assist account.
• Refund: Would you like your credit to be paid out? Uni-assist will transfer your funds to a bank account of your choice.

Note: In some cases, this results in an administrative fee of EUR 10.00 (one-time fee per semester).

Paying out credit to a bank account

Use this contact form to name bank details for your refund. Uni-Assist will need the following details:

Recipient’s name
IBAN
BIC/SWIFT
Name of Bank

Reimbursement may take 4 to 6 weeks after your request.

Notes:

• Only you or a person authorised by you may request a refund, even if a friend or relative paid the handling fee for you. You may, of course, name the account of your friend or relative, and uni-assist will transfer your credit to their account.
• Transfers to bank accounts outside the SEPA area generally incur transfer fees. You are responsible for paying these fees.

Legal notice: Credit may be refunded or used within a period of 3 years, after which the claim lapses according to law.

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