Uni-Assist Application Guide

What uni-assist is

uni-assist (the University Application Service for International Students) is a central organisation that receives and pre-checks applications from international applicants on behalf of its member universities in Germany. It verifies that your documents are complete and that your qualifications meet formal requirements, then forwards your application to the university for the actual admission decision.

It is important to understand that uni-assist does not decide whether you are admitted — the university makes that decision. uni-assist handles the document check and forwarding step.

Which universities use uni-assist

Many — but not all — German universities are uni-assist members. Some universities accept international applications directly through their own portals instead. Whether you apply through uni-assist or directly is decided by each university, and it can even differ between programmes at the same institution.

Always check the specific programme's admissions page to confirm the correct application route before you start. The official list of member universities is maintained on uni-assist.de.

How to apply: the main steps

The typical process runs through the uni-assist online portal. You create an account, select the universities and programmes you want to apply to, upload your required documents (such as your previous qualifications and language certificates), and pay the handling fee. uni-assist then checks your documents and forwards a results report and your application to the universities.

Document requirements, accepted certificate formats, and whether certified copies must also be posted vary by university and can change, so follow the exact instructions shown for each programme on the portal.

• Create an account on the uni-assist online portal
• Select your target universities and programmes
• Upload the required documents for each application
• Pay the handling fee
• uni-assist checks and forwards your application to the universities

The handling fee

uni-assist charges a handling fee for processing applications, typically structured as one amount for your first application in an application term and a smaller amount for each additional application in the same term. The exact fee structure is set by uni-assist and can change.

Do not rely on a figure you read elsewhere — check the current fee schedule on uni-assist.de before you apply, and verify the accepted payment methods there too.

Deadlines and timing

Because uni-assist needs time to check your documents before forwarding them, you should apply well before the university's own deadline — the documents must reach uni-assist and be processed in time. Each programme sets its own deadline, and these differ for winter and summer intakes.

Confirm both the programme deadline and any uni-assist-specific cut-off on the official sources, and apply early to allow for document checks and any requests for corrections.