Please inform yourself at an early stage at the embassy of your host country whether you will need a visa. This is usually the case for students with EU citizenship in countries outside the EU. If you do not have EU citizenship, you will usually need a visa even for study and internship stays in the EU.

Visa applications can take quite a long time. Therefore, please inform yourself about the requirements and deadlines at the embassy of your destination country as early as possible.

Information for Visa UK:

Those who have a visa must also pay an Immigration Health Surcharge for access to the NHS, the public health service. The amount of the Immigration Health Surcharge can be calculated using this Website. Reimbursement of the Immigration Health Surcharge is possible from the beginning of 2022. The detailed requirements for reimbursement of the Immigration Health Surcharge can be found on the following websites: Healthcare for EU citizens living in or moving to the UK und Pay for UK healthcare as part of your immigration application.

During semesters on leave of absence, you cannot receive regular BAföG (student grants for studying in Germany). An application for Auslands-BAföG can be made.

For the BAföG funding period, semesters abroad and semesters on leave (with or without Auslands-BAföG abroad) are not counted, unless the stay abroad is required by the study regulations and is therefore a subject semester. The funding period of regular BAföG for studies in Germany refers only to subject semesters.

In the case of funding via Auslands- and Inlands-BAföG, a funding gap could arise between the end of the semester abroad and the start of the semester in Germany. Up to two months before the start of the domestic semester can be financed via Inlands-BAföG if there are up to four months between the semester abroad and the domestic semester without studying. The funding always starts at the earliest from the month of application. It is therefore important to apply for Inlands-BAföG informally as early as possible.

If you are planning a stay abroad in a non-EU country, please note that the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) does not apply in so-called third countries. There might not be a so-called "adequacy decision" of the EU Commission on a level of data protection comparable to the EU for the third country in which you will be staying. There are also no so-called "suitable guarantees" (specific, officially approved data protection rules). If you transfer your data to an institution in these countries (e.g. host university, internship institution, research institution, language course provider, public authorities, etc.), it cannot be ruled out that public authorities, companies or private persons there may gain knowledge of your personal data and your identity, which would not be allowed in the European Union. There are therefore the following possible risks of which you should be aware:

• The data protection laws or regulations or their application in the third country may have a lower level of protection than in the EU. For example, the level of data protection in the USA is lower. Security authorities, public prosecutors, narcotics authorities, etc. may access data without judicial or other control. This also applies to other countries, such as the People's Republic of China.
• You may have fewer or less enforceable data subject rights there than in the EU.
• The recipient of the data may not be supervised by an independent, enforceable and cooperating supervisory authority which would also support you in the event of any complaints. This applies, for example, to the USA, the PR China and other countries.

You should be aware of these risks and, if necessary, check the data protection regulations that apply in your intended host country.

To prepare yourself linguistically, you can use various options.

You can take semester language courses at the Language Center of Freie Universität and learn languages independently or in tandem at the Self-Study Center.

If you would like to take a language course abroad, you can apply for PROMOS language course funding.

Possibly the host university offers language courses before the beginning of the semester abroad and during the semester.

Furthermore, other Berlin universities offer language courses, such as the TU Berlin with the Language and Culture Exchange.

If you are planning to undertake a stay outside of Germany related to your studies and wish to leave the country for over six months, you are obliged to immediately get in contact with the Berlin Immigration Office (Landesamt für Einwanderung – LEA) before commencing your stay abroad.

You will need to request written confirmation from us regarding your planned stay abroad and submit this statement to the LEA with your approval request.

Please attend to this matter without delay, as otherwise you may lose your visa and/or residency status when you return to Germany after your stay abroad.

During a stay abroad, you may find yourself in situations where your own safety is no longer guaranteed. This can happen due to outbreaks of disease, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, political unrest, armed conflicts etc. and may not be foreseeable. Even though crisis situations will hopefully only occur in exceptional cases, it is advisable to make provisions for such situations as well.

Please inform yourself about the travel and safety advice of the German Foreign Office on their website before starting your trip and continuously during your trip and follow it.

The app "Sicher Reisen" ("Travel Safely") of the Federal Foreign Office summarizes the necessary information for a safe and smooth trip abroad in one application and can also display information tailored to your travel country as push messages. You can find the link to download the app on the website of German Foreign Office.

Please also make use of the possibility to register in the crisis precaution list of the Federal Foreign Office (electronic registration of Germans abroad - "Elefand"). The local missions abroad can, if necessary, use this to quickly contact Germans in their official district in crisis and other exceptional situations.

Further information on travel security from DAAD can be found on the website from DAAD.

International travel contributes a large share to CO2 emissions. It is therefore worthwhile to think about how you can make your stay abroad sustainable when preparing for your trip, but also during your stay.

The DAAD's Studieren weltweit campaign (in German) has published a dossier on this subject with many helpful tips.

Many funding bodies provide financial support for the choice of sustainable means of transport. Researching funding opportunities is therefore worthwhile in any case! The Erasmus program, for example, grants certain participant groups the Erasmus+ Green Travel (in German) allowance and additional funding days for environmentally friendly travel.

What you can do:

• Travel climate-friendly in Europe
  Particularly for travel in Europe, more climate-friendly means of transport such as trains or long-distance buses are an option. Why not arrange your arrival and departure as an Interrail trip?

• No alternative to air travel?
  Especially during take-offs and landings a lot of emissions and pollutants are emitted. Direct flights are therefore more climate-friendly.

• A sustainable lifestyle in the host country contributes to a resource-saving and climate-friendly everyday life:
  
  • Shop regionally and seasonally.
  • Use public transport or bicycles.
  • Use sharing options in the mobility sector.
  • Second-hand kitchen and apartment equipment instead of new purchases:
    Perhaps the International Office or the Erasmus Student Network provide a starter kit for kitchen equipment.
    Especially in big cities, there are many second-hand options that are easier on the climate and on the wallet.

Further tips

Information and tips on how to organize a low-emission, resource-saving and climate-friendly trip abroad can also be found on the Green Erasmus portal.

On the website of the National Agency for Erasmus+ at the DAAD (NA DAAD) you can find practical examples of Erasmus+ Green.

Sustainable Travel Tool of the Una Europa University Alliance

The Sustainable Travel Tool of the European University Alliance Una Europa determines the most sustainable means of transport between the locations of the member universities.

In order to prepare for a stay in another country, it is worthwhile to research country-specific information on society, history and the political system. Books, documentaries, radio and television stations of the host country are suitable for this purpose.

In addition, the following homepages offer practical information and tips:

Youth Reporter

Daad Country Infotmation (German only)

Studieren Weltweit (German only)

Practical information on Planning an Erasmus Stay from the DAAD (German only)

In the International Club of Freie Universität, you can get to know international students before your stay abroad and prepare yourself for the situation of an international student during a stay abroad:
International Club / Local Erasmus Initiative.

The publication "A Question of Perspective. Critical Incidents from student services and university administration" by the German Student Union illustrates intercultural situations in university operations and offers intercultural assessments for the case studies.

Tips for finding accommodation

Please check with your host institution for housing options (e.g., student residences).

In addition, the following information is available:

• Erasmus+ study visits: in the information provided by the Erasmus+ partner universities and in the testimonials on International Exchange Opportunities
• Direct exchange: in the testimonials of former participants
• Internship abroad: in the testimonials of former interns on the blog "Internship abroad"

Illustrated dormitory dictionaries

The Service Agency for Intercultural Competence of the German Student Union and the Studierendenwerk Bielefeld have published several illustrated dormitory dictionaries. Illustrations and vocabulary in eight languages help: From drain sieve to damage report, from oven light to clothes dryer chip. Eleven chapters are devoted to topics such as arrival, apartment furnishings, rights and obligations as roommates, kitchen technology, saving energy, and living together. The brochures are available here as PDF versions.

Dorm dictionary: German-French-Spanish
Dorm dictionary: German-English-Chinese
Dorm dictionary: German-Polish-Russian

Before starting a stay abroad, you should ensure that you have sufficient health, accident and liability insurance. During the stay abroad there is no liability and accident insurance through the university. Exchange programs are usually not accompanied by insurance coverage either.

Program participants are responsible for their own insurance coverage if the host institutions abroad do not offer insurance coverage.

For Erasmus+ internship funding, proof of health, liability and accident insurance abroad is mandatory.

Health insurance

Within the European Union, the European Health Insurance Card provides insurance coverage at the usual conditions in the host country. It may be advisable to take out additional private health insurance.

Outside the European Union, the European Health Insurance Card does not provide insurance coverage.

Short-term additional insurances, which can be booked once a year, do not cover stays abroad during studies in most cases, but only short-term tourist trips. They are not sufficient for study or internship abroad.

Health insurance should cover repatriation (even in case of death) and pandemic case (an illness during a pandemic).

Internship in the European Unioin: The European Regulation of the Obligation to Pay Contributions in the Country of Employment

Students may be required to purchase health insurance in the host/internship country. This is especially true for students who are legally insured as students in Germany and who complete a voluntary internship in the destination country and receive a monthly salary for this. The conditions of insurance coverage during the internship period must be clarified in advance with the insurance offices in the home and, if applicable, host country.

Liability and accident insurance

There is no insurance through the home university abroad and the exchange programs do not provide automatic insurance coverage either. At a minimum, damage caused by program participants at the assignment/study/internship site and accidents that occur to program participants at the assignment/study/internship site should be covered. Ideally, the private area should also be covered.

Information on insurance during the Erasmus+ study visit (German only)

The DAAD offers a combined group insurance rate for health, liability and accident insurance abroad.

You must re-register at FU for each semester you will spend abroad to remain enrolled.

Erasmus students are not obliged to apply for a semester of leave. Nevertheless, it is often used because the semester of leave is counted as a university semester but not as a subject semester and therefore no study time is "lost". You can apply for the leave of absence at the student administration, and you can get a corresponding proof of your study abroad from the Erasmus-- or direct exchange team.

More information about the leave of absence

Reimbursement of semester ticket fees

If you are abroad for at least 3 months or are on leave of absence, you can apply to the AStA semester ticket office for a refund of the fee.

To also personally prepare for being in a new environment without your familiar surroundings, it helps to get in the mood to make new contacts before you leave. Here are some links to help you prepare:

For example, contact the Erasmus+ Student Network (ESN) at your host university.

Join various groups on facebook.