uni-assist and VPD Guide 2027: Fees and Steps

uni-assist checks international applicants’ documents for many German public universities. It does not admit anyone. Depending on the university, it either forwards your application or gives you a document called a VPD to submit to the university yourself. It costs €75 for the first course of study you choose at uni-assist in a semester and €30 for each further one, and usually takes 4 to 6 weeks, so start about three months before the university’s deadline.

Key points

The university decides on admission, not uni-assist. The university also decides whether you go through uni-assist at all: of the 824 programmes in our dataset, 211 use it, all at public universities.
Everything is digital. uni-assist wants scans of official certificates; certification by a notary or embassy is not among the options it lists, and nothing goes by post.
Indian applicants need the APS certificate in their uni-assist file before the deadline. Nigerian applicants need their WAEC or NECO scratch card. Pakistani applicants with a degree need HEC stamps on it.
Your documents must be uploaded and the fee paid by the university’s deadline. uni-assist advises applying at least 8 weeks before it, and more for a VPD.
Agents cannot buy priority. uni-assist does not cooperate with commercial agencies and treats their applications like everyone else’s.

What does uni-assist do?

uni-assist is a non-profit association that “processes approximately 350,000 student applications from over 190 countries and regions worldwide every year” for about 160 German universities (uni-assist: Profile). It evaluates your certificates against the general requirements for studying in Germany, converts your grades into the German system and checks the criteria your university has set. It does not decide on admission: “It is the university, not uni-assist, that decides on your admission” (uni-assist: FAQs, get information).

Two things surprise many applicants. Each university decides which programmes and applicant groups uni-assist handles, so being on uni-assist’s list does not mean every programme there goes through it. And uni-assist has no offices outside Berlin (uni-assist: FAQs, get information).

Your application shows one of five statuses in your My assist account:

In evaluation: uni-assist is checking it.
Okay: complete and meets the requirements for the preliminary check.
Faulty: “Your application does not meet all criteria”. uni-assist tells you what is missing.
Case-by-case decision: your application does not fully meet the criteria, but the university wants to look at it itself.
Withdrawn: you withdrew it.

You can upload missing documents only until the university’s deadline: “We cannot consider any documents submitted after the deadline” (uni-assist: Status and evaluation result; uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online). If you think uni-assist made a mistake, for example in converting your grade, report it within 14 days of receiving the result. If it cannot fix the error and you complain again, it passes your application to the university for a final decision (uni-assist: Terms and Conditions).

Standard procedure or VPD: which one applies to you?

uni-assist works in one of two ways, and the university chooses which.

Standard procedure. “After a positive evaluation, we forward your application and documents to the university in electronic form” (uni-assist: Standard procedure). You apply only once, in My assist.
VPD procedure. uni-assist issues a Vorprüfungsdokumentation (VPD) stating which certificates you submitted, how it evaluates them and your grade in the German system. “You then apply directly to the university. Submit your VPD as an upload, together with your application documents, directly to your university before the deadline” (uni-assist: VPD). uni-assist says a VPD is “valid for one year from its date of issue”; TUM accepts its VPDs “for 3 years after issuance” if your qualification has not changed (TUM: Preliminary Documentation (VPD) by uni-assist).

To find out which one your university uses, look it up in uni-assist’s list of universities: if the VPD procedure applies, there is a note on it below the university’s address (uni-assist: FAQs, Plan your application; uni-assist: uni-assist universities). Universities that do not use uni-assist at all are not on the list. Always check the programme’s own page too, because the university decides which programmes uni-assist handles.

Four mistakes with a VPD

A VPD for the wrong university. “TUM does not accept a VPD that has been applied for for another university” (TUM: Preliminary Documentation (VPD) by uni-assist). Request one for each university that uses the VPD procedure.
The wrong level. “VPDs for Bachelor’s and Master’s programs are separate and specific documents” (TUM: Preliminary Documentation (VPD) by uni-assist).
Thinking the VPD is your application. “An application for a VPD via uni-assist alone does not qualify as an application for a degree program at TUM” (TUM: Preliminary Documentation (VPD) by uni-assist). You still apply in the university’s own portal.
Expecting the VPD to arrive late without consequences. TUM accepts a confirmation that you requested the VPD on time as a placeholder and lets the VPD follow within a grace period, if everything else is uploaded and you applied for the VPD by TUM’s own VPD deadline; until it arrives, “participation in the aptitude assessment is not possible”. TU Berlin does not: “An application without the preliminary review documentation (VPD) from uni-assist is considered incomplete and will result in formal rejection” (TUM: Preliminary Documentation (VPD) by uni-assist; TU Berlin: Applying with a university degree from a foreign university (master's)).

The semester you pick at uni-assist does not matter for a VPD: “It does not matter whether you apply for the summer semester or the winter semester at uni-assist. Please note, however, that the application deadline at TUM must be met” (TUM: Preliminary Documentation (VPD) by uni-assist). Upload only what the VPD needs: TUM says ID copies, motivation letters, essays and language certificates are “not required” at uni-assist, and “uni-assist does NOT check language certificates for TU Berlin. These must be uploaded directly and only via the application portal of TU Berlin” (TUM: Preliminary Documentation (VPD) by uni-assist; TU Berlin: Admission requirements for applicants with an international school certificate).

For some restricted-admission bachelor’s programmes you also register at hochschulstart.de first: “Without an accurate BID and BAN, we cannot forward your application to the universities” (uni-assist: FAQs, Plan your application). A Studienkolleg place is applied for through uni-assist in the same way, at the same fees (uni-assist: Pay and submit).

Which universities use uni-assist?

Fewer than many applicants think. In AdmitArrive’s dataset of 824 English-taught or partly English-taught programmes at 26 universities, 82 use the standard procedure and 129 the VPD procedure, all at public universities. At TU Chemnitz international applicants go through uni-assist unless their master’s is in its EduApplication pilot (TU Chemnitz: Application for bachelor's and master's programmes). The private universities we track take applications directly, though uni-assist’s own list includes a few private ones elsewhere.

Public university	How you apply (programmes in our dataset)
Leibniz University Hannover	VPD from uni-assist, then apply to the university (28)
Technical University of Munich	VPD from uni-assist, then apply to the university (82)
Technische Universität Berlin	VPD from uni-assist, then apply to the university (19); Apply to the university directly (7)
Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg	Standard procedure: uni-assist forwards your application (26); Depends on the programme (1); Apply to the university directly (1)
Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences	Standard procedure: uni-assist forwards your application (23)
TUD Dresden University of Technology	Standard procedure: uni-assist forwards your application (23); Apply to the university directly (11)
University of Duisburg-Essen	Apply to the university directly (19); Standard procedure: uni-assist forwards your application (10)
Chemnitz University of Technology	Depends on the programme (9); Apply to the university directly (7)
Deggendorf Institute of Technology	Apply to the university directly (28)
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)	Apply to the university directly (54)
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology	Apply to the university directly (26)
RWTH Aachen University	Apply to the university directly (48)
Technische Universität Braunschweig	Apply to the university directly (13)
Technische Universität Darmstadt	Apply to the university directly (26)
University of Stuttgart	Apply to the university directly (18)

Source: AdmitArrive university dataset (November 2026), each route quoted from the university’s own page. “Depends on the programme”: at TU Chemnitz, uni-assist unless the programme is in the EduApplication pilot; check your programme’s page.

Three examples of how universities word it. OVGU Magdeburg: all applications from applicants who obtained their entrance qualification abroad “are pre-checked by uni-assist e.V.” (OVGU Magdeburg: Applying via uni-assist e.V.). TUM: “An application for a VPD via uni-assist alone does not qualify as an application for a degree program at TUM” (TUM: Preliminary Documentation (VPD) by uni-assist). The University of Stuttgart: “All applicant groups (German nationals, EU-citizens and non-EU citizens) must apply through our Campus-Management-System C@MPUS” (University of Stuttgart: Application for international degree seekers).

What does uni-assist cost, and how do you pay from India, Nigeria or Pakistan?

“Cost for the first chosen course of study: EUR 75.00” and “For each additional chosen course of study: EUR 30.00”, per semester, and “The costs are the same for all forms of application, whether standard or VPD procedure” (uni-assist: Pay and submit). In the standard procedure, each programme you choose is a course of study, so three cost €135. For a VPD you choose the university and level instead: TUM says to pick “all degree courses” and “Do not choose a specific program”, so one VPD for €75 covers every TUM programme you later apply to (TUM: Preliminary Documentation (VPD) by uni-assist). Apply again in a later semester and you pay again. Some universities pay the fee for their applicants; My assist shows which (uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online).

Paid in advance, not refunded. uni-assist starts only once the money has arrived, and “You cannot reclaim the handling fee if your application is unsuccessful” (uni-assist: Terms and Conditions; uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online).
Withdrawing. A withdrawn application that is still in evaluation turns the fee into credit on your account. For a refund after the 14-day revocation period, uni-assist charges €10 (uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online).
Paying from these countries. uni-assist’s “online bank transfer” option is offered only for accounts in a list of European countries, which does not include India, Nigeria or Pakistan. That leaves a 3D Secure Visa or MasterCard credit card, which submits your application at once, or a transfer to your personal IBAN, and “International bank transfers can take up to two weeks” (uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online). Ask your bank for an “OUR” transfer so the full amount arrives. “Sometimes banks may not accept payments with credit cards or bank transfers from certain countries for security reasons”, so ask your bank early. Someone else may pay for you, but only into your personal IBAN (uni-assist: Pay and submit).

No university in our dataset states an application fee of its own on top of uni-assist’s, though many say nothing either way. Where a university charges one, such as FAU’s €100 per application for non-EU applicants, you apply to it directly (FAU: Fees for applications from non-EU states).

How long does it take, and when must you apply?

“You will usually receive your evaluation result in 4 to 6 weeks – counting from the day on which we received your online application form” (uni-assist: Status and evaluation result). Its terms put it at 28 to 42 days, “or in exceptional cases up to 56 calendar days” (uni-assist: Terms and Conditions). For a VPD: “Request your VPD as early as possible, ideally at least 8 weeks before the deadline. We will then have time to inform you if any documents are missing” (uni-assist: VPD).

The university’s deadline counts. “The university’s deadlines apply to your application via uni-assist”, and everything uni-assist needs must be uploaded before it (uni-assist: FAQs, get information; uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online). TU Berlin warns: “If you apply very late or shortly before the deadline, the check of your documents may not take place until after the application deadline. In this case, subsequent submissions are no longer possible” (TU Berlin: Applying with a university degree from a foreign university (master's)).
The VPD gets no extra time. In the standard procedure uni-assist has agreed with universities that it can finish checking after the deadline. “The agreement with the universities mentioned above does not apply to the VPD procedure” (uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online).
Late documents can restart the clock. Once your status has changed, “If any documents are submitted late by the Applicant, the processing and waiting time will restart”, and uni-assist is not obliged to tell you about missing documents before the deadline (uni-assist: Terms and Conditions).
No priority for visa appointments. “No, we cannot give preference to certain applications”. But a positive result helps: with it “you can apply for a student applicant visa ("Studienbewerber-Visum") in the visa section of many German embassies or German consulates” (uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online).

In our dataset, the most common non-EU deadlines for winter 2027/28 on the uni-assist routes are 31 May 2027 (102 programmes) and 15 July 2027 (60); the median is 31 May 2027. Counting from 14 November 2026, 198 of the 211 uni-assist programmes still have a deadline at least twelve weeks away, almost all of them for winter 2027/28. The summer 2027 deadlines left in January and February are realistic only in the standard procedure, with your documents already in hand, not with an APS or a VPD still to come.

Which documents do applicants from India, Nigeria and Pakistan need?

uni-assist asks for scans of official certificates, not certified copies. “Your certificates must be official: official certificates are those bearing a signature and stamp from the issuing institution, a reference to their automatic issuance or a verification code” (uni-assist: Educational certificates and translations). “You do not need to send documents to uni-assist by post. The application via uni-assist is fully digital” (uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online). You upload PDFs, complete and readable, covering your whole education from the school-leaving certificate on (uni-assist: Uploading documents). Certificates not issued in German or English need a translation by a sworn translator or by the issuing institution. If your transcript does not show your university’s grading system, upload a link to your university’s own page or an official document such as the examination regulations: “Links to anabin or Wikipedia are not enough” (uni-assist: Educational certificates and translations). uni-assist needs each document “once only, even if you are applying to multiple universities or for several courses of study” (uni-assist: Uploading documents), and re-uses your uploads for three calendar years. If you reapply, log in to the same account: “Do not register again” (uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online).

Country	What uni-assist asks for	Not required by uni-assist
India	The digitally sealed APS certificate, uploaded as the unchanged original file. School route: the Senior/Higher Secondary School Certificate (X+II) with all subjects and grades and the school’s grading system, plus JEE results if you passed both parts. University route: mark sheets, degree certificate and the grading system, with the maximum and minimum grade for the award of the degree.	Certified copies
Nigeria	The WAEC or NECO certificate plus the scratch card number and PIN, so uni-assist can verify your results. University route: degree certificate and transcript with the university’s stamp and the registrar’s signature, plus the grading system with the classification of degrees.	NUC attestation, legalisation or apostille: none mentioned
Pakistan	School route: certificates with subjects and grades (Matric and Intermediate). University route: degree certificate and mark sheets “with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) attestation stamps”, plus the minimum grade needed for the degree to be awarded.	IBCC equivalence: not mentioned; no HEC stamp needed for school certificates

Sources: uni-assist: Country information, India; uni-assist: Länderhinweise Indien (German); uni-assist: Country information, Nigeria; uni-assist: Länderhinweise Nigeria (German); uni-assist: Country information, Pakistan. Read on 14 November 2026.

India: the APS comes first

uni-assist’s India page says to upload “the digitally sealed APS certificate as an unchanged, original file”; its German version adds that it must be uploaded within the application deadline (uni-assist: Country information, India; uni-assist: Länderhinweise Indien (German)). Upload the file APS sent you, unchanged: APS India says it “should be submitted as the original standalone PDF file so that the digital signature can be verified”, and it gives no fixed processing time (APS India: Frequently asked questions). The APS fee is ₹18,000 for graduates and ₹18,000 for Class XII graduates (APS India: Information leaflet for students with a Bachelor or Master degree (valid as of October 2026); APS India: Information leaflet for Class XII graduates (PDF)). Without the APS, your application does not meet the criteria: uni-assist will not forward it in the standard procedure or issue a VPD. If you apply for a master’s in certain fields, check whether you also need the dMAT first (uni-assist: Country information, India). Our APS guide explains the procedure.

Nigeria: keep the scratch card

uni-assist asks for “a scratch card or the information which it contains (card number and PIN) for verification of your examination results” (uni-assist: Country information, Nigeria). Use a card whose checks are not used up; uni-assist does not say what happens if the check fails. An HND gives direct access only in its own subject area (DAAD/uni-assist admission database: Nigeria, Higher National Diploma).

Pakistan: HEC stamps on the degree only

The HEC stamps are required on degree documents (uni-assist: Country information, Pakistan). For your school certificates, uni-assist names no HEC or IBCC step, but the visa section later wants all your educational certificates HEC-attested. A two-year bachelor’s gives only subject-restricted access (DAAD/uni-assist admission database: Pakistan, bachelor's of at least two years). TUM additionally asks Pakistani applicants for a VPD: “Pakistan Applicants for bachelor’s or master’s degree programs need to apply for a Preliminary Documentation (VPD) via uni-assist in addition to applying to TUM directly” (TUM: Special conditions for certain countries).

Certified copies come later

Universities check your documents again at enrolment, and the visa section may want paper copies. The German missions certify copies: in India for €27–28 per document; in Nigeria for €26, free of charge for a study application with proof of purpose; in Pakistan, one set is free if you prove you intend to study in Germany, and the embassy certifies copies with “no cross attestation by the HEC Pakistan required” (German Missions in India: Certificates, attestations and notarizations; German Missions in Nigeria: Fees for certifications; German Missions in Nigeria: Certifications and notarizations; German Embassy Islamabad: Legalisation and certification of documents).

What does the university do before and after uni-assist?

No pre-check. “Binding decisions regarding the recognition of foreign educational certificates can only be made after verification by uni-assist. TU Berlin does not conduct any prior checks” (TU Berlin: Admission requirements for applicants with an international school certificate). Deggendorf, which does not use uni-assist, says the same about its own portal (Deggendorf Institute of Technology: Apply to start your studies).
Limits on applications. uni-assist sets none, but universities may. TU Chemnitz allows “a maximum of two desired study courses” (TU Chemnitz: Application for bachelor's and master's programmes).
The university’s own selection. After uni-assist, the university checks your application and may run its own selection, such as an aptitude assessment. OVGU says its staff needs “approx. 4 weeks” for a decision (OVGU Magdeburg: Applying via uni-assist e.V.).
APS timing at other universities. 13 of the 26 universities in our dataset ask for the APS with the application, 6 ask for it only at enrolment, 2 do not ask for it themselves and 5 say nothing. Duisburg-Essen, for example, lists it among the enrolment documents (University of Duisburg-Essen: International admissions). Check your university’s own page.
Documents again at enrolment. TUM asks admitted students to upload authentic documents again, “It is not required to upload notarized copies”, and may ask you to show the originals in person if it has doubts (TUM: Document requirements).

Can an agent speed things up?

No. uni-assist shows this warning across its website: “uni-assist e.V. does not cooperate with commercial agencies in Germany or abroad that place applicants at German universities. There are organizations that claim to be affiliated with uni-assist. Payment requests related to the application process are issued exclusively by uni-assist and are processed only through the uni-assist online portal” (uni-assist: Pay and submit). Applications submitted through an agency “are treated the same as all other applications” (uni-assist: FAQs, get information), and several accounts for one person “may cause problems with your application” (uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online). AdmitArrive is not affiliated with uni-assist and does not apply for anyone: you create your own My assist account and pay uni-assist directly.

Your timeline, step by step

Check how each programme takes applications: uni-assist, a VPD or directly. The programme page and uni-assist’s list of universities tell you.
India: start the APS now. It must be in your uni-assist file before the deadline, and APS India gives no fixed processing time.
Prepare your PDFs once. uni-assist needs each document only once. Nigeria: have an unused scratch card ready. Pakistan: if you apply with a degree, get the HEC stamps on it.
Pay by 3D Secure card, or allow two weeks for a transfer.
Submit at least 8 weeks before the deadline, better three months. Then apply in the university’s portal if it uses the VPD.

Not sure your certificate is enough for a bachelor’s? Read our guide for Class 12, WAEC and FSc holders. For how universities select master’s applicants, see our admission guide; private universities’ dates are in our deadline calendar, and the next step after admission is the student visa. Browse programmes on our India, Nigeria and Pakistan pages.

Frequently asked questions

Does uni-assist decide on my admission?

No. uni-assist checks your documents, converts your grades and checks the formal criteria the university has set. The university then decides. uni-assist says: "It is the university, not uni-assist, that decides on your admission."

Source: uni-assist: FAQs, get information.

How much does uni-assist cost?

€75 for the first course of study you choose at uni-assist in a semester and €30 for each further one. In the standard procedure each programme counts; for a VPD you choose the university and level, so at TUM one VPD covers all its programmes. The fee is paid before processing starts and is not refunded if the result is negative.

Sources: uni-assist: Pay and submit; uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online; TUM: Preliminary Documentation (VPD) by uni-assist.

How long does uni-assist take?

uni-assist says you will usually receive the result in 4 to 6 weeks, counted from the day it receives your online application, and advises applying "ideally at least 8 weeks before the deadline", with more time for a VPD. Indian applicants also need the APS certificate first, for which APS India gives no fixed processing time.

Sources: uni-assist: Status and evaluation result; uni-assist: VPD; APS India: Frequently asked questions.

Do I need certified copies for uni-assist?

uni-assist works digitally: you upload scans of official certificates, meaning ones with the issuing institution's signature and stamp, a note that they were issued automatically, or a verification code. You do not send anything by post. Universities check your documents again at enrolment, and the visa section may want certified copies.

Sources: uni-assist: Educational certificates and translations; uni-assist: FAQs, Apply online; TUM: Document requirements; German Missions in India: Certificates, attestations and notarizations.

What is the difference between uni-assist and a VPD?

In the standard procedure, uni-assist forwards your application to the university. In the VPD procedure, uni-assist gives you a document (the VPD) with its assessment of your certificates and your converted grade, and you then apply to the university yourself, uploading the VPD. uni-assist's list of universities shows which procedure each university uses.

Sources: uni-assist: Standard procedure; uni-assist: VPD; uni-assist: FAQs, Plan your application.

Can an agent speed up my uni-assist application?

No. uni-assist says it does not cooperate with commercial agencies and that applications submitted via an agency are treated the same as all other applications. It has offices only in Berlin, and payment requests come only through its own portal.

Sources: uni-assist: Pay and submit; uni-assist: FAQs, get information.

Sources and method

We read the pages below on 14 November 2026 and only used what they state. The counts come from AdmitArrive’s university dataset of 26 universities: every fact in it is quoted from an official page, with the page address and the date we checked it. A programme taught at several campuses counts once, and programmes closed to new students are left out. The route is the one the university states for the programme, or for the university as a whole. uni-assist’s procedures, fees and processing times can change, so check its pages and your university’s before you apply. We review this guide at least every three months.

uni-assist and the VPD (2027): how it works, what it costs and when to apply from India, Nigeria and Pakistan