Interim period of travel
Please be aware that you need full medical travel insurance for your interim period of travel until the first day of enrollment. Usually you need this travel insurance for your visa application as well, even though you will sign up for a German health insurance for enrollment. Travel insurance is not sufficient for enrollment at KLU. Due to German law you can only be health insured as a student for the time period of your official enrollment.

So you need both of them:

1. Travel insurance to apply for the student visa in your home country / for the interim period of travel and

2. Sufficient health insurance for your whole study time in Germany - important for your enrollment at KLU

Proof of insurance for enrollment

Do I have to sign up for a German insurance or can I use my international insurance for enrollment?

International health insurances taken out in a non-EU country are in general not valid in Germany. Private international health insurances are not sufficient and will not be accepted. Also private health insurances for the purpose of visa applications cannot be not accepted for enrollment as they limit the cost coverage or the duration of validity. Students will have to apply for a German statutory health insurance in order to be enrolled at KLU.

Non-EU students from countries that don’t have an agreement  with Germany regarding health insurance are required by law to take out a German student health insurance. All international  students  below the age of 30 have to opt for statutory health insurance in order to be enrolled and to be able to apply for their residence permit in Hamburg. Only in exceptional cases it is possible to take out a private health insurance for international students, e.g. if you are older than 30 and are therefore not eligible for the compulsory German public health insurance. If you are older than 30 and from a non-EU country, please find more information in the next chapter.

All statutory health insurances are sufficient for getting a residence permit in Germany. You have a free choice regarding the offered public insurance companies (e.g. AOK, DAK, HEK etc. - please find names and addresses in the subchapter 2.2. "Further statutory health insurance companies").

KLU closely cooperates with a statutory health insurance company, the "Techniker Krankenkasse" (abbr. "TK"), which is one of the biggest statutory health insurance companies in Germany and offers very good services. The monthly contribution for health- and long-term care insurance is roughly € 120 - the same amount like at all other statutory health insurance companies. Please note that the Federal law for the promotion of training (BAföG) is the calculation basis for the student rate for all public health insurance providers.

KLU offers regularly TK support hours on campus where you can discuss open issues with a contact person. If you wish to sign up for TK, KLU will assist you with you application. Please find more details as well as the membership application form in the next (sub)chapter. "Techniker Krankenkasse - membership application form".

Do I have to sign up for a German health insurance even if I arrive later than the official semester start (Sept 01) due to visa problems?
Yes. Due to German law you can only be enrolled with sufficient health insurance. That means you definitely need to sign up for a German, public insurance and submit the required proof along with your enrollment documents.

Exemption from compulsory health insurance for Ukrainian refugees

The Association of statutory health insurance funds has announced that Ukrainian refugees can apply for an exemption from the health insurance obligation as long as their first residence is not in Germany. You can get in touch with TK or any other statutory health insurance to ask for a proof of exemption.

What to submit for enrollment

Your insurance status will be transmitted to the universities by the statutory health insurance companies via an electronic reporting system (“Elektronisches Meldeverfahren”). Therefore, you must contact a statutory health insurance company as soon as possible after receiving your letter of admission and apply for a student insurance there so that your insurance status is reported to KLU. If your status is not reported to KLU, you will not be finally enrolled and will not receive any semester documents.

For the notification of the insurance status to KLU, the health insurance companies might require the sender number of KLU: H0002523.