Recognition of foreign educational qualifications
Generally, you need have foreign education certificates recognized in order to apply to Universität Hamburg. You can apply to have your certificates recognized for free in the Universität Hamburg application portal.
Be aware, this recognition is only valid for applying to Universität Hamburg and cannot be used to apply to the Studienkolleg Hamburg or other universities.
The following groups of people may apply directly to Universität Hamburg without applying for recognition of their foreign education certificates:
- graduates from a Studienkolleg in Germany with a certificate documenting their assessment examination, grade obtained in the assessment, and converted grade of foreign higher education entrance eligibility
- high school graduates with an Abitur certificate from an international German school (higher education entrance examination, school leaving examination, or a Deutsche Internationale Abiturprüfung)
- people who already have an endorsement of recognition from German authorities, including information about the type of higher education entrance eligibility and, if applicable, the particular subject—Universität Hamburg accepts the following types of endorsement of recognition:
- those from grade recognition offices of federal German states*
- those from other German higher education insitutions (this also applies to preliminary review documentation [VPD] and evaluation results from uni-assist e.V.)
- APS certificates* from the academic review offices in China and Vietnam
- identity certificates for Chinese DSD students (211 certificates)
Important: Endorsements of recognition marked with an asterisk (*) usually do not provide a converted grade and/or date of graduation. In selection procedures, these endorsements will be assigned a grade of 9.9 (i.e., consideration without a waiting period). That means that applications without a grade or date of graduation will rank behind the last applicant who provided a grade or date.
Application dates
Submit your documents ahead of time.
Application for a winter semester:
- 1 October – 14 February Recognition of bachelor degree for an application for the master programs “International Business and Sustainability” and “Physics”
- 16 December – 31 May Recognition of higher education entrance eligibility / bachelor degree for applications for the winter semester for all other degree programs (Exception: German applicants and applicants with German equivalent status who acquired their higher education entrance eligibility after the beginning of the current year may submit the application until 15 July)
Application for a summer semester:
- 1 October – 15 December Recognition of all degrees for the application for all degree programs for the summer semester
It is technically possible to submit an application outside of the deadlines. Please note, however, that applications submitted outside of the deadlines will not be processed in time for an application for the corresponding semester. Example: If an application is submitted on 17 December 2021 the recognition will not be processed in time for an application for the summer semester 2022.
Recognition occurs on the basis of recommendations proposed by the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, as published in the Central Office for Foreign Education. The recommended requirements are also available on a page operated jointly by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Central Office for Foreign Education at www.daad.de/zulassungsdatenbank. Make sure to also consider the country specific information in our FAQs.
The recognition process at Universität Hamburg is completely digital. Make sure that you have properly scanned all your supporting documents (high school diploma, university acceptance examination, academic assessment, academic achievements, completed degrees, etc.). If you do not have a German or English version of any of your documents, we require a certified translation in addition to the original document. You can find a list of certified translators in the database maintained by state justice administrators at www.justiz-dolmetscher.de. You can often also find translators via the consular services web pages of German diplomatic missions.