Notes on Hosting Agreements and Visiting Scholars Agreements

The Hosting Agreement is an important document for the visa application for non-EU researchers.

Visiting scholars with citizenship of a non-EU country need a Hosting Agreement in addition to a Visiting Scholars Agreement. International researchers from non-EU countries who will be employed at the University of Hamburg also need the Hosting Agreement if they are planning to apply for the research visa/residence permit

If an international researcher has an employment contract with the University of Hamburg, a Hosting Agreement can be issued by the human resources department. Researchers should reach out to their contact person in the HR to receive a filled-out Hosting Agreement.

For international researchers who will not have an employment contract with the University of Hamburg, depending on your faculty, either the office of the dean in your faculty or the head of your department can fill out the Hosting Agreement:

Faculty of Law
Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences
Faculty of Education
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences
Faculty of Psychology and Human Movement Science
Faculty of Business Administration

International researchers require a Visiting Scholars Agreement for the duration of their stay at the University of Hamburg if their stay is connected to a specific research project, as defined in §Section 1 and Section 2 (1) of the Visiting Scholars Agreement. There is no time restriction on a minimum duration of the stay. Rather, the necessity of the Agreement is determined by the purpose of the stay at the University of Hamburg.

You will find the German and English templates of the required form as well as further information in the Staff Service Portal.