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I have got Daad scholarship for PhD at DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft und Raumfahrt). And I have applied for student visa, which I will get next week. However, the institute people are saying that I should apply for guest scientist visa. What should I do now? Is it possible to change from student to guest scientist visa after reaching Germany?

Regards

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Are you the same person who posted this exact same question a few days ago?

Anyway, the answer is going to be heavily dependent on what country you're from. Since you didn't state that in this post or in the other one, we don't know.

You don't need a visa if you are from the EEA or if you are from:

2. Citizens from countries not requiring a visa

If you belong to a country mentioned below you do not need a visa but only a valid passport.

Australia

Honduras

Israel

Japan

Canada

New Zealand

Republic of Korea

United States of America

source: https://www.uni-hohenheim.de/uploads/media/Visa_and_Residence_Permit_Germany_31.pdf

And finally, based on some cursory searching, it would seem that PhD students need student "Visum zu Studienzwecken“, as you have already applied for. This is different in some countries (I needed a French scientist visa as a PhD student in France).

The source for my reply re: Germany https://www.uni-hohenheim.de/uploads/media/Visa_and_Residence_Permit_Germany_31.pdf and https://www.daad.de/deutschland/nach-deutschland/bewerbung/en/9199-visa-application/ and https://www.study-in.de/en/plan-your-studies/requirements/visa-and-residence-permit_26604.php.

In France, I was told that I could apply for a student visa or a scientist visa, although the scientist visa was technically the correct one. I would imagine that if you applied for a scientist visa, you wouldn't be necessarily turned away. However since you are already applying for a student visa, and that appears to be the correct route, you're fine anyway.

Finally, the people you should really be asking (rather than us) will be the people at your local German embassy, followed by the human resources/admin people at your Institution. If there is conflict between these two opinions, always go with the embassy once you have a confirmation of correctness from more than one person there.

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  • Thanks man, I really appreciate your answer. Well peope at the institute are telling me that you should get guest scientist visa, and this what created the problem in the first place. – Mr.ComputerFunk Jan 18 '16 at 8:33
  • When do you begin the PhD (meaning: what's your timescale like)? If it is the wrong visa, will you have time to re-apply given average processing times? In my case, I was delayed by the arrival of the "convention of welcoming" which is essentially a signed invitation to research/study at a university signed by about 300 people including the local police prefecture. I was told that since the rules had changed so recently, and since PhD students are both students and researchers technically, I could have gone for either. But anyway, I do think the student visa is right for you based on sources. – la femme cosmique Jan 18 '16 at 9:29
  • I am beginning my phd in Feb. I talked today at the embassy and they said that it is not a problem. Since, I will be getting scholarship. I think in my case, both either student or research scientist would be. I am feeling relaxed and now preparing for my flight. Thanks mate once again. I really appreciate that your help. – Mr.ComputerFunk Jan 18 '16 at 16:34
  • A bit late, but just as info for others: It could be still a problem, cause if you are going to Germany as a student (§16 AufenthG), then in general case you will not be able to just find a job and stay in Germany, if you will not finish your PhD. There are, however, some ways to escape this condition (marriage, Blue Card, etc.). But in the end it could result in longer time until you get a permanent residence permit. Anyhow, it seems that you do not have a choice, because to get another type of the residence permit (e.g. §18 AufenthG), you need to have a salary, and not scholarship. – Andrey Sapegin Nov 20 '17 at 11:23
  • UPD: it could be that you still can have a choice to get residence permit as a researcher according to §20 AufenthG. Please see migrationsrecht.net/… for details. In practice, however, it is almost impossible to get for PhD students. – Andrey Sapegin Nov 20 '17 at 11:48

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