If you plan on studying abroad, practice your signature, because you will have to fill out and sign more paperwork than seems reasonably necessary. There are the application forms, the health insurance forms, the intent to study abroad forms and the financial aid forms–and those are just the ones you need to fill out for Georgia State. Just wait until you have to start filling out forms for foreign governments.
In order to stay in Germany legally for more than 90 days, I need to get a student visa from the city office in Mainz. Two weeks ago, I went with my pathfinder Jan to do just that. My passport, health insurance and matriculation forms were all in order, but there was one form not satisfactory: proof of financial commitment from my parents.
The letter my father wrote for me was not official enough for the German government. I had to be told this through Jan because the woman in charge of handling student visas for people with a last name M through R didn’t speak English. Let me run that by you again: the woman whose job it is to get international students legally documented in Germany does not speak the lingua franca that would enable her to communicate directly with almost all of these international students.
This woman informed me (through Jan) that I needed a form called a Verpflichtungserklärung, or a declaration of commitment, from my parents. My parents needed to get this form from the German Embassy in the United States. However, when they called the consulate to get the form, they were told that they no longer gave out these forms because of fraud.
The proof of financial support is designed to keep people from going on welfare after they arrive in Germany. Unfortunately for me, without a student visa, I cannot get paid for my office assistant job at the University. My next appointment with the city office is on Nov. 7. I have until then to sort out all of the paperwork, so I won’t receive a paycheck until the end of December.
So protect yourself from a bureaucratic headache and get all the information about the forms you will need before you leave. On all of my instructions, it simply said “proof of financial support,” without any further elaboration. Make use of your advisers in the study abroad department at Georgia State and the international office of the institution where you will be studying.
