International students during their studies and after graduation

Exmatriculation means the official end of your studies. If you have finally completed your studies by successfully passing the final examination, you will be automatically exmatriculated by the university upon receipt of the certificate. As a rule, exmatriculation takes place at the end of the semester in which the certificate confirming that you have passed the final examination was handed out.

If you want to apply for a job after graduation, certified certificates are often required for the application documents. The university only certifies documents issued specifically for this purpose. Other public offices that perform official certifications are authorities (city hall, city administration), church offices (parish office), notaries. Abroad, these are German embassies.

Anyone who moves out of a flat and does not move into a new one in Germany must deregister at the registration office within two weeks. If you move within Germany,, you must register at your new place of residence (also called re-registration)!

When cancelling insurance policies (e.g. health insurance) or contracts (flat, gas, electricity, mobile phone, etc.), please observe the period of notice. For many contracts in Germany, it is normally 12 weeks or, less frequently 4 weeks.

Provide notice of termination of your flat in good time and arrange an appointment with your landlord to hand over the flat. Make sure that you obtain a refund of your deposit!

If necessary, arrange a mail forwarding order with the German postal service so that you can receive important post, even after you have moved out of your flat.

The issue of a visa remains crucially important even after you have completed your degree course, especially if you intend to work in Germany. Please contact the relevant authorities in good time to obtain especially important information for you and renew your residence permit, if this is necessary. Important: Graduates fom third countries may extend their residence permit by up to 18 months after graduating in order to find a suitable job. The DAAD also provides detailed information for your career planning.

• Returnee workshops - After students complete their degree course, the World University Service (WUS) helps them to share the knowledge and experience that they have gained in Germany in their country of origin.
• After your studies, you can join the University of Kassel’s alumni network. This gives you the opportunity to establish and maintain contacts, even after your degree course, get to know companies or exchange experiences.

Staying in Germany?

1. Working in Germany

• The Career Service not only provides a job portal, but also offers plenty of other forms of support for people looking for a job or work experience, such as webinars, tips for your application or a free check of application folders..

• One possible contact point for job seekers is the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit). You will find advice there and can use the job portal. You will find a summary of the various ways of finding work after completing your degree or obtaining further training.

• There are also many other job portals or job exchanges on the Internet where you can obtain information. Here is a small selection:

• The DIVERS career mentoring service at the Women's and Equal Opportunities Office at the University of Kassel is specifically geared towards women and supports them as they develop or launch their careers.

2. A PhD in Germany?

• If you are interested in a PhD after successfully completing your degree course. you can contact the Graduate Academy. It supports doctoral students and postdocs during their academic qualification phase.