APS India
The APS certificate for India, explained
APS India
The gate that comes before everything else
Every Indian applicant needs an APS certificate, and you cannot book a visa appointment without it. Getting the order of operations wrong is the single most common way an application loses a semester.
New rule · in force since 15 March 2026
Bachelor's applicants now need 70% in Class 12
APS India introduced a minimum 70% aggregate in Class 12 for undergraduate applicants, announced on 23 February 2026 and effective from 15 March 2026. It applies across every board — CBSE, ICSE and all state boards — and takes effect from the Winter Semester 2026/27 intake.
Affected
Bachelor's applicants — both the Studienkolleg route and the direct-entry route after a year of Indian college.
Not affected
Master's and PhD applicants. Applications submitted before 15 March 2026 are assessed under the previous rules.
We'll say it in the first call: below 70%, a bachelor's application to a German public university is not viable this cycle. We'd rather lose the enquiry than take a fee for a file that cannot clear a hard gate.
APS is issued by the Academic Evaluation Centre at the German Embassy in New Delhi. The fee is ₹18,000 and non-refundable, whatever the outcome. Always confirm current rules on aps-india.de — we are not affiliated with APS India.
What goes into the file
- School leaving certificates and mark sheets, all years
- University transcripts and degree certificate, if you have one
- Passport copy and a recent photograph
- Proof of the APS fee payment
- Language certificates, where your programme requires them
We assemble and check the whole set before submission. We never fabricate a document, and we never submit anything you haven't seen first.
Work backwards from the intake
Winter semester (starts October)
uni-assist deadline commonly 15 July — many programmes set earlier dates
Summer semester (starts April)
uni-assist deadline commonly 15 January
uni-assist's own advice
Apply at least 8 weeks before the deadline; processing is running 6–7 weeks
APS verification
Typically 2–6 weeks, but 10+ if a university is slow to confirm your records
Individual programmes set their own, often earlier, deadlines — always check the university's page. Verified July 2026.
Master's applicants
From Summer Semester 2027, engineering, commerce, finance, economics and business applicants also sit the dMAT as part of APS. It does not replace document verification — it's an additional element, and APS can't finish without it.
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