If you have taken a private health insurance plan you still need to get a document from a public health insurance provider in Germany that proves you’re free of any obligation to the national mandatory health insurance scheme. You can request such a document from the last public provider you had taken your public health insurance plan. If you have never been insured by a public health insurance plan, you can choose whatever public provider you want.
In some cases, you might not need to get German health insurance, but you can prove to have sufficient coverage from your health insurance you have taken in your home country. This applies to those students who come from countries to whom Germany has signed social agreements.
Again, your confirmation coverage issued from your health insurance provider in your home country won’t be sufficient as a proof of student health insurance. Neither will a copy of your health insurance card.
If your current health insurance plan is recognized in Germany, you must get a document from a public provider in Germany which proves you have enough coverage and specifies that you’re free over obligations to statutory health insurance system.
It may happen that your health insurance plan provides limited coverage for your medical needs. It is very important that you precisely describe as to what extent you want your insurance to cover you. If your insurance does only provide partial coverage to a fixed upper limit cost, it won’t be recognized in Germany.
To this end, Germany has signed Social Security agreements with many foreign countries including EU and EEA member states. If you’re a resident of any of these countries and you have obtained statutory health insurance in any of them, then your insurance plan is recognized in Germany.
In addition, there are 20 other non-EU and non-EEA countries with which Germany has signed a social security agreement, therefore, their students won’t need to obtain German mandatory health insurance in the first place.
The following non-EU and non-EEA countries have social security agreements with Germany:
Australia, Albania, Brazil, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chile, India, Israel, Japan, Canada and Quebec, Kosovo, Morocco, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay and USA.
But the aforementioned rule applies again; you won’t be able to use your health insurance taken in your home country as proof of student health insurance in Germany. To do so you must send the certification of your mandatory insurance to a German public insurance provider and request a document as a health insurance proof for enrollment at university.
In some occasions, foreign private health insurance might be recognized in Germany. If you decide to study in Germany while having such type of insurance we highly recommend you to ask them in the first place if their insurance plan will cover you in Germany.
An important note: In normal conditions, it won’t take a long time to get your proof of student health insurance. But, if at the time of enrollment your request to a German public health insurance provider for the proof of student health insurance document is pending approval you can still enroll your course on the condition you possess a paper to prove that. However, it is recommended that as soon as you receive the document of your student health insurance after your enrollment you attach it to other documents previously uploaded.