India has highest number of foreign students in Germany: Ambassador Philipp Ackermann

NEW DELHI: The highest number of foreign students in Germany are from India with over 42,000 students, a 25 per cent rise within a year, German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann said on Thursday.

"Great! 42,000+ Indian students in Germany, 25 % more within one year. India now no. 1 group of foreign students in Germany, much faster than expected! Germany is popular among Indian students - and Indian students are popular in Germany, I hear from professors very often," Ackermann wrote an X.

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In an effort to keep up with the growing number of Indian students wanting to move to Germany on a student visa, the German Embassy’s Academic Evaluation Centre had in April announced that it would replace the mandate for paper-printed certificates with digital certificates. "With the goal of accelerating processing times and making it easier for applicants to apply to a greater number of German universities, APS India is pleased to announce that starting from next week, paper printed certificates will be replaced," the centre had said.

India and Germany had in December last year signed an agreement on comprehensive migration and mobility partnership, facilitating two-way movement of students, professionals and researchers, and also address the challenges of illegal migration. This agreement has specific provisions to facilitate mobility and employment opportunities for fostering exchange of skills and talents within both countries. These include an academic evaluation centre in New Delhi, eighteen months extended residence permits to students, three thousand jobseeker visas annually, liberalised short stay multiple entry visas and streamlined readmission procedures.