FAQ for New International Students

Yes, you can still arrive after the semester has started. However, the following requirements must be met:

• You must enroll at RUB by the deadline. You can find the enrollment deadline in your admission letter.

Additional important information:

• You are only fully enrolled if you pay the semester fee by the deadline!
• Even if you are not in Germany, you must pay your health insurance premiums starting on the first day of enrollment. These premiums are generally non-refundable.

Please keep this in mind before you enroll!

For the late arrival letter, you can contact either the Admissions Office or us. To do so, please fill out the following online form: Support with RUBiss Visa Issuance

No, this is generally not possible. However, please check with your department to see what other options are available, such as participating in online courses.

There is public transportation available from all airports that will take you to Bochum.

If you arrive after the start of the semester, your semester ticket (Deutschlandticket) is already valid, and you can use it on all regional trains, buses, S-Bahn trains, subways, and trams throughout Germany.

To find out which train routes you can take, you can check the Deutsche Bahn website, for example.

After you arrive in Bochum, there are a few administrative tasks you’ll need to take care of, such as registering with the city and signing up for the TV license fee, etc. We’ve explained this for you on the following webpage:

• Information on Visas and Staying in Bochum

Another important step is opening a bank account. However, you can usually only do this once you’ve received your registration certificate after registering with the city.

On the RUB website, you’ll also find important information about all the formalities that need to be taken care of at the university, such as setting up an email account, downloading the RUB app, and getting your semester ticket :

• First Steps at RUB

At the start of the semester, we at RUB International Student Services are organizing the

• International Welcome

It’s a mix of online and in-person events where you can get to know RUB and make new connections.

Many faculties and degree programs also organize so-called “freshman weeks” and orientation events. For more information, please check the website of your faculty or degree program directly.

To meet new people, we highly recommend that you attend our RUBiss events or other events organized by student councils or student clubs! We’ve linked a selection of them here, but there are certainly many more:

• RUBiss Events
• Erasmus Student Network Bochum
• Events organized by the AStA (General Student Committee)
• Student Councils at RUB

Bochum itself is also an interesting city with plenty to offer. Feel free to check out the Bochum Tourism website for more information.

For help with your class schedule and course selection, you can contact the academic advising office for your degree program. You can usually find the contact information on your degree program’s website.

If you don’t know the website, you can find it either through a Google search or by visiting the RUB’s program offerings page.

You’ll often find some initial information about the class schedule on your program’s website, though this varies from program to program.

Many students in Germany finance their studies through part-time jobs. International students also have the opportunity to work in Germany while studying.

For job searches in Bochum, we recommend the following links:

RUB Job Portal

Stellenwerk Bochum

AStA Job Board

In general, however, we’d like to emphasize the following information regarding part-time jobs:

• As an international student with a visa or residence permit under §16b, you are only allowed to work a certain number of days per year; your weekly working hours are also limited
  • You can find more information on this in the information sheet from the German Student Services Organization
• You should not rely solely on a part-time job as your only source of income, but should have other alternatives as well
• It can be particularly difficult to find a part-time job in Germany at first; the job market is quite tight, and for many part-time positions, employers require a good level of German (B2/C1)

At RUB, you have the following options for learning German:

• German as a Foreign Language Department
• AStA German Courses Offered by interculturas e.V.

Of course, you can also enroll in German courses at private language schools or other providers. However, we do not have any information on these options, so you will need to find the information yourself.