Blocked Account for Germany, Explained for Indian Applicants

A blocked account, or Sperrkonto, is how you prove to the German visa section that you can pay for your first year. For 2026 that means setting aside 11,904 EUR that you can only draw on 992 EUR at a time each month. It is one of the required items in your student visa file, per the German Missions in India checklist, and for most Indian students it is the largest amount of money in the whole application.

The most important thing to get right is the amount, because that is what most people get wrong. It is not fixed. It tracks the maximum German student support rate and is re-set roughly every year, so the figure a senior quoted you last year may already be out of date. Three more points follow from that. The account covers your living costs only, not tuition, which some programmes make you prove separately. It is one line on a visa checklist of about twelve items, not the whole proof of funds. And an Indian notarised affidavit, the document many families prepare, is explicitly not accepted in its place. This guide covers the current amount, the providers and their fees, how to open and fund one from India, and the alternatives the visa section does accept.

What a blocked account is, and why the visa needs it

A blocked account is a special German account where your money is locked, or blocked, so you cannot take it all out at once. The German Foreign Office explains it simply. The money proves you can support yourself, and releasing only a set amount each month makes sure it lasts across your stay. The amount you need is tied to the top rate of support that German students themselves receive, which is why it changes when that rate changes rather than staying at a round, easy-to-remember number.

How much you need, and what it does not cover

For the current cycle you need 11,904 EUR in the account for your first year, and the confirmation must state that no more than 992 EUR can be withdrawn per month. That is the figure the German Missions in India publish, in force from 1 September 2024, and 992 multiplied by twelve is where the yearly total comes from. Because the amount is tied to the German student support maximum, it is recalculated roughly once a year. So treat any figure as the amount for now, and confirm the live number on the German Missions site before you fund the account.

One point most guides skip. The blocked account is for living costs only, and it cannot be used to pay tuition. Most German public universities charge no tuition, only a small semester fee, but where a programme does charge, for example many private universities or the non-EU fee in Baden-Württemberg, you must prove those fees separately, on top of the blocked amount, not out of it. If your visa is not a standard student visa the amount also differs, so a job-seeker or Opportunity Card applicant needs a higher figure.

Which provider to use, Fintiba, Expatrio or Coracle

The German Foreign Office no longer publishes a list of approved providers, and since 2022 it has said plainly that it makes no recommendations and takes no responsibility for them. In practice two providers are used most by Indian students and are accepted at the missions, Fintiba and Expatrio, with Coracle a third option that is currently paused for new applications. The consulate also confirms it accepts more than one blocked account from different providers, so you can combine two if you need to.

Both hold a refundable 100 EUR buffer on top of the required amount to cover exchange-rate and bank charges. Expatrio is the cheaper of the two, but its fees rise on 7 July 2026 from 89 EUR and 5 EUR a month to 119 EUR and 9 EUR, so applying before that date keeps the lower rate. Fintiba costs more but can confirm faster if you fund by card. Provider fees change often, so check each one’s current page before you commit.

How to open and fund it from India, step by step

The process is short if you use a provider’s own transfer route. You register online, which takes about ten minutes and needs only a valid passport, then you fund the account by transferring the required amount, and once the money arrives you receive a blocking confirmation to submit with your visa file. Paying from India is normal. You send rupees through the provider’s own route, Fintiba Transfer or Flywire, and it does the conversion to euros, with the 100 EUR buffer covering the exchange and bank charges.

The money you send goes out under the Reserve Bank of India’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme, which caps how much you can send abroad at 250,000 US dollars per person per financial year, well above what you need, and you complete the A2 declaration your bank requires. On that form the purpose must be declared as education, because a different purpose code is taxed at a higher rate. Tax collected at source applies to a transfer of this size under section 206C(1G), collected by your bank when the money is sent, and the threshold is counted per sender per financial year rather than per student, so splitting the transfer between two parents can keep each below it. The exact rate and threshold change with each budget and differ for a self-funded transfer versus one from an education loan, so confirm the current numbers with your own bank before you send.

When you actually get your money, after you arrive

You do not get the full amount when you land, and you unlock it in a few steps, not all at once. After you arrive you register your address (the Anmeldung), open a German current account, then link that account to your blocked account by uploading your visa and details, after which the monthly 992 EUR release begins within a few business days. Because that takes a week or two, and because you can only ever draw 992 EUR a month, you should bring separate money that is not in the blocked account for your first rent deposit and setup costs, which the blocked account cannot cover up front.

If your plans change, the money is not stuck. To release a blocked account you need the beneficiary’s consent, handled by the mission abroad before you travel or by the local Foreigners’ Authority after you arrive. A visa refusal notice is itself enough to unblock the funds, and if you are granted a visa but decide not to travel you obtain a consular certificate to get your money back.

What can replace a blocked account, and what cannot

A blocked account is the usual option, but the German Missions in India accept two alternatives. The first is a Verpflichtungserklärung, a formal obligation letter signed by a sponsor who lives in Germany. The second is a German or EU scholarship, but only if it covers your living costs of at least 992 EUR a month, because a scholarship that only pays your tuition still leaves you needing a blocked account or a Verpflichtungserklärung for living costs. Two things Indian families often assume will work do not. An education loan is treated as additional to a blocked account, not a replacement for it, and an Indian affidavit of support is explicitly not accepted in place of a blocked account or a Verpflichtungserklärung.

Sources

• German Missions in India, student visa checklist (amount, alternatives), india.diplo.de
• German Missions in India, national visa FAQ (992 from 1 Sep 2024, tuition, multiple accounts, affidavit, loan), india.diplo.de
• German Federal Foreign Office, blocked account and unlocking, auswaertiges-amt.de
• Fintiba, blocked account product and fees, fintiba.com
• Expatrio, blocked account product and fees, expatrio.com

Related reading. The blocked account is one item in the visa file, which also needs your APS certificate and, for most applicants, a completed uni-assist and VPD step. To check your university is recognised first, see anabin. It is also part of the wider Germany student visa process, and the blocked amount sits alongside your broader cost of studying in Germany and the cost of living and student accommodation it is meant to cover. For the full picture, start with our study in Germany guide for Indian students.