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Your first point of contact when looking for a flat or a room is the Student Services organisation at your university. Student Services operate their own halls of residence that offer value-for-money accommodation for students. They also maintain a file with the addresses of private landlords and landladies. They additionally offer a particularly interesting service for international students: Many Student Services sell Service Sets for foreign students. These sets can be booked via the Internet before you come to Germany. In general, a Service Set will include accommodation, meals and health insurance. This guarantees that you have a place to live when you arrive in Germany. You can find more information about the Service Sets on the homepage of the German Association of Student Services Organisations (Deutsches Studentenwerk) at: www.internationale-studierende.de
The DAAD offers detailed information on flat-hunting – including tips on rent contracts and on living in shared flats (Wohngemeinschaften) – on its web-based service pages at: Germany >> Living in Germany >> House and Home.
Earning money and studying at the same time is a part of everyday reality for many students in Germany. However, international students who do not come from EU or EEA countries are only allowed to work to a limited extent in Germany. In addition, they generally need the approval of the Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit) before they can take up a job. That also applies if you are only taking a language course in Germany or are studying at a Studienkolleg. You must make sure that you fully observe the employment law provisions. If you break these rules, you could get into real trouble with the foreigners authority. To make sure that you know exactly what your rights and obligations are, we have compiled the most important rules, regulations and provisions on our homepage at:
Germany >> Living in Germany >> Earning Money.