Enrolment and Arrival

Once your application has been successfully accepted in terms of both formal requirements and academic criteria, you will be admitted to the semester abroad at TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences. In your workflow in Mobility-Online, you can see which steps are still pending or whether all steps have already been completed. Once you have been admitted, you can download and print your admission letter from Mobility-Online. Letters of Admission for the winter semester are usually available in mid-June, and for the summer semester in mid-December. This depends on how quickly you have submitted the necessary information and the Learning Agreement via Mobility-Online.

International exchange students generally require a visa to enter Germany and, for a longer stay, a residence permit as well. Find out well in advance whether you need a visa, which type you require, and where you can apply for it. In some countries, the waiting time for an appointment is more than six months. Otherwise, you may not be issued with a visa until after the start of the semester, and arriving late may mean you are no longer able to successfully attend your courses.

Students from certain countries may, under certain circumstances, enter Germany without a visa, but must then apply for a residence permit within 90 days of arrival. Please check the Visa Navigator of the Federal Foreign Office to see if your home country is included. As a general rule, however, we recommend that you apply for a visa. If the German Embassy in your country permits it, you should definitely choose this option and apply for a visa.

If you are studying at a higher education institution within Europe, hold a residence permit for study purposes in that European country and are a non-European national, the so-called REST procedure generally applies to you instead of the visa. We will contact you about this by email.

Your enrollment at TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences is carried out entirely online. This means that you can complete the enrollment process whilst still in your home country. In this way, we ensure that you have completed all the necessary steps before the start of your studies and can arrive feeling relaxed.

If you have any questions about enrollment or encounter any problems with Mobility-Online or CaMS, please feel free to contact us by email or join our Zoom office hours. The only thing you will need to collect in person upon arrival is your student ID card, known as the ‘MultiCa’. You can find further information on this under the ‘MultiCa’ section.

Once you have been granted admission to study at TH Köln, we will add you to our campus management system, CaMS. Here, TH Köln students can manage their details, pay their semester fee and download documents such as certificates of enrollment

You will automatically receive an email containing your login details for your initial registration in CaMS. Please use only the login details from this email and do not create your own application in CaMS. As an exchange student, you have already applied via Mobility-Online. Please note that it may take a few days for you to receive the email with your CaMS login details. As a general rule, you should receive the email 4–7 working days after your details have been transferred to CaMS. You can see in your Mobility-Online workflow when your details have been transferred to CaMS.

After registering, CaMS will guide you through the final steps to complete your enrolment. We also provide detailed information on all these steps in our digital information sessions EARLY BIRD and GET ON BOARD!

As soon as all the requirements for enrolment have been met, our IT team will create a Campus ID for you. During this process, you will be unable to log in to CaMS for a short time. This is completely normal and no cause for concern! Please also make sure to read through the CaMS Guide shown opposite.

Enrollment in CaMS involves three steps:

• Uploading a photo for your student ID card
• Paying the semester fee
• Verification of your health insurance (SMV procedure) through a German statutory health insurance provider. All students are legally obliged to provide proof of adequate health insurance cover for enrollment and to maintain this cover throughout their studies. You can find further information on health insurance on our website.

Deadlines for the enrollment : 15 February for the summer semester and 15 August for the winter semester. This ensures that you are fully enrolled by the time you arrive and can download your public transport ticket before you reach Cologne

The Department of International Affairs offers info sessions for exchange students before arrival and during the enrolment phase. You will receive information about your first steps at TH Köln and in the city. The staff will also be available to answer your questions. Participation in one Early Bird session and one Get on Board session is compulsory for you.

Early Bird – how to successfully prepare for your exchange at TH Köln

In this session you will receive important information on housing, insurance, semester fees, visa and residence permit and much more.

Our “Early Bird” sessions generally take place in May / June (for mobilities in the winter semester) and in December / January (for mobilities in the summer semester).

Dates "Early Bird" for a stay in the summer semester 2027:

Zoom login

• https://th-koeln.zoom-x.de/j/86161160292
• Meeting-ID: 861 6116 0292
• Kenncode: 021419

Get on board - how to start your studies and get settled at TH Köln

In this session you will receive important information on the topics of enrolment, semester ticket, starting your studies, registering with the city, leisure activities and much more.

Our “Get on board” sessions generally take place in August / September (for mobilities in the winter semester) and in February / March (for mobilities in the summer semester).

Dates "Get on board" for a stay in the summer semester 2027:

Zoom login

• https://th-koeln.zoom-x.de/j/86161160292
• Meeting-ID: 861 6116 0292
• Kenncode: 021419

Stay on track - all you need to know for the rest of your mobility

We will explain what you need to know and do to keep your mobility on track. Topics will include your next steps in MobO, residence permits, exam management, re-registration, Transcript of Records and much more.

Our “Stay on track” sessions generally take place in October / November (for mobilities in the winter semester) and in April / May (for mobilities in the summer semester).

Dates "Stay on track" for a stay in the winter semester 2026/27:

Zoom login

• https://th-koeln.zoom-x.de/j/86161160292
• Meeting-ID: 861 6116 0292
• Kenncode: 021419

All students at TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences are required to pay a so-called semester fee. The exact amount of the fee may vary from semester to semester.

The semester fee is not a tuition fee. Rather, it is a solidarity-based payment which does not go to TH Köln, but is channelled directly into services for the benefit of all students (e.g. the semester ticket, student representation through the AStA and Faculty Student Associations, and services provided by the KStW). Exchange students are therefore also required to pay this fee.

You can find the amount of the semester fee to be paid by logging into your CaMS account. There you will also see the payment reference code, which you must specify when making the bank transfer. The payment reference code – existing of your student ID number, first name, surname – enables the payment received to be allocated to your CaMS account. This means that friends or family members can also transfer the semester fee on your behalf, provided they include the payment reference. Within Europe, it takes approximately 3–4 working days for the payment to be credited to your CaMS account. For payments from countries outside Europe, the processing time is correspondingly longer. Please note that transfer fees are often incurred for payments from countries outside Europe. Please ensure that the amount stated in CaMS is actually received. Check with your bank in advance and, if necessary, transfer a slightly higher amount.

You can also check in CaMS to see whether your payment has already been received.

Your MultiCa is your student ID card. You can use it to prove your identity (e.g. during exams, in the canteen and when travelling on public transport).

To receive your MultiCa, the following steps must be completed so that it can be issued:

• Payment of the semester fee
• Upload your photo for the MultiCa
• Health insurance status (SMV) must have been reported to TH Köln

Deadlines for the enrollment : 15 February for the summer semester and 15 August for the winter semester.

Once you have completed all the steps listed above, your MultiCa can be printed.

You can check whether your MultiCa is ready for collection in your workflow on Mobility-Online.

You can collect your MultiCa at your respective study location at the following times:

• Gummersbach Campus: Steinmüllerallee 1, Room 1.104, Thu 10am–12 noon
• Deutz Campus (including Leverkusen): Betzdorfer Straße 2, Room ZN-2-4, Thu 10.00–12.00
• Südstadt Campus (including Mülheim): Claudiusstraße 1, Room A1.52, Tue 14.00–16.00

The details you enter on the ots-nrw website will be cross-checked against your student details in CaMS. Please therefore ensure that you enter your name and address exactly as they appear in CaMS. Please note: for exchange students, the address of the Office for International Affairs is preset in CaMS unless you have already changed it. If necessary, please enter this address on the ots-nrw website. It is no problem if you change your address later.

You will find a video tutorial and further information on the website.

In the meantime, please make urgent arrangements for accommodation. TH Köln cannot provide you with accommodation. We recommend that you apply online straight away for a room with the Kölner Studierendenwerk (KStW).

You must also have to look into other accommodation options at the same time, as applying to the KStW does not guarantee you a room.

We recommend that you use the academic calendar as a starting point. To plan your arrival and departure dates accurately, please check with your departmental coordinator at TH Köln regarding the start and end dates of lectures, as well as the exam period scheduled for the semester.

In some programs, lectures may start earlier or later than indicated on the website.

The semester period covers the entire duration of the semester, including the lecture period and the semester breaks, which are also known as semester holidays. The summer semester always runs from 1 March to 31 August; the winter semester always runs from 1 September to 28 or 29 February.

The lecture period refers to the part of the semester during which lectures take place. Exams usually take place after the end of the lecture period – in exceptional cases, it is also possible that exams may not be held until the following semester!

Once you have a campusID, you can use Wi-Fi via Eduroam (Education Roaming) not only in all buildings at TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences, but also at many other universities and organisations.

To set this up, you’ll need an active internet connection, which you can establish, for example, using your mobile phone’s data connection. You can find instructions at the following link (login with your campusID required) [Wi-Fi] eduroam configuration.

An English manual can be found online.