BAföG abroad

In order to receive funding for studies in Finland, you have to meet additional requirements in addition to the usual funding requirements (for BAföG in Germany). These include in particular:

1. The studies made abroad must be conducive for the educational level. Evidence of the eligibility of studies abroad is provided by an advisory opinion from your training institution in Germany whch you have to submit within the form 6. If you participate in a EU exchange programme like Erasmus / Socrates, or if you have completed your studies abroad from the beginning (then equivalence is required), an advisory opinion is not required.

2. Additionally, an equivalence of the foreign training facility with the corresponding domestic training facility is needed.

3. The study abroad must be at least partially creditable for the prescribed or customary training period.

Funding for an internship in Finland is also possible under special conditions.

If the study is immediately started or continued in a country in the European Union, there is usually a basic right to Auslands-BAföG funding for the entire standard period of study, even if the course is completed in a country in the European Union.

Auslands-BAföG funding in a country outside the European Union, on the other hand, is usually only granted for one year. In certain cases, Auslands-BAföG funding can also be approved for a further three semesters if the visit to the foreign university is of particular importance for the education.

Similarily to the application for funding in Germany, you must submit a complete application. This includes form 1, the appendix to form 1 and form(s) 3 regarding your parents' declaration. Form 6 must also be completed.

You can find all of the above forms on the BAföG website of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (www.bafög.de).

Your applications should be submitted at least six months before the start of your studies abroad. But this is not a must: If you only receive your acceptance at a later point in time, the application can also be submitted later. Foreign funding for the entire period of the training abroad can only be provided if the application is received by us in the first month of the training abroad at the latest.

As soon as we have your application documents for your studies in Finland, we will send you all other necessary documents by post.

Funding for a stay abroad requires you to actually be present at your training facility in Finland. Exceptionally, however, the requirement of actual presence in Finland is waived in the following cases:

• The requirement to be on site is waived as long as the Foreign Office (AA) has issued a travel warning to Finland due to the corona pandemic and / or if entry into Finland is not possible due to the requirements of the Finnish authorities (hereinafter Called "travel restriction").
• In addition, there is no need to be on site if your training facility in Finland temporarily offers the selected training entirely online due to the corona pandemic. In the case of such a complete online offer, a confirmation from the foreign training institution of the content must be submitted that the selected training content is offered exclusively online and not partially in face-to-face form. In these cases, as an exception, participation in an online course from Germany is eligible for funding in accordance with the regulations of the Auslands-BAföG. However, the online offer must be designed as a replacement for the face-to-face training that would otherwise be offered without a pandemic.
  If the training content is not offered entirely online, the planned stay abroad is only eligible as face-to-face training in Finland. If your training center in Finland changes from an exclusive online offer to an - even partial - face-to-face offer during the approval period you have applied for, you are obliged to notify the Office for Training Assistance immediately. In these cases, in order to continue receiving foreign funding, you must travel to Finland and start training there within 2 months of the month of the changeover and the removal of the travel restrictions. If this requirement is not met, entitlement to international funding ends after the specified 2-month period has expired. In the case,You are not obliged to travel to Finland because the authorization period ends during the two-month period. In this case, you can decide for yourself whether you want to continue participating in the online offers of your training institution or travel to Finland until the end of the approval period.
• If you take advantage of the exclusive online offers of your Finnish training center from within Germany, neither a surcharge for travel expenses nor a surcharge for international health insurance is granted. If you switch from online to face-to-face operation (see above), however, you are entitled to these surcharges if you actually travel to Finland. In these cases, the funding notification will be adapted to the new circumstances.
• In the event that you have to end your stay in Finland due to a pandemic before the approval period (BWZ) has expired, the following applies:
  • If there are travel restrictions and / or an obligation to leave the country during your stay in Finland, you can return to Germany without prejudice to funding. Foreign funding is granted in Germany for the duration of the BWZ with the exception of the foreign health insurance surcharge. However, if the foreign training institution offers online courses, funding abroad is linked to the condition of participation in the online courses. If the online offer is not used, the training is considered to be interrupted from this point in time and funding is discontinued.
  • If it is not possible to continue the training from Germany due to the lack of online courses, foreign BAföG (with the exception of the expenses for health insurance) will still be funded until the end of the BWZ. If the travel restrictions are later lifted and the selected training content is offered entirely and exclusively online, there is no renewed obligation to return to the destination country and the training can be completed online from Germany. You are free to travel back to Finland. For this purpose, the flat rate for travel expenses is granted once more in accordance with Section 4 (2) of the Foreign Surcharge Ordinance.
  • If the travel restrictions are later lifted and the selected training content is also offered in the form of face-to-face events, you must travel to the destination country in compliance with the time requirements (cf. For this purpose, the lump sum for travel costs is granted several times in accordance with Section 4 (2) of the Foreign Surcharge Ordinance.
  • If you are in Finland and would like to return to Germany voluntarily due to the corona situation, although there are no official travel restrictions, this leads to a loss of eligibility for the foreign training for the rest of the BWZ.