No, the application for the VPD at uni-assist does not replace an application for admission to Freie Universität Berlin. The VPD is only an evaluation of your certificates and must be uploaded as a document to the Freie Universität Berlin application portal.

You can apply for a VPD at any time, regardless of our application deadlines. It is valid for one year after issuance.

Uni-assist usually needs four to six weeks to process the VPD application, and even longer during peak periods. We therefore strongly recommend that you submit your VPD application to uni-assist as early as possible and, if necessary, well before the application deadlines of Freie Universität Berlin, otherwise you will not be informed in time about missing documents and will not be able to submit your application to FU Berlin by the deadline. The decisive factor for meeting the application deadline is the complete receipt of your application documents, including the VPD, in the FU Berlin application portal, not the date on which the VPD was created or applied for at uni-assist.

To apply for a student visa in good time, you can present the VPD from uni-assist to the German Embassy in your home country.

No, the VPD must be issued for Freie Universität Berlin in order for you to apply to Freie Universität Berlin.

Yes, a fee must be paid to uni-assist for the verification of certificates. Your VPD application will only be processed by uni-assist once the fee has been received in the uni-assist account.

Yes, please be sure to also note the special country-specific information provided by uni-assist.

No, in this case, one VPD is sufficient. Even if you wish to apply for both an undergraduate degree and a master's degree at the same time, it is sufficient to apply for one VPD. In this case, please apply for the VPD for the highest degree you are aiming for (all subjects – master's).

In rare cases where university entrance qualifications are unclear and are up to the decision of the university, uni-assist will give you a substitute certificate instead of a VPD. You'll need to upload this substitute certificate to the Freie Universität Berlin application portal instead of the VPD.

Applicants who have successfully completed a state-recognized Studienkolleg in Germany are exempt from the VPD requirement, but must upload the following documents to the Freie Universität Berlin application portal:

• Certificate of the assessment exam
• An evaluation of the prior education that led to admission to the preparatory college (VPD or assessment report from uni-assist, evaluation by the Central Office for Foreign Education (Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen) or one of the certificate recognition offices of the federal states (Zeugnisanerkennungsstellen der Länder))

If you already have a Statement of Comparability from the ZAB (German Central Office for Foreign Education), you are exempt from the VPD requirement. Individual federal states in Germany also issue official documents that serve as valid recognition of your academic records and education certificates. However, you must upload the following document to the application portal of Freie Universität Berlin:

•     Official letter of recognition/ statement of comparability from an official certificate recognition office in Germany

Please note: If this letter of recognition does not convert your grades into the German grading system, the educational qualifications can only be considered with a procedural grade of 4.0. You can still decide to apply for a VPD to have your grades converted correctly.
Be aware that when applying to universities the letter of recognition/statement of comparability must be issued directly to the university and must include explicit mention of your university entrance qualifications (i.e., whether or not you have one, and if you do, what kind of qualification is it). If you are exempt from the VPD requirement or otherwise wish to make use of these special regulations, we recommend that you submit your application well in advance of the regular due date.