Depending on your citizenship, your family members may also need a visa to stay in Aachen. Please note that it may take several months for a visa to be issued.

First of all, find out whether your family needs to apply for a visa. You will find the exact requirements for applying for a visa on the website of the responsible German representation abroad.

The Welcome Center will be happy to advise and support you with individual questions regarding your family joining you in Germany.

Further Information:

• Apostille and legalization (de)
• Make It in Germany
• Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF)

The demand for places in day care centers far outweighs supply, so sufficient childcare is a problem for parents who are studying or working. If you come to Aachen with children of kindergarten age, you should therefore find out about childcare options as early as possible and look for a childcare place from your home country. The Welcome Center will gladly refer you to the University's Family Services Center, which specializes in this topic.

School attendance is compulsory for all children aged 6 to 15 years living in Germany for a longer period of time, i.e. your child must attend a state-approved school for a period of more than three months. Attendance at state schools is free of charge in Germany. In North Rhine-Westphalia the school year usually starts in August or September after the six-week summer vacation. For all children, school attendance begins with primary school, which covers the first four years of school. After that, there is a choice between different types of secondary schools in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The website deutschland.de provides a good overview of the different types of schools.

You should contact the Welcome Center or the Family Services Center of RWTH regarding this matter as early as possible, preferably from your home country, especially if your children do not yet speak German or do not speak German well enough. We will be happy to assist you in finding a suitable school for your children.

Families receive state support in Germany. Child benefit is one of the most important benefits for families, because it goes to families and thus serves as direct financial help. Parental allowance, on the other hand, compensates the lack of income due to parents caring for their child after birth. There are also other family benefits. The Family Services Center of RWTH Aachen University will be happy to give you detailed advice on all questions regarding family benefits.

The Dual Career Service supports the partners of newly appointed professors of RWTH Aachen University from Germany and abroad in their professional reorientation in Aachen and the surrounding area.

You can also use the information about job search on Make It in Germany.

The Welcome Center would also like to offer assistance to the spouses or partners of international scientists and researchers at RWTH Aachen University as they arrive in Aachen.

For further information, please feel free to contact us, even before you arrive in Aachen.

Kathrin Fedosov
Welcome Center for International Researchers
Templergraben 57
52062 Aachen
Telephone: +49 241-80 92571
Email

RWTH Aachen is a place of international encounters, with ten thousand employees from all over the world, who live in Aachen with their families. In order to support and encourage diversity, the Welcome Center of the International Office and the Family Services Center cordially invite you and your family to our international family events.