Costs of the GBA Blocked Account

Set-up fee and bank charges

You only need to pay a one-off set-up fee of €49 for your GBA Blocked Account. In addition to that, there are monthly costs of €5 for the management of the account.

Moreover, a safety buffer of €100 has to be paid. However, this amount is no additional expense for you because it is usually refunded when you close your blocked account.

Blocked amount

The requirements regarding the total amount for a blocked account differ from state to state. We recommend you refer to the competent authorities in your state. In general, the sum required for a German blocked account is €934 for each month you plan to stay in Germany. Depositing a higher sum is only possible if the competent visa authority confirms on an official document that it requests a higher amount.

Here you will find an example calculation for a stay of 12 months. If you plan to stay in Germany for more than one year, you can renew your blocked account after expiry of 12 months.

Example calculation

In our example calculation we assume that you plan to stay in Germany for 12 months. At the end of the calculation you will find the total amount you would have to transfer when opening your blocked account.

 

According to our example calculation, you would have to transfer €11,417 to Germany when opening your GBA Blocked Account.

Also needed: a standard current account

Please note that you will need another German bank account in addition to your blocked account. The monthly amounts of your blocked account will be transferred to this bank account. You will need the current account for your usual payment transactions. You can transfer payments for your rent or electricity costs, for example. Many German banks offer free current accounts for students.

Why not just check it out?

Just click on "Open blocked account" and check out the registration process. You will see that we will clarify relevant questions with you before asking for any contact data. Don't worry: before you really open your account, this will be pointed out to you clearly and explicitly. Just check it out.