Blocked Account (Sperrkonto)
Required for student visas — you must deposit €11,904 (€992/month × 12) before arriving in Germany. Compare digital providers with traditional bank options.
Recommended providers
Fast digital setup for newcomers. English-language onboarding, no German bank account required.
Official or traditional routes
Trusted public or traditional options — lower cost but more effort.
How the blocked account actually works
The name is misleading. A blocked account is not a fee and the money is not taken from you. It is your own money, held in an account you cannot empty at will, which is precisely what makes it acceptable as proof that you can support yourself for a year without working.
You transfer the full amount before your visa appointment. The provider verifies it and issues a blocking confirmation, the Sperrbestätigung, which is the document the embassy wants. After you arrive and activate the account, it releases €992 to your ordinary German current account each month. Anything left when you finish is returned to you, and if your visa is refused the whole balance is refunded minus the setup fee.
The 2026 figure is €11,904, which is €992 multiplied by twelve. It is set by the federal government and tied to the BAföG student support rate, so no provider can offer you a lower threshold. Applicants for the Opportunity Card and job-seeker visa face a higher requirement of €1,091 per month.
Choosing between providers
All four options below are accepted by German embassies worldwide, so acceptance is not the deciding factor. What differs is speed, cost and whether the account comes bundled with anything else.
Digital providers complete the whole process online, including identity verification by video call, and issue the confirmation as a PDF within hours of your funds clearing. Traditional banks charge no setup fee but generally require an in-person visit and post the confirmation, which realistically means two to six weeks and is impractical from abroad.
Some providers bundle health insurance with the account, which is genuinely convenient because it satisfies two visa requirements in one application. Check what the insurance element actually is before accepting it, since a bundled private travel policy is not the same thing as statutory health insurance and may not be accepted for university enrolment.
Before you transfer
Send slightly more than the required amount, around €12,000 to €12,100, because intermediary bank fees are deducted in transit and arriving even a few euros short means the confirmation cannot be issued until you top it up.
Check that the name on the account matches your passport exactly, including every middle name and the precise spelling. Name mismatches are among the most common reasons a Sperrbestätigung is rejected, and they disproportionately affect applicants whose names transliterate from a non-Latin script.
For a course longer than a year you will need to either extend the account or set it up for 24 months at the outset, which some providers allow and which avoids paying an extension fee later.
Important considerations
Public routes may involve paperwork, waiting times, or German-only portals:
- Deutsche Bank requires an in-person branch visit — difficult from abroad
- Processing can take 2–6 weeks via traditional banks
- Digital providers are accepted by all German embassies and universities
- The €11,904 amount is set by the German government and non-negotiable
- You withdraw €992/month — this is your proof of financial means