Important to the BAföG
You want to apply for BAföG or find out more about BAföG? We compiled links to application forms and information for you on this page.
Since 1 July 2021, also in Saxony, pupils and students can apply for BAföG via the new digital application assistant “BAföG Digital”. The BAföG application can be easily created, edited and handed in digitally, by submitting all the necessary data via the new online tool. All forms needed are merged in a simple and transparent way. If the application is verified by means of an electronic identity card, it is submitted digitally and the applicant receives an automatic notification that the application has been received.
Advantages of BAföG Digital:
- Create, process and send your BAföG application comfortably online
- Self-explanatory and easy-to-understand online tool
- Step-by-step application assistant
- Upload function for required documents and certificates
- BAföG applications can be saved as an interim status and processed at a later date.
- The processing status of your application can be monitored at all times
- Registration is possible with or without the new identity card
- With an “online ID card”: automatic transmission to the Department for Grants is possible as well
Alternatively, the forms can still be handed in by post, as an e-mail attachment or outside the opening hours in our BAföG letterbox on the ground floor of Goethestr. 6.
Department for Grants
Goethestraße 6
04109 Leipzig
Personal office hours on site
Tuesday
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Telephone office hours
Wednesday
9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
You can also pick up the application and other forms on the ground floor of the BAföG office or download the pdf files from the BAföG page of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
If you have any questions or feedback on the online application of the Saxon Studentenwerk institutions, please write to bafoegamt@studentenwerk-leipzig.de.
The most common mistakes when filing an application
- The proof of financial status is older than 14 days at the time the application is received or dated after the application was received.
Make sure that your documents are up to date. An application for BAföG funding is only complete if the submitted proof of financial status (e.g. your bank statements) is not older than 14 days from the date of receipt of the application. Documents dated after receipt of the application are also invalid.
If the total value of assets at the time of application is less than 10,000 Euros, the simplified asset declaration (see German downloads) can be submitted. In this case, no additional proof of assets such as bank statements, portfolio balances, etc., needs to be provided.
- Account/wallet holder and date not recognizable on asset certificates
The account/wallet holder and the date must be recognizable on asset statements and statements of digital assets/wallets (screenshots are not suitable).
If the total value of assets at the time of application is less than 10,000 Euros, the simplified asset declaration (see German downloads) can be submitted. In this case, no additional proof of assets such as bank statements, portfolio balances, etc., needs to be provided.
- No choice has been made for an answer with default options.
A complete application requires an authentication with the online feature of the identity card or a handwritten signature on all application forms and declarations.
- Make sure to not submit the same application documents more than once.
If you have sent a scan of your signed application to the Department of Grants via e-mail or via the platform www.bafög-digital.de, it is usually no longer necessary to send the original document via mail. The same applies to other declarations and documents, such as rental contracts or certificates of study.
- Application, forms or other declarations are not signed and/or your name is missing
A complete application either requires a handwritten signature or the indication of your name in block letters at the end of all application forms or declarations. In order not to overlook anything, we recommend to use www.bafög-digital.de.
- The certificate according to § 9 BAföG is missing or only the certificate of enrolment is submitted.
The § 9 BAföG certificate is not the same as the regular certificate of enrolment. Therefore, make sure that you have included the § 9 BAföG certificate in your application. You can download it from your university portal in addition to the certificate of enrolment.
- Alternative answer options are not selected.
For questions with given answer options, an answer choice must be made in every case.
Often, for example, yes/no questions are overlooked. Especially in Form 1 under “Address during training” when the question is asked whether the trainee lives with his/her parents in a domestic community. The yes/no question on the amount of income earned during the BAföG grant period under “Information on the assessment of income” is often overlooked as well.
- Interim times are not indicated correctly.
This refers to Form 1 on the section “Schulischer und beruflicher Werdegang”.
An “interim period” is a period of no more than 3 months, for which no further justification is required. Any period longer than these 3 months must be further justified by you.
- Documents from parents about sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, etc. are missing.
Certificates must be submitted for all payments of this kind.
This includes, for example:
- Parents’ tax assessment notice is incomplete.
Make sure you submit all pages of your parents’ tax assessment notice (including official seal).
- The notice of BAföG rejection is not requested at all or the request is incomplete.
If you are not entitled to BAföG and therefore require a notice of rejection (e.g. to present to the housing allowance office or the Job Centre), you must submit an application for this to the Department of Grants (Form 1). The application must be accompanied by the certificate § 9 BAföG and, if necessary, a short statement explaining your reasons.
