A transparent record of every update to bay.in – German immigration law changes, new figures, and revised modules. With sources and timestamps so you always know what's current.
Launched the University Gate Explorer, a gated Study-track tool that filters 40 German public institutions by the structural gates that steer the Indian route: tuition regime (no non-EU fee, the Baden-Wuerttemberg 1,500 EUR rate under paragraph 3 LHGebG, and Bavarian per-university opt-ins such as TUM and TH Deggendorf), application route, English-taught master depth, city cost band, and city-level Indian community tier. A public teaser article links into the tool. Community tiers are documented at city level because per-institution nationality figures are not published.
On 29 June 2026, APS India announced the introduction of the Digital Master Test (dMAT), a standardized academic aptitude test added as an extra element of the APS documentation for selected Master's applicants. The test is administered by g.a.s.t. (Gesellschaft für Akademische Studienvorbereitung und Testentwicklung e.V.); APS India continues to issue the APS certificate, and the dMAT result is recorded on it.
In scope: Master's applicants whose prior degree is in Engineering; Commerce / Accounting / Finance / Economics; or Business / Management. For them the dMAT is mandatory from the Summer Semester 2027 intake and subsequent intakes, and must be taken before submitting APS documents.
Exempt: among others, Bachelor's and PhD applicants, applicants whose prior degree is outside the listed fields, and participants in officially confirmed exchange, double-degree or university-partnership programs. Transitional rule: anyone who completed APS online registration before 29 June 2026, or shipped the complete documents before that date, is exempt; anyone who already holds an APS certificate does not need the dMAT for that completed procedure.
First test cycle: registration opens 29 June 2026, deadline 15 September 2026, test date 26 September 2026, certificate online from 12 October 2026. Fee: €150 via g.a.s.t. Test centers include Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Kolkata, Mananthavady, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune.
Important: the dMAT does not replace APS document verification, anabin recognition or the university's admission decision. A dMAT result does not repair a non-recognized degree (anabin H+/- or H-). Check anabin status before registering.
A new Study article documents the structure in detail: /study/aps-dmat-master-test. New reference-layer figure: dMAT test fee €150.
Source: APS India dMAT information page (aps-india.de/dmat), published 29 June 2026, last updated 30 June 2026; administered by g.a.s.t. (d-mat.de).
The Study article on the blocked account (/study/blocked-account-amount-2026) was fully revised to the current gold standard. The displayed funding amount was corrected: the earlier figure of EUR 11,208 reflected an older rate.
Verified 2026 value: EUR 11,904 for twelve months, released at EUR 992 per month. The amount is pinned to the maximum BAfoeG rate, set by the Federal Foreign Office, and was last adjusted in September 2024 (unchanged for 2025 and 2026).
The reference layer values (Key Figures) were already correct. What was corrected was the diverging figure hard-coded in the article.
Source: Make-it-in-Germany / Federal Foreign Office.
Wave 4 – the final reference layer rollout: the Cross-Track has been populated with 9 overarching paragraphs and 14 verified figures. The initial reference layer architecture for bay.in is now complete.
New paragraphs: §5 (General Conditions), §9 (General Settlement Permit, most recently amended 30.01.2026), §9a (EU Long-Term Residence), §37 (Right of Return), §51 (Expiration of Residence Title), §§53–55 (Expulsion / Interest Balancing), §10 StAG (Standard Naturalization, reverse reform 30.10.2025), §9 StAG (Naturalization for spouses of Germans), §12 StAG (Multi-Nationality).
Key figures:
Historical item: The 3-year naturalization fast-track (§10 Abs. 3 StAG former version with C1) is documented as a 'Historical' item – important for users who still find outdated information online.
Track extensions: Cross-cutting norms §5, §9, §51 and naturalization are assigned to all four tracks – they appear in every track view.
The reference layer is now initially complete: 37 legal references, 61 key figures (including 1 Historical, 1 Sunset, and 1 Preliminary for minimum wage 2027). 4 update log entries document the migration.
Sources: BMI, BMAS, BAMF, gesetze-im-internet.de, asyl.net, anwalt.org, Make-it-in-Germany.
Wave 3 of the reference layer rollout: the Family track has been populated with 9 new paragraphs and 13 verified figures.
New paragraphs: §27 (General provisions, most recently amended 02.04.2026), §28 (Reunification with German citizens), §29 (Reunification with foreigners), §30 (Spouse reunification), §31 (Independent residence rights including Blue Card special rule under Abs. 1a), §32 (Child reunification, most recently amended 03.02.2026), §33 (Birth in Germany), §36 (Parent reunification including new skilled worker privilege Abs. 3 since 01.03.2024), §36a (Subsidiary protection beneficiaries).
Key figures:
Track extensions: Visa fees (adults €75, minors €37.50), residence permit first-application fee (max €100) and travel health insurance minimum coverage (€30,000) from Wave 1 have been extended with Family track relevance.
Sources: gesetze-im-internet.de, Federal Foreign Office, Federal Constitutional Court case law, Make-it-in-Germany.
Wave 2 of the reference layer rollout: the Work track has been populated with 11 new paragraphs and 18 verified 2026 figures.
New paragraphs: §18, §18a, §18b (most recently amended 03.02.2026), §18c, §18g (EU Blue Card), §16d (Recognition Partnership), §20a (Opportunity Card, most recently amended 24.12.2025), §20b, §21 (Self-Employment), §81a (Fast-Track Procedure), §39 (Federal Employment Agency Approval).
Key 2026 figures:
Track extensions: §20, §81 and §19c (Au-Pair) from Wave 1 have been extended with Work and Cross-Track relevance.
Sources: BMAS, Federal Foreign Office, Make-it-in-Germany, gesetze-im-internet.de, Destatis, Federal Government.
With the Premium CMS upgrade, the reference layer of bay.in has been introduced. Four new CMS collections now form the single source of truth for all recurring values and legal foundations used across the platform:
For the Study track, 8 paragraphs and 16 values have been seeded with verified sources (Federal Foreign Office, BAMF, vdek, gesetze-im-internet.de, APS India). The goal: dramatically improve maintainability, eliminate duplicate content, and enable centralized updates whenever German immigration law changes.
