Italy vs Germany: showing the money versus locking it away

What we process, and what we do not

ScholarsDream does not process applications to Germany. We work with nine European destinations — Italy, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Finland, Greece, Denmark, Sweden and Bulgaria — and Germany is not among them.

This article exists anyway, because Germany is the destination Bangladeshi families most often weigh against Italy, and refusing to discuss it honestly would be worse than useless. We have an obvious commercial interest in the Italian answer, so read the German case below knowing that. Every German figure here comes from the German Embassy Dhaka's own June 2026 study visa checklist and its published FAQ, both linked at the end.

The comparison

The figures are 2026 and the German column is taken from the Dhaka embassy's own documents. Tuition varies by subject and institution, so the number written in your admission letter is the one that counts.

Germany's real advantages, stated fairly

Tuition is genuinely zero, and it does not depend on an income assessment. Italy's "almost free" depends on filing an ISEE parificato correctly; get that document wrong or file it late and your tuition lands in the top band, which is hard to undo. In Germany, public university tuition is simply zero in 15 of the 16 states, with no income paperwork and no bands. The single exception is Baden-Wuerttemberg, where non-EU students pay EUR 1,500 a semester — Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Freiburg are all in that state.

No APS certificate, and that is a real advantage for Bangladesh. Students from India, China and Vietnam must obtain an APS academic verification certificate before applying to Germany, which costs several weeks and a separate fee. The German Embassy Dhaka states plainly in its own FAQ that it does not use an APS office and that you do not apply through another country's office. If an agency asks you to pay for "the German APS", stop the conversation there.

Six more months at the end. After you finish your degree, Germany grants a residence permit of up to 18 months to look for work, and you may work during that period provided you can show your living costs are covered. Italy's equivalent is 12 months. Six months sounds small until you measure it against how long a first professional job in Europe actually takes to land.

The work allowance is more flexible. German law lets a student work 140 full days or 280 half days a year, where anything under four hours counts as a half day, and a 20-hour week during teaching periods is an alternative model. That lets you work heavily through the holidays in a way Italy's flat weekly cap does not.

What Germany makes harder

The blocked account is the real difference, and it is what stops most families. In Italy you show EUR 10,179.85: the money sits in your own account, you can still use it, and once the visa is issued it remains yours. In Germany you send EUR 11,904 to a German blocked account in your own name, and you cannot withdraw more than EUR 992 in any month. The entire sum leaves the country before you have a visa, and getting it back if the application fails is a separate process. For a Bangladeshi family this is not an arithmetic problem, it is a cash-flow one.

An appointment wait the embassy itself will not estimate. The German Embassy Dhaka writes in its FAQ that the rise in applicant numbers makes an estimate of waiting time impossible. The "approx. 4 weeks" minimum processing time begins after you have an appointment, not when you decide to apply. Master's applications moved to VFS Global in January 2025, and the embassy says this will not immediately shorten the wait.

Fees are not refunded. The visa fee is payable in full when you apply and is not returned if the application is refused. The same is true in Italy, but combined with a blocked account the total cost of one failed German application is considerably higher.

Everything must be translated, and the embassy may ask for more. Documents in Bengali require an English or German translation, and the embassy reserves the right to demand verification of certificates at additional cost. The motivation letter must also answer six specific questions, including why Germany rather than any other country.

Who should choose what

Germany is the better choice if your family can genuinely afford to lock EUR 11,904 away before the decision is made, you can choose a university outside Baden-Wuerttemberg, the extra six months of post-study time matters to your plan, or you are entering engineering or a research field where the link to German industry is strongest.

Italy is the better choice if keeping the money in your own hands rather than blocking it is what makes the plan possible, you may qualify for a regional scholarship such as DSU where a tuition waiver comes with housing and meals, you want the February intake, or you want a process we can actually run with you file by file.

Neither is a good choice if someone is selling you a package but will not put the awarding institution, the tuition figure and the visa route in writing — or is charging you for a German APS certificate that does not apply to Bangladesh. See how to choose a consultancy.

If Italy is the direction

Start with the real number: what studying in Italy actually costs from Bangladesh, then Universitaly pre-enrolment step by step and the wider guide to studying in Italy from Bangladesh. On a tight budget, compare Italy, Hungary or Bulgaria, run your own figures through the cost calculator, and take the five-minute eligibility check.