Dear applicants, here’s an update on how the Semesterticketbüro is handling the current situation:

• We have not been allowed into our office since mid-March, and since we can only access your applications from there, we have not been able to continue processing them. We’re currently trying to find a solution that will let us pay your subsidies as timely as possible, but we can’t say yet when that is going to be or how it’s going to work. Please be patient a little longer, we will keep you updated.
• It took a while, but we are now able to access our emails from home and are currently working on answering everything in our inbox. Unfortunately we still can’t be reached via phone.
• Please do NOT send us questions about your applications. As stated above, we can not access them from home and can not answer any questions about whether they have arrived, how far they’ve been processed or if anything is missing.
• As usual we can accept belated applications only if you’re newly matriculated in summer semester 2020 or if exceptional circumstances prevented you from applying in time (e.g. if you were outside of Germany during the application period and only returned now). We genereally can not accept applications that are late due to the current situation with Covid-19, both because that would be unfair to everyone else who applied in time and because the application is about the fees paid in January/February and considers your situation in July-December 2019, so that the current situation is irrelevant for the application. However, the application period for winter semester is going to start in June (if all goes according to plan) and that will cover January-June 2020, so feel free to apply then.
• As far as we are aware there are currently no plans for a general refund of the semester ticket fees due to the current situation, despite no classes being held in person. In general, if you have questions regarding the issuing, payment or validity of the semester ticket, please contact the matriculation office, since we don’t have anything to do with that.
• If you are in a difficult situation financially, please contact the Refrat’s social counselling (beratung.allgemein @ refrat.hu-berlin.de) or finance counselling (beratung.bafoeg @ refrat.hu-berlin.de ) teams.

We hope you’re all getting through this crisis as easily as possible and are looking forward to being there for you again soon.