Last modified on 19. September 2013
The special hardships are an attempt to represent your difficulties to acquire the money to pay the Semesterticket fee by granting extra points. Details to points and points values are available here.
These are the special hardships we recognize:
Graduation: This refers to scheduled examinations required for graduation (exit exams, master’s and bachelor’s theses, oral examinations in the context of appointed procedures for the completion of study programmes, or similar tests). The official declaration of intent to graduate, passing of exit examinations, or submission of the final thesis must have been completed within the calculation period of the current application semester (plus one month’s grace period, i.e., for the Winter Semester, from December to July). Doctoral studies do not count as ‘extreme hardship’ graduation. Supporting documents: Copy of a confirmation of your registration for your exit exams or final thesis, your proof of graduation, diploma, or a corresponding document that shows the date of your examination, your registration for the examination, or the submission date of your thesis.
Internship: Serving in an internship presents an extreme hardship, if the internship was unpaid or low-paid, lasted at least 3 months, and required at least 30 hours per week. At least one day of the internship must have taken place during the calculation period. Here, you should give the start and end dates of the internship. Supporting documents: I.e., a letter of confirmation of your internship position (The time period and hours you served, as well as the compensation or payment, must be clearly evident.).
Limited/no work permit (Arbeitserlaubnis): If you are unable to work without restriction in Germany due to your national citizenship, (Aufenthaltsstatus), this may be considered a valid extreme hardship. Supporting documents: A copy, or submission in person, of your residence permit (Aufenthaltsbewilligung), evidence of unrestricted mobility for work, or a comparable entry in your passport.
Medical expenses greater than 250 €: This refers to the costs entered in Box 13 for medical or psychological care that were not covered by your health care insurance plan. If these costs during the calculation period were greater than 250 €, this presents an extreme hardship. Supporting documents: I.e., copies of receipts or bills from within the calculation period.
Pregnancy: This extreme hardship is allowed as long as you were pregnant for at least one day of the calculation period. If your child was born during the calculation period, this hardship is replaced by the hardship “I was raising a child under age 18” (see below). If there were already other children in your household, the pregnancy hardship is granted in addition to the hardship, “I was raising a child under age 18”. Supporting documents: A copy or the submission in person at our office of your maternity log or a doctor’s testimony.
Single Parent: This hardship is allowed if you alone were responsible for caring for and raising at least one child. Supporting documents: i.e., Copies of: A description of your living expenses, or the relevant pages of your notice of eligibility for ALG II.
Child under 18: This hardship is allowed if you were raising a child or children under age 18 during the calculation period. Supporting documents: Copies of birth certificate, entry pages in your passport, or a document which gives the birth dates.
Receiving benefits under SGB II or SGB XII: Supporting documents: Copy of ALG II, or alternately, your approval letter for social welfare benefits, or a bank account statement which documents the benefit payment within the calculation period.
Disability/chronic illness: Supporting documents: A copy, or submission in person, of your disability certificate or a doctor’s written statement documenting the existence of a disability or a chronic illness.
Tending a person in need of care: This refers to measures taken to provide either supportive care (assistance), or help with tending a household, or nursing care. This does not refer to childcare. Supporting documents: A letter of explanation from the person receiving care, a doctor’s written
confirmation, a copy of a disability certificate, etc.
Other comparable hardships: Here you can describe any other individual situations and factors of other hardships that made the payment of the Semester Ticket difficult. Other comparable hardships should be in proportion to the hardships listed above. For example, a statement such as, “racist discrimination during a job search” would be relevant here. If hardships have already been mentioned above, please do not list them twice here (i.e., “could not work because of pregnancy”. If needed, use an extra page to describe the comparable hardships. If there were any expenses, they should be listed in Box 15 “additional costs”.