How Much Do You Need in a German Sperrkonto? (2026)

How Much Has to Be in the Account?

The amount is set by visa route, not by provider. Every provider in this comparison uses the same figures.

Figures from the provider catalogue, accessed 20 August 2026. Confirm the current amount with your German mission before you transfer.

What a Sperrkonto Is, and What It Is Not

A Sperrkonto is an account you fund once and can then draw on only at a fixed monthly rate. What the mission wants is the Sperrbescheinigung, the blocking confirmation the provider issues once the money has arrived.

It is not an official product with an official supplier. The Federal Foreign Office abolished its provider list in mid-2022 and endorses nobody, so acceptance rests on the mission recognising the confirmation in practice. That is a real distinction when you are weighing a small regional provider against an established one.

Which Provider Should You Use?

9 accounts that are open to new applicants and have a provider page we can point you at. They are ordered by how well the catalogue rates them for students, then by editorial rating.

Providers We Will Not Link To

Two further regional providers appear in our catalogue, but we could locate no primary tariff page for either as of 20 August 2026. Their fees below come from a third-party blocked-account comparison published in July 2025. We are not linking to them, because we have nothing verifiable to link to, and we would rather say so than invent a URL.

If you intend to use either of them, ask your German mission whether it accepts their blocking confirmation before you transfer any money.

Accounts That No Longer Take New Applicants

Older guides still recommend these. They are not options for a 2026 visa file.

• Deutsche Bank Sperrkonto (LEGACY, discontinued). DISCONTINUED, Deutsche Bank stopped offering blocked accounts for students/visa applicants in July 2022. Existing legacy accounts were serviced to term. Do NOT list as an available option.
• ICICI Bank Student Giro Blocked Account (LEGACY, paused). PAUSED, not accepting new blocked-account registrations since ~July 2024.
• DropMoney Blocked Account (LEGACY, paused). PAUSED, temporarily no new accounts (per July 2025 comparison; unchanged as of 2026-08-20 checks).

How Do You Open a Sperrkonto?

1. Pick the provider before the visa appointment, not after. A transfer by SWIFT takes several business days on top of the provider's own processing.
2. Register online. A passport is enough to start at most providers; setup takes 10 to 15 minutes at Expatrio and around 10 minutes at Fintiba.
3. Verify your identity by video. Expatrio and Fintiba both run video identification as part of onboarding.
4. Transfer the deposit plus the buffer.Send EUR 11,904 or EUR 13,092 plus the provider's buffer, in one payment where possible.
5. Download the Sperrbescheinigung. Confirmations are typically issued within one to three business days after the money lands, and instantly at Fintiba if you paid by card.
6. Take it to the visa appointment. After arrival the account pays out monthly, and the Ausländerbehörde may ask to see it again when you collect the Aufenthaltstitel.

Why Do Proof-of-Funds Files Fail?

• The buffer was forgotten. Transferring exactly EUR 11,904 to a provider that requires a EUR 100 buffer leaves the account short and the confirmation unissued.
• The wrong amount for the route. A Chancenkarte applicant funding EUR 11,904 instead of EUR 13,092 has underfunded the account by a full year of the difference.
• Timing. A SWIFT transfer can take up to seven business days, and the confirmation only comes after the money arrives.
• An eligibility rule nobody mentioned. Fintiba excludes US persons under FATCA; Expatrio does not accept applicants under 18; Kotak Mahindra serves residents of India only.
• An account the mission does not recognise. Non-German IBANs and escrow structures are scrutinised more closely by some missions, which is why Studely flags this itself.

How We Compared These

Frequently Asked Questions