All Non-EU/EEA/Swiss students require a student visa for stays of more than three months. Please do not apply for a tourist visa, as it does not allow you to study at Hochschule der Medien. The visa type cannot be changed in-country after arrival.

Citizens of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, the UK and the USA:

You may apply for your residence permit after entering Germany without a visa. This has to be done within 90 days after entering the Schengen area*. We strongly recommend students to obtain a student visa prior to travelling to Germany at a German Embassy/Consulate in your home country. This enables you to avoid visits to the authorities after arriving in Germany. There are extremely long waiting times for appointments in Stuttgart and this might mean that if you overstay your 90 days in Schengen, you can not travel out of Germany until you have the permit. Especially Christmas time is a challenge and would mean that you can not visit your family or friends outside of Germany. Please therefore get your visa sorted before your semester at HdM begins!

*List of Schengen Area Countries.

PLEASE NOTE that there will be a new system in place soon:
The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) is an entry requirement for visa-exempt nationals travelling to 30 European countries. It is linked to a traveller’s passport. It is valid for up to three years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first. With a valid ETIAS travel authorisation, you can enter the territory of the listed European countries as often as you want for short-term stays - normally for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. This would mean that if you stay for longer than 90 days, you will need a student visa. ETIAS is not sufficient for the whole semester.
More info here

Citizens of all other countries (excluding EU/EEA/Swiss nationals):

You must apply for an appropriate visa at a German Embassy/Consulate prior to arriving in Germany. We advise you to apply for your visa as early as possible due to sometimes lengthy processing times. Some visas are valid for the whole stay, and others have to be renewed within 90 days after entering the country. Should you later wish to extend your stay in Germany, please remember to take care of your visa arrangements. You will receive further immigration-related information during our orientation meetings. Please also read the information about the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) above. Even if you need to have a student visa, it might still be advisable to register also with ETIAS. That might give you some time after your visa expires to renew it. For up-to-date information please always refer to the official ETIAS page.

You can find a helpful overview of visa requirements/exemptions here

Check if you need a visa here or here

More information about the visa/residence permit process can be found on the DAAD website here

Additionally, there will be a new system called EES in place soon:

The Entry/Exit System (EES) is an automated IT system for registering non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay, each time they cross the external borders of any of the European countries using the system: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

More info on the system and for the up-to-date country list here