Child benefit for studying medicine abroad

Your parents can receive child benefit for you if you are a Studying medicine abroad and are under 25 years old. Different requirements apply depending on where you are studying. It is generally not a problem to receive child benefit, especially if you are studying abroad within the EU.

Who is entitled to child benefit?

Child benefit can be claimed not only if the child in question is not yet of legal age. There is also an entitlement beyond this age if the son or daughter is not yet financially independent and has not completed their education. Up to the age of 25, your parents can receive child benefit for you through this scheme and thus provide you with the support you need, for example as a student.

In many cases, child benefit entitlement also applies when studying abroad

Parents are entitled to child benefit if their child is under the age of 25 and is in education. This also includes studying. The child's place of residence or habitual abode must be in Germany or a country within the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA).

If you are studying in another EU country, you are normally eligible for child benefit. As studying abroad is associated with tuition fees and sometimes other considerable costs, child benefit is a promising way to support you financially.

Studying abroad outside the EU - when you are still entitled to child benefit

If your place of study is outside the EU and also outside the EEA, the conditions for the payment of child benefit are stricter. The planned return can be decisive here: If you want to stay abroad for a maximum of one academic year, your parents can continue to receive child benefit because it cannot be assumed that you will give up your residence in your parents' home as a result.

For study visits lasting longer than one year, however, students must prove that the primary aim of their stay abroad is really to study and that the actual centre of their life is still in Germany. In such a case, you should therefore live in your parents' home for at least half of the study-free period. 

Make absolutely sure that you can prove this centre of life in the form of long-term visits to your parents. Otherwise, the family benefits office may no longer consider your parents to be entitled to child benefit and stop paying it. In the worst case, there is even a risk of reclaims.

Working while studying: How much is allowed?

If your degree programme is your first vocational training course, you can follow a vocational training course without restrictions. Part-time job to finance your medical studies work. However, if you have already completed a degree or vocational training and your parents still want to receive child benefit while you are studying abroad, your working hours must not exceed 20 hours per week. The amount you earn is irrelevant.

Cases in which there is no entitlement to child benefit despite studying

Not every child under 25 is entitled to child benefit when studying. If your place of residence is in a country outside Europe, your child benefit entitlement will expire if you spend time abroad. This applies in particular to students who plan to spend more than one year abroad without returning to their parents' home during the lecture-free period.

In any case, it is important to take a close look at the legal regulations when deciding and planning to study abroad. Otherwise, parents run the risk of either not claiming the benefits to which they are entitled for their children or having to pay back child benefit they have wrongly received at a later date.

What happens if the study abroad programme takes longer than planned?

For the vast majority of people, their CV does not always look the way it was originally planned. For example, a student may originally plan to gain experience abroad for just one or two semesters and then return to Germany. If the decision is later made to stay longer, the question quickly arises as to what will happen to the child benefit.

For countries within Europe, the European Union or the European Economic Area (EEA), the situation remains uncomplicated: Child benefit will continue to be paid even if the children concerned study abroad for a longer period of time. It doesn't matter whether you are in Germany in the meantime or not.

The Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) has also clarified in a judgement that the family benefits office must also pay child benefit for longer periods of study outside the EU if the child in question lives with their parents for at least half of the study-free period. This shows that the actual place of residence has not been moved abroad.

Does the child benefit received in the first year have to be paid back?

If you originally only planned to stay abroad for a maximum of one year, but then extended it, your parents fortunately do not have to pay back the child benefit they previously received. There is also a judgement on this from the Federal Fiscal Court: A mother had taken legal action because the family benefits office demanded the child benefit paid for her daughter during her first year abroad back. This was because she had extended her stay abroad.

The judgement states that the time actually spent studying abroad is not the decisive factor. Up to the point at which the decision was made to extend the stay to more than one year and to move the residence abroad completely, the payment of child benefit was correct and this cannot be reclaimed.