APS Certificate Validity: Do You Need a New One for a Later Intake?

APS India's leaflet on digitally signed certificates ("DigZert", Sept 2024) answers the question directly: candidates generally need to apply for APS certification only once, as the certificate is valid indefinitely once issued. The same leaflet says that, because it is an electronic document, you can use it to apply to as many German universities as you wish.

The current FAQ adds the exception. APS certificates are issued on the basis of the qualifications completed and documented when the application is processed. APS cannot keep applications open while you wait for later results, and if you complete further qualifications that change your admission category, a new evaluation may be required. A new evaluation requires a new payment and follows the criteria in force at the time of the new application.

The DigZert leaflet speaks to students who apply before finishing their Bachelor's: it advises applying to German universities with certified grades from the 5th or 7th semester respectively, as provided by APS, and providing the final degree certificate during enrolment at the German university. Your university will tell you what it needs at enrolment.

The dMAT page answers the case that worries most current certificate holders. Applicants who have already completed the APS procedure and received their certificate are not required to take the dMAT for that completed procedure. But if a new APS application is submitted later, the rules applicable at the time of the new application apply — so a new procedure for a Master's from the summer semester 2027 onward in an affected field would include the dMAT, unless an exemption applies.

Two older documents still turn up. Paper APS certificates were replaced by digital ones for procedures completed after 24 April 2023, according to the DigZert leaflet, and uni-assist still accepts a scan of an older paper certificate. If yours is paper, keep the original safe and upload a clear scan. If yours is digital, never print and re-scan it: a scan of a digital certificate loses the signature that makes it verifiable.

If you are unsure whether something counts as a change of admission category, ask APS India through its contact form before you register a new procedure. A new evaluation costs a new fee and is assessed under the criteria in force at the time, including the dMAT where your field and intake are covered.

Starting a second procedure is expensive and resets the rules, so it is worth being sure it is needed. Three questions settle most cases. First, has a new qualification been completed since your certificate was issued, and does it change your admission category, for example from Bachelor-level to Master-level entry? If not, the existing certificate is APS's answer. Second, is the request for a "new APS" coming from APS, from a university or from an agent? APS, the university or uni-assist, and the visa authority each set requirements for their own step, so ask whoever made the request what has changed. Third, if a new procedure is genuinely needed, does the dMAT now apply to you? A new application follows the rules in force at the time, and from the summer semester 2027 intake that includes the dMAT for affected fields unless an exemption applies.

If the answer to all three is clear and a new evaluation is needed, prepare it like a first application: the current leaflet's checklist, a complete file, online payment, and an early word to your college that APS may write to it again. The fee is charged again and is non-refundable.

Validity is only useful if the file still verifies. APS and uni-assist both insist on the unchanged original PDF.

A 2026 APS News notice explains that some certificates issued during a technical update of the digital seal may show warnings in certain PDF readers, such as "signature validity is unknown". APS says these refer to the technical validation status of the seal, and that universities, uni-assist, VFS and visa sections may continue to accept valid APS certificates; institutions in doubt can contact APS India.