What is to do before leaving Heidelberg
1. Terminate your rental contract three months in advance
2. Give notice to your electricity and gas company, telephone/ internet provider, cable TV, any newspaper/ magazines subscription.
3. Close your bank account
4. Officially cancel your registration at the registration office
5. Cancel your insurance coverage
6. Make sure to get your IMPRS certificate. For that, send us (imprs-hd @ mpia.de) all relevant information, or ask us what information we need. Have a look to our example certificate. Issueing the certificate may take some time, as we have to collect the signatures from the IMPRS spokespersons.
7. With a doctoral degree from a German university you may extend your visa if you are looking for a job in Germany.
8. If you become un-employed, you may get un-employment money (if you had an un-emplyoment insurance connected to a work contract). Do not forget to register as early as possible (as soon as you know about your un-emplyoment) at the authorities - the "Bundesagentur fuer Arbeit" in Heidelberg.
After departure
9. If you had payed pension insurance, you may get that payed back after some waiting time and under certain conditions (e.g. leaving Germany and claiming that you will never ask for pension in Germany).
Check the following links, the buzz word is "Erstattung von Rentenversicherungsbeiträgen":
Links in German with information broschures about the reimbursement or with general info.
Information in English about the pension insurance is provided here.