Foreign Nationals with Residence Permits from 2005 Onwards , format: Article, area: Integration

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Eligibility

If you received your residence permit on or after 1 January 2005 and meet the following requirements, you are legally entitled to participate in an integration course:

You live permanently in Germany and received your first residence permit after 1 January 2005. You are in Germany:

  • for employment purposes,
  • for the purpose of family reunification,
  • for humanitarian reasons,
  • as a long-term resident pursuant to Section 38a of the Residence Act (AufenthG).

or

You are permanently resident in Germany and have received a settlement permit pursuant to Section 23 (2) or (4) of the Residence Act (AufenthG). Your stay in Germany is considered permanent if you have received a residence permit that is valid for more than one year or have held a residence permit for more than 18 months.

You may also be admitted to an integration course by the basic security benefits provider if you receive citizen's allowance and participation is provided for in a cooperation plan.
You are not entitled to participate in an integration course

  • if you are a child, adolescent or young adult who is attending school in Germany,
  • if there is a recognisably low need for integration,
  • if you already speak sufficient German (you may still participate in an orientation course).

Obligation to Attend an Integration Course

If you received your residence permit after 1 January 2005 and are unable to communicate in German in a simple or sufficient manner, you must attend an integration course. The Foreigners Authority will determine your obligation to attend when it issues your residence permit.

You may be required to attend if you receive citizen's allowance and are requested to attend an integration course by the basic security benefits provider in accordance with Section 15 (5) sentence 2 or (6) SGB II.

If you receive citizen's allowance and the agency from which you receive it requests you to attend, you must likewise attend an integration course.

You cannot be obligated to attend

  • if you are undergoing vocational training in Germany or are participating/have participated in comparable educational programmes (e.g. further education, advanced training)
  • if attending an integration course is permanently impossible or unreasonable for you, for example because you have to care for a family member
  • if you are working and even attending a part-time course is not possible.

Registration with a Course Provider

Once you have received your qualification certificate from the Foreigners Authority, you can choose an integration course provider.

Find an integration course provider near you using the BAMF-NAvI information system. Of course, you can also ask the Foreigners Authority or a migration advice centre for a list of course providers.

Once you have found a course provider, you should go to them to hand in your qualification certificate and register. The course provider will help you choose a suitable course. They will also tell you when the next course starts.

Contribution to Costs

You must pay €2.29 for each lesson period of the integration course (cost contribution). If you registered for your integration course before 1 August 2022, the cost contribution is €2.20.

A general integration course consists of 700 lessons. Therefore, the entire course costs €1,603 (if you registered before 1 August 2022, the cost is €1,540). You do not have to pay this sum in one go but can pay it in instalments for each 100-lesson phase of the course. If you attend a special course with a correspondingly higher number of teaching units, the cost contribution will also be higher (e.g. €2,290 for 1,000 lessons).

You can be exempted from the cost contribution if you receive citizen's allowance, unemployment benefit or living assistance (social benefits) or if you are financially needy for other reasons. You may also be exempt from paying the cost contribution if you are employed and your gross monthly salary does not exceed a certain amount. This also takes into account whether you have children. You can find more detailed information and the annually changing fees in the application form.

Send the completed and signed application to the branch office of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees responsible for your area. You can find out which branch office is responsible for your area using the BAMF-NAvI information system.

If you pass the final test at the end of the integration course within two years after your qualification certificate has been issued, or three years for integration courses for specific target groups, you may, under certain conditions, receive a refund of half of your cost contribution. To do so, you must submit a signed application to your local branch office.

Travel Expenses

If you are participating in an integration course and have been exempted from paying the contribution to the costs of the course, you may be eligible for an allowance towards your travel expenses upon application, provided that the walking distance to the course venue is at least 5.0 km.

Online Application

You also have the option of submitting your applications to the Federal Office online via the Federal Portal.

The following applications are available in digital form:

All other information on online applications can be found in the BAMF FAQ on the OZG Online Access Act and on the Federal Portal.

The course provider will conduct a placement test before the integration course begins. The results will help them decide which section of the course you should start with and whether a special integration course would be advisable.

If you have taken a literacy course or a course for people with low literacy skills and have used up your individual quota of hours, you can repeat a maximum of 300 teaching units in the language course once upon request. To do so, you must pay €2.29 per hour again, unless you have been exempted from the cost contribution.

Skipping Course Sections and Changing Course Providers

You may skip course sections and repeat individual course sections, even if you have already completed 1,200 teaching units. However, you will then have to pay for the course yourself.

You may change course providers in special circumstances, particularly in the event of a move, a change between part-time and full-time courses, to enable childcare or to take up vocational training or gainful employment.