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Integration courses for refugees and migrants: Who can participate?
Foreigners with a residence permit prior to 2005
You can file an application to attend an integration course if there are free spaces in the course. You can find the application form here:
You have to attend an integration course, if you receive unemployment benefits (II) and if you are required to by the job center. You can also be required to attend an integration course by the Ausländerbehörde (immigration office), if you are in special need of integration. An example for being in special need of integration is, if you have a child, but are unable to speak German with the kindergarteners or school employees. In some cases you are not required to attend an integration course. Examples are: if you are undertaking a vocational training or if you have to nurse one of your family members.
Foreigners with a residence permit as of 2005
You have a legal right to visit an integration course if you have been living in Germany permanently and if you have received your first residence permit after 1 January 2005. This means that you have a right to attend an integration course by law. Living in Germany permanently means that your residence permit (Ausweis) is valid for more than a year or that you have had your residence permit longer than 18 months. You are living in Germany because of your job or for humanitarian reasons (if you are a refugee), because of a family reunification or because you are a long-term resident after § 38a Residency Act.
You also have a claim to participate in an integration course if you live in Germany permanently and have received a settlement permit in accordance with § 23 paragraph 2 of the German Residency Act for the first time. If you have received your residence permit from the Ausländerbehörde (immigration office) and are not able to speak German correctly, you are required to attend an integration course.
You are then required to attend an integration course by the Ausländerbehörde and are given a note that requires you to take part in it. With this note you have to register with a course provider within three months. If you receive unemployment benefits (II), the job center can require you to visit an integration course as well. In that case you will also have to participate in an integration course.
German citizens
As a German citizen you have no claim to attend an integration course. This means that the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) is not obligated to give you a certificate of eligibility. But you may file an application for visiting an integration course if you cannot speak German correctly, if you are in special need of integration and if there are free spaces in a course.
Citizens of the EU
As a citizen of Europe you do not have a legal right to attend an integration course. But the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) can give you a certificate of eligibility if you cannot speak German correctly or are in special need for integration and if there are open spaces in a course. For this you need to file an application.
Explanatory leaflet for the application
Late emigrants
Entry after 1 January 2005
You, your spouse and your children have a legal right to attend an integration course free of charge. You have received the right to participate after entry into the country from the Federal Office of Administration in Friedland.
Entry prior to 1 January 2005
If you have not yet attended a language course offered by the Federal Employment Agency yet, you can file an application for a free integration course.
If you have visited a language course offered by the Federal Employment Agency but are still not able to speak German well, you can file an application for admission to an integration course. For more information, please read the passage entitled: ‘German citizens’.
