The integration course

An integration course combines German lessons with an introduction to life and law in Germany. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) coordinates the courses. Participants generally pay a share of the cost, but exemptions are available.

In short

• If you are entitled, register within one year after the title creating the right was issued. The claim also ends if that title ceases; section 44(2) protects cases where you could not register in time for reasons you are not responsible for. After registration, start within one year and do not interrupt for more than one year, unless the delay is not your responsibility. Once the right has ended, further admission is discretionary and depends on places, funding, and the priorities in the ordinance.
• A person entitled to attend generally pays 50 percent of the reimbursement rate in force when they register, to the provider, at the start of each course section. Ask the provider for the current rate. If you owe a contribution and drop out of a section or miss classes, you still owe that section’s contribution.
• If you prove successful completion within two years of the first certificate of entitlement, the office can refund 50 percent of the contribution you paid. For special courses under section 13 (1), the period is three years if the first certificate was issued on or after 1 February 2023. The refund is not a waiver of the fee in advance.
• There is no right to the course for children, teenagers, and young adults who start or continue school in Germany.
• Eligible Spätaussiedler and specified family members owe no contribution under section 9 (5). Others may qualify for an exemption, normally on application; the office can dispense with an application in certain cases. Tell the office at once if the circumstances supporting an exemption cease.
• The general course is 700 teaching units: 600 of language and 100 of orientation. Special course types differ. From 1 November 2026 the Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer reaches B1 when Speaking is at B1, at least one of Listening/Reading or Writing is at B1, and the remaining part is at least A2. Leben in Deutschland is passed for the orientation course with 15 of 33 questions. The naturalisation test is passed with 17 of 33.

What you need to know

Section 43 of the Residence Act describes the Integrationskurs as the basic offer that supports integration: a language course, in a basic part and a follow-on part of equal length, aimed at sufficient German, plus an orientation course on the legal system, culture, and history. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees coordinates and runs it, and may use private or public providers. The aim is that people can handle everyday matters without someone else mediating.

Sections 10 and 11 of the Integration Course Ordinance set the general course at 700 teaching units, of which the language course is 600. Section 12 sets the orientation course at 100 teaching units, after the language course. Special course types under section 13 have different volumes. The course ends with the Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer and the test Leben in Deutschland under section 17.

From 1 November 2026, section 10 (1) of the Integration Course Test Ordinance, in the wording substituted by the ordinance of 13 October 2026 (BGBl. 2026 I No. 306), says that test reaches level B1 when Speaking is at B1, at least one of Listening/Reading or Writing is at B1, and the remaining part is at least A2.

That subsection says the pass conditions follow section 17 (2) of the Integration Course Ordinance, which requires B1 on the language test and the orientation-course score on Leben in Deutschland. Section 10 (2) of the Integration Course Test Ordinance sets that orientation-course pass mark at 15 of the 33 questions.

The naturalisation test itself is passed with at least 17 of the 33 questions under section 1 (3) of the Naturalisation Test Ordinance. Section 10 (3) of the Integration Course Test Ordinance also allows a naturalisation-test certificate when Leben in Deutschland is answered with 17 of 33 correct, if the Land agreement that subsection requires is in place.

A right to attend once is in section 44. It applies to a foreigner staying permanently when a first residence permit is issued for work under the sections listed there (including the Blue Card), for family reunification under the sections listed there, for certain humanitarian reasons, or as a long-term resident under section 38a, and in the section 23 cases the statute names.

A permanent stay is normally assumed when the permit is for at least one year, or the person has held a permit for more than 18 months, unless the stay is temporary.

Under section 44(2), the claim ends one year after the title creating it was issued or if that title ceases, unless the person could not register by then for reasons they are not responsible for.

Under section 4(1) of the Integration Course Ordinance, participation entitlement also ends after registration if, for reasons the person is responsible for, the course does not start within one year of registration with the provider or participation is interrupted for more than one year. Registration does not keep the entitlement open indefinitely.

There is no right for children, teenagers, and young adults who start or continue school in Germany, or where the need to integrate is obviously small, or where German is already sufficient. If German is already sufficient, the right to the orientation course can remain.

Someone without that right, or whose right has ended, is not admitted merely because a place exists. Section 44(4) allows the Federal Office, on application, to admit that person within available course places. The same possibility extends to some German citizens who lack sufficient German and have a special integration need, and to some people with a permission to stay, a tolerated stay, or the other titles the section names.

The Office suspended these admissions early in 2026 and resumed them on 1 August 2026. They remain discretionary and depend on places and on budget.

Under section 5(4) of the Integration Course Ordinance, as amended by the sixth amending ordinance in force on 28 July 2026, priority goes to holders of a residence permit under section 24 and to German and other EU citizens who lack the German needed to take up work or training, and to family members of both groups.

The Office further limits the German and EU citizens in that priority to people tied to the labour market: an unemployment-benefit claim, a low-income contribution exemption, or earlier employment in Germany without that claim. It accepts only complete applications, and they are to be filed digitally through the Bundesportal.

Being entitled is not the same as being obliged. Under section 44a, a person with a section 44 right is obliged to attend if they cannot communicate at least simply in German.

A person with that right is also obliged if they lack sufficient German when a title is issued under section 23(2), section 28(1), sentence 1, number 1, section 30, or section 36a(1), sentence 1, first alternative. This includes section 23(2) humanitarian admission as well as the named family titles.

The foreigners authority records the obligation when it issues the title. It may also impose the duty when issuing a title under section 25(1) or (2) if the person can communicate only simply in German.

A Jobcenter can also oblige someone who receives basic support for jobseekers. The foreigners authority can oblige someone with a special need.

Some people in training, people who show a comparable course, and people for whom attendance is permanently impossible or unreasonable are exempt. The obligation is revoked if attendance beside a job would be unreasonable even on a part-time course. The entitlement deadlines do not by themselves end an existing duty: section 44a(1a) sets separate rules for ending it.

What to do

1. Read the decision that comes with the residence title. It tells you whether you are entitled, obliged, or neither. EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens use the free-movement page, not this course as their residence status. This course is part of the Residence Act.
2. If you are entitled, register within one year after the title creating the right was issued, while that title still exists. Keep proof if you could not register in time for reasons you are not responsible for. After registering with the provider, start within one year and avoid an interruption of more than one year; the entitlement ends for such a delay if you are responsible for it.
3. Unless no contribution is due or you are exempt, expect a cost contribution of 50 percent of the reimbursement rate that applies when you register. The Federal Office sets the rate, and it can change. Ask your course provider for the current rate in euros and what your contribution would be. The person who is obliged to support you can also be the one who has to pay. You pay the provider at the start of each course section. If you owe a contribution and drop out during a section, or you miss classes, you still owe that section’s contribution.
4. Check section 9 of the Integration Course Ordinance. Under paragraph 5, Spätaussiedler and their family members who have the statutory entitlement described in section 4 (1), sentence 1, number 2 owe no contribution. Other eligible people can apply for an exemption. The office exempts, on application and with current proof, people receiving benefits under Social Code Book II, subsistence help under Book XII, or asylum-seeker benefits, and people receiving unemployment benefit under Book III. Employed people should compare their monthly gross pay with the applicable monthly limit in the current BAMF exemption application. That limit depends on how many children count under section 32 of the Income Tax Act. The statutory formula uses 33 percent of the annual pension contribution ceiling, raised by 10 percent of that ceiling for one qualifying child and by 20 percent for two or more; BAMF publishes the corresponding monthly limits. Do not compare a monthly wage directly with that annual benchmark. A hardship exemption is also possible. For administrative simplification, the office may dispense with the application requirement in certain cases. Tell the office at once if the benefit stops, the pay goes over the applicable limit, or the circumstances supporting a hardship exemption cease.
5. If you prove successful completion within two years of the first certificate of entitlement, the office can refund 50 percent of the contribution you paid. For the special courses in section 13 (1), the period is three years only if the first certificate was issued on or after 1 February 2023, under section 22 (2). The refund is half of what you paid, not a waiver of the whole fee in advance.

For help choosing and booking an ordinary German course, see the Volkshochschule guide.

A vocational course is not this course

A BAMF vocational German course, or Berufssprachkurs, is separate from the integration course and builds on it. Ask the responsible office about dates and costs.

You need permission to attend. If you are registered as seeking work, or you receive Grundsicherungsgeld (formerly Bürgergeld) or unemployment benefit, ask the Jobcenter or the Agentur für Arbeit. Offices may still say Bürgergeld until 31 December 2026. If you are working, in training, or in a recognition procedure and you are not receiving those benefits, ask the BAMF office for your region. The BAMF page, not this guide, states which course types are currently offered.

For a private language school, check the contract’s cancellation terms. The contracts and subscriptions guide explains what to look for.

Common mistakes

• Assuming registration preserves the entitlement indefinitely. Missing the registration, start or interruption limits for reasons you are responsible for can end it; the title ceasing is another statutory trigger. After entitlement ends, admission is discretionary and depends on places, funding, and the priorities in the ordinance.
• Paying a quoted “course price” in cash to someone who is not an approved provider. The contribution in section 9 is a share of the Federal Office’s rate, paid at the start of a section to the provider, and the office deducts it when it settles with that provider.
• Assuming school-age children take this course. Section 44 says the right does not exist for children, teenagers, and young adults who start or continue school here.
• Forgetting to report that your exemption no longer applies. Section 9 requires you to notify the office when the relevant circumstances change.