Integration Courses

An integration course is a combination of language and orientation courses and is supposed to aid you settle in Germany. The language course usually entails 600 teaching modules, which concludes with a final exam („Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer" or DTZ for short) at the B1 level. An integration course covers topics such as work, shopping, communicating with authorities and writing emails/letters. In an orientation course, however, you learn mainly about the history, culture, society and politics in Germany. The orientation course usually entails 100 teaching modules and concludes with a final exam.

In addition to the regular integration courses, there are also literacy courses including 1000 teaching modules for the following groups:

• People who cannot read or write well in any language
• people who are not familiar with the Latin alphabet but can read and write in another language.

For fast learners, there are intensive courses, in which they learn the same as everyone else in regular integration courses but in less time.

Whether you can participate in an integration course depends on your residence status.

I have a residence permit: In principle, all foreign citizens (living in Germany for at least one year) who have obtained a residence permit because of their employment, or due to family reunification or by virtue of their recognition as asylum seekers, refugees or individual entitled to subsidiary protection can take part in an integration course. The only exceptions are children, adolescents and young adults who attend school and those who already speak German well enough. Holders of a residence permit in accordance with §25 (5) and §24 of the Residence Act can apply for participation in the integration course. You can find out more in the section "Where and how can I register for an integration course?".

I have a tolerated stay permit ("Duldung"): With a tolerated stay, in principle, you are not entitled to participate in an integration course. There are, however, exceptions to this general rule. Namely, people who have an "Ermessensduldung" (according to §60a paragraph 2, sentence 3 of the Residence Act), a tolerated stay for the purpose of vocational training ("Ausbildungsduldung") or a tolerated stay for the purpose of employment ("Beschäftigungsduldung ")  may attend an integration course. If you have one of these types of "Duldung", you must submit an application to the BAMF to attend an integration course. You can read more in the section "Where and how can I register for an integration course?".

When a person can attend an integration course, they receive a so-called “obligation to take an integration course” (“Verpflichtung zum Integrationskurs”) from the Social Welfare Office, the Immigration Office or the Jobcenter. If you receive such a letter, you are obliged to take part in an integration course.

Exceptions are:

• Children, adolescents and young adults attending school
• Persons who are doing vocational training ("Ausbildung ")
• People who work full-time (in a job subject to social insurance contributions)
• Persons who, for a valid reason, cannot participate in an integration course, for instance, because they have to take care of a family member.

When the Immigration Office ("Ausländerbehörde") hands you your residence permit, they will also let you know whether you are obliged to attend an integration course or not.

Please note: If you receive benefits, for example, from the Jobcenter or Social Welfare Office, they may also require you to attend an integration course.

If you can (and must) take part in an integration course, the Immigration Office (or the Jobcentre or the Employment Agency) will issue you a certificate of eligibility ("Berechtigungsschein"). If you have not yet received such a certificate, we recommend that you contact the relevant office yourself and apply for a certificate of eligibility.

With this document, you can register at the school of your choice directly. Your local Immigration Office and the Jobcentre responsible for you can provide you with a list of schools offering integration courses in your area. Alternatively, you can use the search engine on the BAMF or the KURSNET platform to find a class nearby. If you need help with the search, you can contact the youth migration service or migration counselling centre in your area.

If you have not received a certificate of eligibility, you must submit an application for admission to an integration course at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). You can download the form from the bamf.de. You can use the BAMF-Navi to find the address of the regional office responsible for you to which you must send the application. Alternatively, you can also submit the application online via the federal portal.

Please note: You must start your integration course as soon as possible after registration. You have one year to do so –after that, your eligibility certificate will expire. This also applies if you interrupt the course for more than a year.

Please note: Eligibility to take part in the integration course does not depend on your place of residence (e.g., postal code or district). This means that if you, for example, currently live in a neighbouring federal state, you can also visit the integration course there. This, however, does not apply to the so-called state-funded courses (“landesgeförderten Kursen”)– these courses are only funded in certain federal states and must also be attended there.

Before enrolling, it is advisable to check whether your integration course is easily accessible and within commutable distance, even if it doesn't necessarily take place in the neighbourhood where you live. Sometimes it may even possible to travel to the course with a "Deutschland Ticket", which can be quite practical. Moreover, you may also be reimbursed for some of the travel costs. 

You can apply for a subsidy towards travel costs if you:

• are exempt from the obligation to contribute to the costs of the integration course because you receive benefits from the Jobcenter or Social Welfare Office.
• are severely disabled and have been exempted from the cost contribution obligation for the integration course because you receive benefits from the Jobcenter or Social Welfare Office or are a late repatriate and a late repatriate’s family member.

In addition, the distance between your home and the course location must be at least 5 km in order to receive the subsidy.

You can download the application form at bamf.de. You can use the BAMF-Navi to find the address of the regional office responsible for you, to which you must send the application. Alternatively, you can also submit the application online via the federal portal. Make sure that you submit the application in good time before the start of the course.

The BAMF bears most of the costs of integration courses. The participants only have to pay €2.29 per session (As of July 2024). You can apply for a cost exemption, if you:

• receive benefits from the Jobcenter or Social Welfare Office.
• are employed and your gross salary does not exceed 33 per cent of the annual contribution assessment ceiling for general pension insurance (€2,656.50 per month, as of 2025). If you have a child, the limit increases to 43 per cent (€3,461.50 per month, as of 2025) and if you have two or more children, it increases to 53 per cent (€4,266.50) of the annual contribution assessment ceiling for general pension insurance.
• are in financial need for other reasons

Then, the BAMF takes over the entire cost of the course -and you do not have to pay anything. You can download the designated application form from bamf.de- fill out the form, and send it to the BAMF branch office responsible for you. You can find the responsible BAMF office at bamf.de. Furthermore, you can also ask your school staff for help; they can complete and submit the application on your behalf.

Alternatively, you can also submit the application online via the federal portal. Make sure that you submit the application in good time before the start of the course.

Please note: If you successfully complete the integration course within 2 years, you can get half of what you have paid back. For participants in a literacy course, this period is 3 years. For the reimbursement, fill out the application ("Antrag auf Kostenrückerstattung") in German and send it (together with a copy of your so-called “Integration Course Certificate”) to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. The staff at your language school can also help you with it. Alternatively, you can also submit the application online via the federal portal.

The integration course usually starts at the A1 level, so you do not need to have any prior German knowledge to participate. Before the classes begin, there is a placement test which enables the school to know if someone already knows some German. This person may be able to skip one or more courses because of their prior knowledge.

There are full-time and part-time language courses, but the integration courses are mostly full-time. That means you should attend classes for several hours, every day, from Monday to Friday. Some courses take place in the morning, others in the afternoon or early evening.

When you complete the integration course and pass the exam, you will be handed a certificate. Remember, you need to keep this certificate in a safe place.

If you take the DTZ (German Test for Immigrants) before the end of your lessons and do not pass the exam, you can repeat the exam once. In this case, the costs will be covered by the office. You can retake the exam as often as you like at your own expense.

The costs for the LiD (Living in Germany) test will only be covered by the Office the first time you take it. If you fail the test, you will have to personally pay to retake it.

Since December 2024, only people on a literacy course can repeat the integration course.

If you are taking part in a literacy course and have used up all the hours of your language course, you can apply for an extra 300 hours. You can do this regardless of whether you have failed the exam or before taking the exam.

If you do not have to pay for the course (more on this under ‘What does an integration course cost?’), you can also apply to repeat the course free of charge. You can find the application for repeating the exam and exemption from costs at bamf.de. Send the application to the BAMF office that is responsible for you. You can find the address of the office responsible for you on the BAMF website.

After the additional time, you can take the exam again. This exam is then free of charge.

After repeating the lessons, you may take the exam again. The costs for this will be covered by the office. 

Important: All participants in an integration course can repeat individual parts of the language course as often as they want - but they have to pay for it themselves.

Even if your application for participation in an integration course is submitted but rejected, there are still many other opportunities for you to learn German. In many cities, free German courses are offered by volunteers. Many of these courses take place in shared accommodation facilities or social and cultural organisations. You do not need a certificate of entitlement to participate in these courses or meetup groups.

Moreover, there is the possibility of participating in the German courses subsidised by the federal states. These courses are structured similarly as integration courses. 

In addition to free German courses, you can also take advantage of a vast variety of online learning opportunities, including web pages, video tutorials and apps. The Goethe Institute and Deutsche Welle are among those German cultural and media institutions which offer online learning materials for German learners.

You can find out more about these opportunities in our chapter "Learning German".