Apply for admission to the integration course

The integration course teaches:

• German language skills as well as
• knowledge of the legal system, culture, and history of Germany

Each integration course consists of a language course and an orientation course. 

There are different types of integration courses:

• General Integration Course: This course consists of 600 class hours in the language course and 100 class hours in the orientation course.
• Special Integration Courses: These courses consist of 900 class hours in the language course and 100 class hours in the orientation course. They are available for
  
  • immigrants who need literacy instruction (literacy course)
  • People who have not learned the Latin alphabet (second-script course)
  • people with low literacy levels
  • People with disabilities (for example, visual or hearing impairments)
• Intensive courses: These courses are suitable if you find language learning easy and want to—and are able to—achieve the course goal particularly quickly. An intensive course consists of 400 class hours in the language course and 30 class hours in the orientation course.

Integration courses are offered as full-time and part-time courses.

Before participating in an integration course, you need a certificate of eligibility. This serves as your permission to participate, which you use to register with an integration course provider.

If you wish to participate in an integration course on a voluntary basis, you must first apply to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). You will then receive the eligibility certificate.

If you are eligible to participate in an integration course as a late repatriate or as a family member of a late repatriate, you will receive the eligibility certificate from the Federal Office of Administration (BVA).

Requirements

You can apply to participate in the integration course:

• if you are legally and permanently residing in Germany and
• if you have no or insufficient knowledge of the German language (below level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages)

Additional requirements:

• You hold one of the following residence permits:
  
  • as a skilled worker
  • as a researcher
  • as a self-employed person
  • for the purpose of family reunification
  • as a person entitled to asylum (on humanitarian grounds), a person entitled to subsidiary protection, or a recognized refugee
  • as a long-term resident in another member state of the European Union
  • as an immigrant with a residence permit based on special political considerations, for example, a Jewish immigrant or a participant in a humanitarian resettlement program
• Your residence in Germany is permanent. This is the case if you
  
  • hold a residence permit valid for at least one year, or
  • have held a residence permit for more than 18 months, unless your stay is temporary.

If you do not fall into any of the above categories, you can apply to participate in the integration course if you

• have permanent and lawful residence (for example, as a citizen of the European Union or as a family member) and
• do not have sufficient German language skills.

In this case, admission is possible as long as course spots are available.

If you are a German citizen, you may also apply to participate in an integration course if you

• do not have sufficient knowledge of the German language and
• have special integration needs.

You can be admitted to an integration course even while your asylum proceedings are ongoing if you

• have a temporary residence permit.

You may also be admitted to the course

• if you have a “Duldung” (temporary stay permit) because:
  
  • urgent humanitarian or personal reasons, or
  • substantial public interests require your continued temporary presence in Germany.
• if you hold a residence permit because
  
  • your departure is impossible for legal or practical reasons and
  • you are prevented from leaving through no fault of your own.

Admission is not possible:

• if there is a clearly minimal need for integration,
• if you already have sufficient knowledge of the German language,
• if you are subject to compulsory education,
• if, as a young adult, you are beginning a school-based education program, or
• continue your schooling in Germany.