Integration Course in Germany: Who Must Attend, What Follows

The integration course in Germany (Integrationskurs) is the state's basic language and orientation programme for newcomers: 600 lessons of German up to level B1 and 100 lessons on German law, culture and history, closed by two tests. Some people have a right to attend, some are obliged to, and the course is where most of my clients' German careers started. This guide covers both the rules and what comes after the certificate.

I have coached more than 2,000 adults in Germany's publicly funded integration programmes since 2022, in German and Russian, most of them in the months after their integration course ended. The legal facts below come from the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz) and the Integration Course Ordinance (IntV) on gesetze-im-internet.de, as of October 2026. The BAMF, which runs the course, lists providers and current details on bamf.de (opens in a new tab).

What the integration course in Germany consists of

Section 43 (opens in a new tab) of the Residence Act gives the aim: to teach "die Sprache, die Rechtsordnung, die Kultur und die Geschichte in Deutschland" well enough that people can handle daily life "ohne die Hilfe oder Vermittlung Dritter", without a helper or a go-between. The course has two parts:

Before the start you take a placement test, paid by the BAMF, which puts you into the right section. Special courses exist for people who cannot yet read or write, or who learned to read in a non-Latin script, with up to 900 language lessons; an intensive course compresses the language part to 400 lessons for fast learners (§ 13 IntV (opens in a new tab)).

The target, in the ordinance's words, is "Niveau B1": you can manage daily life on your own, hold a conversation suited to your age and education, and write (§ 3 IntV (opens in a new tab)). The course counts as passed when you reach B1 in the DTZ and the pass mark in the Leben in Deutschland test; the BAMF then issues the written Zertifikat Integrationskurs (§ 17 IntV (opens in a new tab)).

Who is entitled

Section 44 (opens in a new tab) grants a one-time right to attend to people who stay in Germany permanently and receive, for the first time, a residence permit for work (the skilled-worker permits and the EU Blue Card among them), for family reunion, on certain humanitarian grounds, or as a long-term EU resident. A permit of at least one year, or a permit held for more than 18 months, counts as permanent.

Three groups have no entitlement: children and young people still in school, people with "erkennbar geringem Integrationsbedarf" (a recognisably low need, for example graduates about to work in their field), and people who already speak sufficient German. The entitlement expires one year after the permit is issued, so register early. Anyone without an entitlement, including people with a temporary stay permit or a toleration, can be admitted when places are free.

Who is obliged

Section 44a (opens in a new tab) turns the right into a duty for four groups:

1. Entitled people who cannot communicate in German even in a simple way, or who lacked sufficient German when a family-reunion permit was issued. The foreigners authority records the obligation when it issues the permit.
2. Bürgergeld recipients whom the Jobcenter obliges to attend as part of their cooperation plan.
3. People the foreigners authority asks to attend because of a special integration need.
4. Certain recipients of asylum seeker benefits whom the benefit office asks to attend.

Exempt are people in vocational or other training in Germany, people attending comparable courses, and people for whom attendance is permanently impossible or unreasonable. The obligation has teeth: before extending a residence permit, the authority points out the consequences of not attending, and it can enforce attendance and charge the expected cost contribution in advance. For benefit recipients, refusing or dropping a required course can also trigger a blocking period on unemployment benefit (§ 159 SGB III (opens in a new tab)).

Cost and exemption

Participants pay a contribution per lesson, set in § 9 IntV (opens in a new tab) as half of the rate the BAMF pays providers. The BAMF exempts, on application, people who receive Bürgergeld, social assistance or asylum seeker benefits, people on unemployment benefit, and employees whose gross pay stays under an income line tied to the pension contribution ceiling, with higher lines for parents. A hardship exemption exists on top. The placement test and the first attempt at the two final tests are free; if you fail the language test before using up your lessons, the BAMF pays the second attempt too. One deadline matters: your entitlement lapses if you do not start within a year of registering with a provider, or pause for more than a year (§ 4 IntV (opens in a new tab)).

What comes after: the job-related step

The certificate proves B1. It does not produce a job, and the gap between the last lesson and the first application is where motivation drops. Three routes follow:

Job-related German. The BAMF runs vocational German courses (Berufssprachkurse) from B1 upwards for people whose job needs B2 or C1.

Activation measures and coaching. If you are registered with the Jobcenter or the Agentur für Arbeit, your caseworker can issue an activation and placement voucher (AVGS) under § 45 SGB III (opens in a new tab). It is the caseworker's decision, not a legal right. I explain the voucher in AVGS coaching explained. The programmes I coach in run for about nine weeks online, pair motivation training with job-related German, add four one-to-one sessions, and end with a three-way call between the trainer, the participant and the caseworker so that the next step is agreed before the course ends.

Recognition and retraining. If your foreign qualification needs a recognition procedure, start it during the course, not after. Germany's dual system also takes adults into retraining, and the Jobcenter can fund it.

What participants tell us afterwards

I do not publish numbers from these groups, and I never name people. When groups finish, the feedback I hear most is about individual attention, a clearer plan for the next step, and not feeling alone in it. The second theme explains why the course alone is not enough: B1 opens the door, the plan walks you through it. The first months in a German workplace bring their own shock, which I cover in culture shock in Germany.

Where I can help

If you run a Jobcenter, a provider or a municipal programme and want to see how the coaching block after the course works, my employability programmes page describes the format. If you are a participant who finished the course and wants a plan for the job search, that is career change coaching, in English, German, Lithuanian or Russian. Book a call and tell me where you are: which course, which level, which job you want next.

Work with me: Career and business coaching