German integration course rules to change from June

Germany’s CDU/CSU-SPD government has come to a new agreement on how funding and admissions processes for integration courses will be structured. Here’s what we know so far:

Compromise on German integration course funding

Following weeks of negotiations, the German government’s decision to freeze access to funded integration courses for voluntary participants and those who may not stay in Germany long term has been amended. 

In November 2025, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) quietly froze admissions to German integration courses.

Before November, pretty much anyone without sufficient German language skills to navigate everyday situations could take an integration course and apply to the BAMF for partial or full fee coverage. 

Certain groups are obliged to take part in the courses, for example, non-EU citizens whom BAMF determined have insufficient German skills to make themselves understood in everyday situations.

Others could take the course voluntarily and have their fees covered. This included non-EU citizens, EU citizens and even German citizens (e.g. people with a German passport by ancestry who were new to Germany).

In February, the government confirmed that going forward, people whom the BAMF did not consider to have long-term prospects of staying in Germany or who were taking the course voluntarily would no longer be eligible for funding.

Widespread public criticism from politicians, teachers, businesses and migrant organisations followed. According to figures from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, due to the rule change, between January 1 and February 24, 2026, alone, around 30.000 people were frozen out of attending courses.

Admission rules will change again from June

Now, the funding and admission process will change again. From June 1, people whom the BAMF does not consider to have secure prospects of staying in Germany will also be able to attend funded courses as “voluntary participants”.

However, there will be a cap on the number of voluntary participants whose course costs the BAMF will cover. This cap will be variable and linked to future government budgets, so the number of people who benefit from the compromise will vary. It could be many people, and it could be virtually nobody.

According to coalition sources cited by Tagesschau, the cap will prioritise “groups with special integration needs”, specifically groups granted temporary protection under Section 24 of the Residence Act, such as refugees from Ukraine. Migrants from other EU countries will also be given priority.

The previous plan to entirely freeze out people whose asylum proceedings are ongoing has also been amended. According to the compromise, people in ongoing proceedings will be eligible to attend “first orientation courses” (Erstorientierungskurse). 

While standard integration courses include 600 hours for German language lessons and 100 hours of “orientation classes”, first orientation courses include a total of 300 teaching hours.

Speaking to WDR, NDR and SZ, parliamentary group spokesperson Sebastian Fiedler (SPD) said he was “glad that the [...] general admission freeze is off the table” and that “there will be no more blanket rejections for voluntary integration course participants”. 

Hakan Demir (SPD) stressed that budget details were still missing. “Whether there will be sufficient access in the coming years now depends on the budget negotiations,” Demir said, and instead called for a needs-based funding model.