More pressure on German gov’t to unfreeze integration course spots

Four organisations have published a joint statement calling on the German government to unfreeze admissions to integration courses for voluntary students.

130.000 will be frozen out of courses in 2026

The Association of German Cities, the Association of German Counties, the German Association of Towns and Municipalities, and the Association of German Adult Education Centres have called on the CDU/CSU-SPD coalition government to immediately unfreeze admissions to integration courses.

In late November, the government quietly froze admissions to integration courses for people attending voluntarily. The decision was met with much consternation by language teachers and organisations supporting migrants and refugees. Only in February did the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) confirm the admissions freeze.

The four organisations warned that the freeze was causing widespread course cancellations, since teachers are struggling to find enough students to attend German courses, language teachers are losing their jobs, and eligible students face longer waiting times. They estimate that 130.000 people will be frozen out of taking courses in 2026 alone.

Criticism of the freeze has already come from the Council of Experts for Integration and Migration (SVR), the Institute for Language and Communication (ISK) and from within the CDU/CSU-SPD coalition.

In February, Commissioner for Integration Natalie Pawlik (SPD) warned that the cuts are likely to cost more in the long run, since it will be harder for migrants to access the labour market through language skills and to become financially independent.

Who can take a German integration course?

Until the rules changed in November, pretty much anyone without sufficient German skills to navigate everyday life could request that the BAMF fully or partially cover the cost of attending an integration course.

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). Certain groups are obliged to take part in the courses, e.g., non-EU citizens whom the BAMF determined to have insufficient German skills for everyday life.

According to a report from Correctiv, the German government wants to ensure that in future, "only refugees and migrants with so-called prospects of remaining in the country will be approved for courses by the BAMF – in other words, those who are expected to be allowed to stay in Germany on a long-term basis". People can no longer voluntarily attend the course and have their fees covered.

Organisations have 5 demands for BAMF

In their “position paper”, the four organisations made five demands of the German government. First, immediately lifting the freeze on students voluntarily taking integration courses.

Second, the organisations said the government should refrain from reducing the hours required to complete an integration course (currently 600 hours) and that the B1 level should remain the standard target proficiency level.

“[T]his language proficiency level is essential [...] for effective communication in the workplace,” they wrote, adding that “rapid integration” into the labour market can only succeed if newcomers can “quickly acquire the necessary language skills and take up skilled employment so that they are no longer dependent on government transfer payments.”

Third, the government should create a long-term and reliable funding plan. Fourth, the recognition of integration courses should become a “key tool for securing a skilled workforce”. Finally, teachers should receive compensation for any switch to mandatory social insurance coverage for teaching hours previously provided on a fee-for-service basis.

Fundamentally, the organisations said, “[C]ourses pave the way to a democratic society” and “make an indispensable contribution to social cohesion and conflict prevention”.