The Integrationskurs: Germany's subsidized road to B1
The BAMF Integrationskurs: 600 language + 100 orientation hours, who must attend, who may join voluntarily, costs from free to €2.29/hour and the final tests.
Last updated: July 13, 2026
What is the German integration course?
The Integrationskurs is 700 hours of state-subsidized education: 600 hours of German to B1 plus a 100-hour orientation module on law, history and society, ending in the DTZ language exam and the Leben in Deutschland test. Some migrants are obliged to attend; most residence-permit holders may join voluntarily at €2.29 per hour ⚠️ VERIFY current rate - or free with benefit status.
Obliged, entitled, or neither
Obliged (verpflichtet): typically those the Ausländerbehörde flags - insufficient German at permit issuance, benefit receipt, family-reunification spouses in many cases. The obligation letter names deadlines: take it seriously (permit renewals check attendance). Entitled (berechtigt): most other permit holders can APPLY for admission (BAMF form via any course provider) - the subsidy makes it the cheapest serious German education in existence: ~€1,600 total at the participant rate for what private schools charge €4,000+. EU citizens: admitted when spots allow. Completion bonus: pass within 2 years of admission and HALF your paid fees refund ⚠️ VERIFY current rule.
The practical shape
Full-time (4-5 mornings/week, ~6 months to B1) or Teilzeit evening tracks (12+ months); providers everywhere (VHS, private schools - same curriculum, same exams). The DTZ pass (B1) + LiD test tick BOTH the permanent-residency and citizenship language/knowledge boxes in one go (guides) - which is why even self-paying voluntary joiners profit. Waiting lists in big cities run weeks-months: bridge with structured online courses.
Frequently asked questions
Working full-time - can I even?
Evening/Saturday tracks exist but are the scarcest; the honest working-expat alternative is online-structured to B1).
Failed the DTZ?
One subsidized repeat of 300 hours (Wiederholerförderung) for obliged/entitled participants ⚠️ VERIFY - and the exam can be retaken regardless.
Kids/childcare during class?
Some providers offer course-parallel childcare; ask - it decides feasibility for arriving mothers, the course's historically underserved group.
Is the orientation module useful or box-ticking?
Genuinely useful: it's the LiD test prep AND the civics your colleagues assume you know. Expats report it beats years of ambient guessing.
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