According to the daily “Welt”, citing the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf), the German federal government pays up to €3,500 per participant for a general integration course. The Bamf’s own figures put the total need for a single participant at €3,503.87.
Specifically, Bamf reimburses €4.58 for each instructional unit the participant attends. On top of that, there are separate fees for the obligatory placement test (€45) and for the final examinations: €117.11 for the German Test for Migrants and €18.65 for the “Life in Germany” test. The German test can, in principle, be reimbursed twice. The full integration course consists of 700 instructional units.
When participants have the means, they must cover part of the cost themselves. Currently, that amount is €2.29 per instructional unit. According to Bamf, about one‑third of all participants had to make a contribution recently. In the 2025 financial year, the share of participants who were not fully funded averaged 29.2 %.
Looking ahead, Bamf will no longer fund voluntary courses for Ukrainians, asylum seekers and EU citizens, though they may still attend as self‑paying participants. The price set by course providers and participants is decided in the contract, but it must not be lower than the amount Bamf covers for funded participants. Bamf emphasises that it cannot disclose exact cost figures because it lacks jurisdiction; the fee for self‑paying participants therefore must be at least equal to the contribution paid for funded participants.
