Since a few years, all immigrants into Germany are offered so-called integration courses. The goal׃ the migrants should be able to make themselves understood in German and should fit in to German society by gaining an insight into the legal system, culture and history of Germany.
Integration courses consist of a language course and orientation course. 45 hours of the orientation course are devoted to German culture, the legal system, politics, and values.
The regular language courses consist of 600 hours (1 hour = 45 minutes). The course is divided into six modules. One module has 100 hours. The German courses can be attended full time (25 hours per week).
Certain qualified language schools or institutes offer these courses in every town. The list of these can be obtained together with an entry qualification certificate from the foreign office. Before starting a course, your knowledge needs to be tested in order to ascertain the starting module.
Course participants are free to choose the language school and they can change to another language school at the end of each module if they feel that it is not suitable. However, it is necessary to attend courses regularly, and complete modules.
The courses are supported by centres of consulting for migrants and are supplemented with extra offers.
The courses work on the principles of support and need fulfilment. They are funded by the government as follows: if somebody is unemployed or in receipt of social benefits, the government bears all costs. If somebody is employed, he or she pays 4,58 € per hour (100 hours=458 €) and the government pays the rest. People who come to Germany in order to study are unfortunately not funded by the government.
The successful attendance of integration courses is also funded: The course participants must reach the B1 level at the end of the course. This is confirmed if the "Deutschtest für Zuwanderer A2 B1" exam is passed. If this exam is failed, the participant is entitled to a further 300 hours of German language course modules.
There are also special courses for young people, for women, and for course participants who cannot write or read. These courses last 900 hours, after which the participants attend a 100-hour orientation course. Both are followed by an exam.
If the exams "Deutschtest für Zuwanderer A2 B1" and for the orientation course are passed, one obtains the Zertifikat Integration, which is necessary to apply for residence permit or for German citizenship.
We are happy to advise you personally about the details of integration courses, possibilities of funding and exams in our office (in several languages).
