Ministry of the Interior plans billion-euro budget for integration
The Federal Ministry of the Interior has around 15.17 billion euros at its disposal in the coming financial year. Around 1.37 billion euros of this is to be invested in projects for migration, integration, minorities and displaced persons. This is according to the current draft budget, which is currently being discussed in the Bundestag.
That sounds like a large investment at first. In fact, it is a slight decrease compared to the previous year. In 2024, a total of 1.43 billion euros was invested in integration.
Integration and migration: how should the money be invested?
The largest item by far is once again integration courses. Around 1.06 billion euros are earmarked for their financing in 2025/2026.
For comparison: in the current year, the federal government had initially only budgeted 763 million euros for integration courses, but then increased the budget to 1.066 billion euros. A similar amount is now to be invested in promoting integration in the coming financial year.
Further investments planned
In addition to the integration courses, which consist of language and orientation courses, other migration and integration-specific projects are to be funded. These include
- Independent asylum advice outside the authorities: 25 million euros
- Initial orientation courses for asylum seekers: 23.7 million euros
A total of 222 million euros has been earmarked for further integration projects.
Demand for integration courses remains high
The demand for integration courses remains very high. In the first four months of 2025 alone , around 122,800 people took part in a course.
If this trend continues, the total number of participants could reach over 360,000 this year - and thus remain at a similarly high level as in the previous year.
What are integration courses - and what do they involve?
Integration courses are federal government programs designed to help migrants and refugees find their feet in Germany. They consist of two parts: a language course and an orientation course.
The language course teaches basic German up to level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The subsequent orientation course deals with topics such as the German legal system, history, culture, the political system and everyday life in Germany.
Who is entitled to an integration course?
According to Section 44 of the Residence Act, people with residence permits are entitled to attend an integration course once - provided they are living in Germany permanently. This includes people who receive a residence permit for the first time:
- for commercial purposes (Sections 18a to 18d, 18g, 19c and 21),
- in the context of family reunification (§§ 28, 29, 30, 32, 36, 36a),
- for humanitarian reasonsin accordance with Section 25 (1), (2), (4a) sentence 3 or Section 25b,
- Long-term residents under EU law(§ 38a)
- Residence permit according to § 23 para. 2 or para. 4
Residence is considered permanent if the Residence permit is valid for at least one year or if the person has already been living legally in Germany for 18 months.
The following are not entitled to a course
- Children, teenagers and young adults attending school or training,
- People with low integration needs,
- People with health restrictions,
- or people who already speak sufficient German.
Who is obliged to take part in an integration course?
According to § 44a of the Residence Act, certain groups must take part in an integration course:
- Anyone who is legally entitled to a course (see above) and does not speak sufficient German,
- Anyone who receives benefits from the Jobcenter and is requested to participate by the provider,
- Those who are classified by the Foreigners' office as being in particular need of integration,
- Anyone who receives benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act and is requested to participate.
