Refugees from Ukraine and people from EU countries will once again be eligible for integration courses starting June 1. This has been reported by, among others, SPD politicians in the federal government and the Mediendienst Integration, which cites information from the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The across-the-board cuts have been partially reversed.
Now, people with “long-term prospects of remaining in the country” will once again be able to participate in courses. This primarily affects refugees from Ukraine. For asylum seekers and those with temporary stay permits, who remain excluded, the initial orientation courses are to be expanded. The blanket ban that Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) imposed in February on all voluntary participants has thus been partially lifted. One restriction remains, however: How many people actually find a spot in a course depends on funding, as there is a cap on expenditures. A decision on the funding will not be made until fall 2027, when the federal budget is approved.
In February, Federal Interior Minister Dobrindt had decided to limit the number of potential participants in integration courses. This affected all voluntary participants, including refugees from Ukraine as well as asylum seekers and those with temporary residence permits. The cut had sparked widespread protest. Most recently, Tübingen District Administrator Hendrik Bednarz had called for the cuts to be reversed at the job fair in Tübingen. In 2025, approximately 306,800 people took part in an integration course, compared to about 363,500 the previous year. This is according to a response from the federal government to an inquiry from the Left Party. According to the media service Integration, in 2025 just under a third of new participants came from Ukraine, 16 percent were from Syria, around 7 percent were from Afghanistan, and 6 percent were from Turkey. Four out of ten participants were voluntarily enrolled in the course, meaning they were not required to participate by a government agency. The 2026 federal budget allocates approximately 1.06 billion euros for integration courses. In 2025, 1.07 billion euros were budgeted—but over 1.3 billion euros were actually spent. The Ministry confirmed this to the Mediendienst Integration.
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