The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) sent a circular letter to providers of integration courses on 9 February 2026 to inform them that, until further notice, no admissions for participation in integration courses can be granted in the current financial year, pursuant to Section 44(4) of the Residence Act (AufenthG). This means that asylum applicants, persons with a tolerated stay and displaced persons from Ukraine, as well as EU citizens, will no longer be admitted to the integration course within the scope of available course places, until further notice.
Already approved course participations remain valid. The providers have the possibility to admit people who did not obtain approval for integration courses, if the applicants pay themselves for the integration course.
BAMF explains in the circular that against the backdrop of the financial challenges of recent years, in which several requests for additional expenditure had to be made, access to integration courses will in the future be more closely aligned with the funds available for this purpose in the federal budget. This is due to the duration of integration courses taking several years and having often financial implications in the following year and, in some cases, even beyond, so that new paths for integration courses are currently being examined for which available budgetary resources are decisive. The measures will help to secure the integration course system in the long term and reduce the complexity of the system.
An annex to the circular letter provides further details on the new measures to be implemented by providers.