Berufssprachkurse (job-related German language support) in Berlin
The German version of this page has been changed, this translation has not. Please rely on the German page.
Berufssprachkurse (job-related language courses) build on the integration course. They are meant to prepare you linguistically for work. They are organized by the BAMF (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees).
Who can take part? Migrants from third countries, EU citizens, and Germans whose first language is not German who have completed an integration course or can demonstrate German at B1 level. And who are seeking work, in training, in a recognition procedure, or employed.
Who grants eligibility? If you are seeking work or receiving Jobcenter benefits: the Jobcenter or the Agentur für Arbeit (Employment Agency). If you are working, in training, or having your qualification recognized: the BAMF. For Berlin, the BAMF Hauptstandort Berlin (main Berlin site) is responsible (also for Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt).
What does it cost? Recipients of social benefits and trainees pay nothing. Employed people pay a contribution, unless they earn little. Employed people above the income threshold pay 2.56 euros per teaching unit. If the exam is passed, 50 percent can be reimbursed.
New in 2026: Since 30.04.2026 an amended ordinance applies. Even those who already have an employment contract can now receive eligibility. The threshold for the fee exemption for employed people was newly regulated.
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- Check the requirementAs a rule, you need German at B1 level (integration course completion or equivalent proof). Following the 2026 DeuFöV amendment, the BAMF can make exceptions for individual, job-specific offerings.
- Get eligibilitySeeking work or receiving benefits: ask the Jobcenter or the Agentur für Arbeit. Employed, in training, or in a recognition procedure: ask the BAMF (Hauptstandort Berlin, [email protected]).
- Find a courseThe course offering can be viewed in KURSNET (Bundesagentur für Arbeit). Course types: BSK with certificate (A2 to C2), Job-BSK, Azubi-BSK (trainee BSK), Frühpädagogik-BSK (early childhood education BSK), Anerkennungs-BSK (recognition BSK).
- Register with the course providerRegister within the eligibility's deadline (as a rule three months from the date of issue).
- Fee exemption and reimbursementCheck whether you are exempt (social benefits, training, low income). Otherwise, apply to get back 50 percent of the cost contribution once you pass the exam.
- Eligibility does not mean a course place: register with the provider in time, otherwise the eligibility lapses.
- Employees from abroad (with an employment contract but not yet resident in Germany) are always liable for the cost contribution (§ 4 Abs. 4 Satz 2 DeuFöV, according to BAMF-Anlage 12/26). Implementation is to be regulated in a separate provider circular.
- The income threshold for the fee exemption is tied to the annual contribution assessment ceiling (Beitragsbemessungsgrenze) in the pension insurance and changes every year. No source named the current euro amount.
- This page is information, not legal advice.
In depth · Legal basis, figures and practice – for counsellors and professionals
Legal basis
Verordnung über die berufsbezogene Deutschsprachförderung (Deutschsprachförderverordnung, DeuFöV, Ordinance on Job-Related German Language Support), most recently amended by an ordinance of 27 April 2026 (BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 118; Third Ordinance Amending the DeuFöV, in force since 30.04.2026 according to the BAMF's annex to provider circular 12/26). Implementation: Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF, Federal Office for Migration and Refugees) (§ 1 DeuFöV), goal: "die Chancen auf dem Arbeits- und Ausbildungsmarkt zu verbessern" (to improve chances in the labor and training market). Personal scope (§ 2): foreign nationals within the meaning of the AufenthG (Residence Act) as well as German nationals "deren Erstsprache nicht Deutsch ist" (whose first language is not German).
Access (§ 4 DeuFöV)
According to gesetze-im-internet.de, those eligible can include: people seeking work, unemployed people, or people supported in measures; benefit recipients under SGB II; employed people or people with an employment contract; people undergoing professional recognition; trainees or people in pre-training preparation. According to BAMF-Anlage 12/26, § 4 Abs. 1 Satz 1 Nr. 1 Buchst. c was extended to people who "beschäftigt sind oder bereits einen Arbeitsvertrag geschlossen haben" (are employed or have already signed an employment contract). New § 4 Abs. 1a: people resident in border regions (only within joint projects of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit with the neighboring state) or without residence/habitual residence in Germany can be made eligible if domestic employment of at least one year is planned, in certain further cases, and for training contracts with registration/approval. In principle, B1 is required (§ 4 Abs. 3 DeuFöV new, "subject to § 13 Abs. 2 und § 18a"); the BAMF is given more scope for job-specific offerings. According to the BAMF annex: since 1 July 2023, people capable of work who are entitled to benefits under SGB II are, as a rule, initially made eligible to participate; a binding requirement to participate follows only if agreements from the cooperation plan are not met.
According to the BAMF's page on Berufssprachkurse, eligibility to participate is issued by the Jobcenter/Agentur für Arbeit (job seekers/benefit recipients) or the BAMF (employed, in training, or in a recognition procedure). Target group: migrants from third countries, EU citizens, and Germans with a migration background who have completed an integration course or can demonstrate B1.
Course types and scope
Basic and specialized Berufssprachkurse comprise "in der Regel je 400 Unterrichtseinheiten" (as a rule 400 teaching units each) (DeuFöV on gesetze-im-internet.de). The BAMF annex 12/26 states that scope will in future be set in the BAMF's pedagogical framework concepts rather than rigidly in the DeuFöV (§ 14 Abs. 2 new). Course types according to the BAMF: BSK with certificate (A2, B1, B2, C1, C2), Job-BSK (job-specific), Azubi-BSK (trainee BSK), Frühpädagogik-BSK (early childhood education BSK), Anerkennungs-BSK (recognition BSK). Final exam: "Deutsch-Test für den Beruf" (German test for the job) or an alternative certificate exam (§ 15 Abs. 1 DeuFöV new). Repetition: on application to the eligibility-granting body, once again if passing without participation would not be expected (§ 15 Abs. 2 Satz 3 DeuFöV new); a B2 course for targeted exam preparation for those repeating is planned.
Costs
Employed people pay "50 Prozent des Kostenerstattungssatzes" (50 percent of the cost reimbursement rate) (§ 4 DeuFöV). Exempt are recipients of social benefits, trainees, and employed people with low gross pay. New since 30.04.2026: exempt are employed people whose gross pay does not exceed 33 percent of the annual contribution assessment ceiling in the general pension insurance; the amount increases by 10 percent of the assessment ceiling for one child and by 20 percent for two or more children eligible under § 32 EStG (Income Tax Act) (§ 4 Abs. 4 Satz 2 Nr. 3 DeuFöV; BAMF-Anlage 12/26). Applications already filed but not yet decided are decided under the new law. The BAMF (provider circular 16/26 of 14.08.2026, titled "Neuregelung der Befreiung von Beschäftigten von der Kostenbeitragspflicht" — new rules on exempting employed people from the cost contribution obligation) informs providers about this; the content of the circular could not be confirmed: no confirmed information is available for the specific euro amount of the threshold.
According to the BAMF's page on Berufssprachkurse: "2,56 Euro je Unterrichtseinheit" (2.56 euros per teaching unit) for employed people above the income threshold, totaling 1,024 euros in personal contribution over 400 teaching units; upon passing the exam, 50 percent of the paid cost contribution can be reimbursed on application. Note: the cost contribution in the integration course is, by contrast, according to the BAMF, generally 2.29 euros per teaching hour. The two course types have their own reimbursement rates; the amounts do not contradict each other but do differ.
Implementation in Berlin
Contact point for Berlin according to the BAMF: Hauptstandort Berlin, responsible for Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia, and Saxony-Anhalt, contact [email protected]. Berlin course providers: no confirmed information is available for this (course search via KURSNET, https://web.arbeitsagentur.de/sprachfoerderung/suche/berufssprachkurse). Berlin Jobcenters and Agenturen für Arbeit as eligibility-granting bodies: addresses not documented here from a confirmed source.
Status 2026 and gaps
Provider circular 14/26 (14.07.2026) concerns the "Öffnung der BSK-Angebote ab Q4 2026" (opening of BSK offerings from Q4 2026). The content (who, from when, conditions) could not be confirmed: no confirmed information is available for this. The integration course had an admission stop for voluntary participants in 2026 (see the page on the integration course); whether this changes access to Berufssprachkurse for the affected groups is not clear from the available sources.
- What is “Berufssprachkurse (job-related German language support) in Berlin” about?
- German for the job after the integration course: who can take part, who issues the eligibility, and what it costs.
- Which deadlines and figures matter?
- 3 Monate ab Ausstellungsdatum: Registering for the course, otherwise the eligibility to participate lapses (§ 6 DeuFöV (nach gesetze-im-internet.de))
- 9 Monate ab Ausstellungsdatum: Registration deadline for people made eligible from abroad under § 4 Abs. 1a Satz 3 DeuFöV (§ 6 Abs. 3 DeuFöV (Änderung zum 30.04.2026; BAMF-Anlage zum Trägerrundschreiben 12/26))
- Bis Kursende bzw. bis Zertifikats-/Fachsprachenprüfung: Applying for a travel cost subsidy (§ 10 Abs. 1 DeuFöV (Änderung 2026; BAMF-Anlage zum Trägerrundschreiben 12/26))
- Nicht älter als 6 Monate: Existing certificates and result notices are taken into account for placement, if not older than this (§ 8 Abs. 1 Satz 3 DeuFöV (Änderung 2026))
- What should I do first?
- Check the requirement: As a rule, you need German at B1 level (integration course completion or equivalent proof). Following the 2026 DeuFöV amendment, the BAMF can make exceptions for individual, job-specific offerings.
- Get eligibility: Seeking work or receiving benefits: ask the Jobcenter or the Agentur für Arbeit. Employed, in training, or in a recognition procedure: ask the BAMF (Hauptstandort Berlin, [email protected]).
- Find a course: The course offering can be viewed in KURSNET (Bundesagentur für Arbeit). Course types: BSK with certificate (A2 to C2), Job-BSK, Azubi-BSK (trainee BSK), Frühpädagogik-BSK (early childhood education BSK), Anerkennungs-BSK (recognition BSK).
- What should I watch out for?
- Eligibility does not mean a course place: register with the provider in time, otherwise the eligibility lapses.
- Employees from abroad (with an employment contract but not yet resident in Germany) are always liable for the cost contribution (§ 4 Abs. 4 Satz 2 DeuFöV, according to BAMF-Anlage 12/26). Implementation is to be regulated in a separate provider circular.
- The income threshold for the fee exemption is tied to the annual contribution assessment ceiling (Beitragsbemessungsgrenze) in the pension insurance and changes every year. No source named the current euro amount.
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