Money and perks you are probably leaving behind

What Germany actually pays you and what it costs your visa

State money, company discounts and free museum days, in one place, each read off the issuing source in September 2026 and linked to it. Two things here that no other list does: it says whether claiming something counts against your residence permit under § 2 Abs. 3 AufenthG, and it names the well-known perks that have quietly been abolished and are still being advertised to you.

€259

Kindergeld per child per month, from January 2026

50%

of your Integrationskurs fee back if you pass within two years

€0,38

per commuting kilometre, from the first one since January 2026

€1.240

average tax refund, measured on 2022 assessments

Verified · Updated September 2026BAMF § 9 EStG Destatis

This page is information, not advice.

It is not legal, tax, financial or immigration advice, and reading it creates no advice relationship. Amounts, deadlines and eligibility rules change, and the same rule can land differently on two people depending on their permit, their income and their Bundesland. Everything here was checked at the linked source in September 2026: treat that link as the authority and this page as the map. Before you act on anything that touches your residence permit, your citizenship application or your tax return, confirm it with the issuing office, a free Migrationsberatung adviser, a Steuerberater or a lawyer.

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From

Hide what a non-EU permit cannot getRemoves the rows a statute or an official eligibility list shuts you out of, whatever other guides say.

Showing 40 of 40, checked in September 2026.

Everyone in Germany

Start here whatever your status. The Integrationskurs refund and the one-fee-per-flat rule are the two most commonly missed, and together they are worth well over a thousand euros.

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Integrationskurs, and the 50 percent refund

State-subsidised German and orientation course

About 800 EUR back

You pay 2,29 EUR per lesson hour, about 1.603 EUR for the full 700 hours, and half of that comes back if you pass in time. Free outright if you are on benefits or a low income.

How to claim

Ask BAMF for the Kostenbefreiung form before the course starts, and the Rückerstattung form (630.031i) after you pass.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone with a Teilnahmeberechtigung or Zulassung from BAMF. The refund needs you to pass the final test within two years of your first Teilnahmeberechtigung, or three years for the special-target-group courses.
If you are not an EU citizen: This is built for you. It is one of the few things on this page designed specifically for non-EU residents.

BAMF

StateSafe for your permitDepends on your permit

Kindergeld

Child benefit

259 EUR a month, per child

259 EUR a month per child, from January 2026.

How to claim

Apply once to the Familienkasse at the Agentur für Arbeit. It then runs automatically and does not need renewing when the rate changes.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Parents resident in Germany. A non-EU parent needs a residence permit that allows work.
If you are not an EU citizen: A permit allowing work qualifies. Someone in Germany purely to study or train is excluded by § 62 EStG, so a student permit alone does not get it.
And your permit: Named in § 2 Abs. 3 AufenthG, so it can never count against your permit.

Agentur für Arbeit§ 62 EStG

StateSafe for your permitDepends on your permit

Elterngeld

Parental allowance

300 to 1.800 EUR a month

67 percent of your previous net pay, from 300 EUR to 1.800 EUR a month. 12 months, or 14 if both parents take at least two. ElterngeldPlus pays 150 to 900 EUR over twice as long.

How to claim

Apply in writing to your state Elterngeldstelle. It backdates only three months, so a late application loses money permanently.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Parents who cut their working hours after a birth. It stops entirely if your taxable income in the year before the birth was over 175.000 EUR, and that is a cliff, not a taper.
If you are not an EU citizen: A Blue Card, ICT card or any permit allowing work for six months or more qualifies. A § 16b student permit qualifies only if you are actually employed, and Au-Pair, seasonal and voluntary-service permits are excluded outright.
And your permit: Named in § 2 Abs. 3 AufenthG.

Familienportal (BMBFSFJ)§ 1 Abs. 7 BEEG

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Rundfunkbeitrag, one fee per flat

Broadcasting fee, and how not to pay it twice

147 EUR a year saved

18,36 EUR a month, 220,32 EUR a year, per FLAT and not per person. Three flatmates who register once instead of separately save 146,88 EUR each per year.

How to claim

One person registers the flat at rundfunkbeitrag.de. Everyone else deregisters. In a dorm, a room off a shared corridor counts as its own flat and pays the full 220,32 EUR, while rooms behind one shared front door split a single fee.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Everyone with a flat. The fee is unavoidable, but paying it more than once per household is not.
If you are not an EU citizen: The exemption route is a different story. The Beitragsservice states plainly that hardship exemption is normally not available to international students, because you proved you could support yourself to get the visa.

Rundfunkbeitrag§ 2 Abs. 1 RBStV

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Deutschlandticket

Nationwide local and regional transport pass

From 44,10 EUR a month

63 EUR a month. 44,10 EUR if your employer chips in at least 25 percent, because that unlocks a further 5 percent discount. Around 53 EUR on the Sozial variant where your city runs one.

How to claim

Subscribe with any transport operator. For the Jobticket, ask your employer directly: many have the scheme and never mention it.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone. The Jobticket rate needs your employer to set it up, and it is tax-free to them under § 3 Nr. 15 EStG.

Bundesregierung

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Stadtbibliothek

City library, and the language courses inside it

10 to 45 EUR a year

Berlin 10 EUR a year, Munich and Frankfurt 20 EUR, Cologne 30 EUR and free to your 21st birthday, Hamburg 45 EUR over 27. A card includes Rosetta Stone in Cologne and LinguaTV in Berlin and Munich, plus PressReader and filmfriend nearly everywhere.

How to claim

Register in a branch. Asylum seekers get a free card outright in Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt. Reading inside the building is free everywhere with no card at all.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone with an address. A passport plus your Meldebescheinigung works in every city checked; a German ID card is never actually required.

VÖBB Berlin

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Dialog in Deutsch, and the Cologne sprachraum

Free German conversation groups, no registration

Free

Free, weekly, and you can start any week. Hamburg runs 22 pages of sessions across its libraries; Cologne runs a staffed learning room that also helps you write a Lebenslauf on Friday afternoons.

How to claim

Turn up. Hamburg: buecherhallen.de/dialog-in-deutsch. Cologne: the sprachraum at Josef-Haubrich-Hof 1a, Tuesday to Friday afternoons.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone learning German. No library card, no registration, no minimum level.

Bücherhallen Hamburg

StateCounts against your permitDepends on your permit

Wohngeld

Housing benefit

Scales with your income

A monthly contribution toward rent, scaled to income, household size and local rent levels.

How to claim

Apply at your local Wohngeldstelle.

Not named in § 2 Abs. 3 AufenthG, so on the face of the statute it is public money. In practice the Bundesverwaltungsgericht held on 29.11.2012 that it is harmless where your livelihood is secured without it, which is the normal case since it assumes you have income. Worth a question to your Ausländerbehörde before a renewal, not a reason to avoid it.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: People on a low income who are not receiving Bürgergeld. It presupposes that you have your own income.

BMWSB

StateCounts against your permitDepends on your permit

Bürgergeld

Basic income support

Covers subsistence

Covers subsistence and housing costs.

How to claim

Jobcenter. Speak to a Migrationsberatung adviser first if you hold a residence permit.

This is the one that genuinely bites. Bürgergeld is tax-funded, not contribution-funded, so it is not covered by § 2 Abs. 3 AufenthG: it counts against "Lebensunterhalt ist gesichert" for permit renewal under § 5 AufenthG and against citizenship under § 10 StAG. Arbeitslosengeld I, which you paid for out of your own wages, is a completely different case and is safe.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: People who cannot cover their own living costs. Listed here for the warning, not as a recommendation.

Agentur für Arbeit§ 5 AufenthG, § 10 StAG

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Migrationsberatung für erwachsene Zuwanderer

Free adult migration counselling

Free

Free, one to one, and independent of the Ausländerbehörde.

How to claim

Find your nearest office through the BAMF adviser search. This is the right first stop before anything on this page that carries a visa warning.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Adult immigrants. Under 27s go to the Jugendmigrationsdienst instead.

BAMF

CultureOpen to non-EU

Sonntagseintritt, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen

Munich state museums for one euro on Sundays

1 EUR instead of 9 EUR

1 EUR instead of 9 EUR, every Sunday, at the Alte Pinakothek, the Pinakothek der Moderne, Museum Brandhorst and Sammlung Schack. Under 18s are free any day.

How to claim

Turn up on a Sunday and pay at the desk. One ticket covers several of the houses on the same day.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone. No card, no proof, no student status needed.

Pinakotheken München

CultureOpen to non-EU

Satourday

Free museum Saturday in Frankfurt

Free, every month

Free entry to around fourteen Frankfurt museums on the last Saturday of every month, with guided tours included.

How to claim

Turn up on the last Saturday of the month. August moves to the second-to-last Saturday because of the Museumsuferfest.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone. Two of the houses limit the free entry to under 18s, the rest do not.

Stadt Frankfurt

CompanyOpen to non-EU

vhs-Lernportal

Free German course, A1 to B2

Free

Free, with no upsell at the end. Courses to B2, an app that works offline, and the interface in 18 languages so you can navigate it before you can read German.

How to claim

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone. Run by the German adult education association and funded by the federal education ministry.

Deutscher Volkshochschul-Verband

CompanyOpen to non-EU

DW Deutsch lernen

Free German course from the public broadcaster

Free

Free. Nicos Weg alone runs 228 lessons from A1 to B1 with about six hours of video.

How to claim

Go to learngerman.dw.com. Worth pairing with the vhs-Lernportal: DW is stronger on video, the vhs portal on corrected writing.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone, anywhere, with no registration needed to start.

Deutsche Welle

CompanyOpen to non-EU

Amazon Prime, half price at 18 to 22

Prime discount that is no longer a student discount

45 EUR a year saved

4,49 EUR a month or 44,90 EUR a year, half the normal price, after six months free.

How to claim

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone aged 18 to 22 in Germany. Since June 2025 this replaced Prime Student, so there is no enrolment check any more.

Amazon

Students

The honest headline: the two biggest German student funds, BAföG and the KfW loan, are closed to you if you arrived on a study visa. The Deutschlandstipendium is not, and almost nobody applies.

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Rundfunkbeitrag, one fee per flat

Broadcasting fee, and how not to pay it twice

147 EUR a year saved

18,36 EUR a month, 220,32 EUR a year, per FLAT and not per person. Three flatmates who register once instead of separately save 146,88 EUR each per year.

How to claim

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Everyone with a flat. The fee is unavoidable, but paying it more than once per household is not.
If you are not an EU citizen: The exemption route is a different story. The Beitragsservice states plainly that hardship exemption is normally not available to international students, because you proved you could support yourself to get the visa.

Rundfunkbeitrag§ 2 Abs. 1 RBStV

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Stadtbibliothek

City library, and the language courses inside it

10 to 45 EUR a year

How to claim

Register in a branch. Asylum seekers get a free card outright in Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt. Reading inside the building is free everywhere with no card at all.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone with an address. A passport plus your Meldebescheinigung works in every city checked; a German ID card is never actually required.

VÖBB Berlin

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Deutschlandstipendium

Germany Scholarship

300 EUR a month

300 EUR a month, not repayable, and it stacks on top of BAföG.

How to claim

There is no central portal. You apply to your own university, under its own deadline. Check the Deutschlandkarte on the site to see whether yours takes part.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Students of ALL nationalities at a participating university. Awarded on merit and engagement, and explicitly not means-tested.
If you are not an EU citizen: One of the very few funding routes genuinely open to a non-EU student already in Germany. The official wording is "Studierende aller Nationalitäten".

BMBF

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Mensa

Subsidised university canteen

2 to 4 EUR a meal

Main dishes at roughly 2,20 to 4,40 EUR on the student tier, against 4,80 to 7,00 EUR for guests in the same queue. Cologne runs a 1,80 EUR dish.

How to claim

Show your student card at the till. Most cities are cashless, so you will need the local Mensa card.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone enrolled at a university the Studierendenwerk serves. Nationality and permit type play no part.
If you are not an EU citizen: Full student price, same as everyone else. Visiting students not enrolled locally pay the staff tier in some cities.

Studierendenwerk Hamburg

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Studierendenwerk Wohnheim

Public student dormitory

About 305 EUR a month

305,40 EUR a month on average, all in, against just under 600 EUR for a commercially built student room.

How to claim

Apply to the Studierendenwerk for your city, months before the semester. 80 to 90 percent of annual demand lands in the few weeks around the winter semester start.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Enrolled students. Roughly 196.000 places nationally against 2,87 million students, so demand is the constraint.
If you are not an EU citizen: You can apply, but do not expect priority. The room quotas set aside for international students go to exchange-programme students and scholarship holders through the universities, not to degree-seeking students who applied directly.

Deutsches Studierendenwerk

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

STIBET Studienabschlussbeihilfe

DAAD hardship grant, run by your university

Set by your university

A few months of support near the end of your degree if you hit unexpected trouble.

How to claim

Ask your university International Office. There is no central application and no national deadline.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: International students already in Germany. This is the one DAAD instrument aimed at you rather than at applicants abroad.

DAAD

StateSafe for your permitDepends on your permit

Begabtenförderungswerke

The 13 public talent foundations

300 to 1.155 EUR a month

300 EUR a month Büchergeld for everyone, income-independent, plus up to 855 EUR a month means-tested on top.

How to claim

Apply directly to one foundation, not centrally. Heinrich Böll and Friedrich Ebert both run explicit tracks for international students.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Students with strong grades and demonstrable civic engagement. Each foundation runs its own process.
If you are not an EU citizen: Two of the thirteen are confirmed open to internationals, and both are shaped around applying from abroad or at Master level rather than mid-degree. The other eleven were not verified, so check the foundation rather than assuming.

stipendiumplus (BMFTR)

StateSafe for your permitDepends on your permit

Studienstarthilfe

One-off study start grant

1.000 EUR, once

1.000 EUR, paid once, not repayable, and not counted against any other benefit.

How to claim

Through BAföG Digital, with a BundID. The deadline is the end of the month after your course started, and missing it forfeits the money permanently.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: First-ever enrolment, under 25, and in the month before starting you or your parents received Bürgergeld, Sozialhilfe, Wohngeld, Kinderzuschlag or Asylbewerberleistungen.
If you are not an EU citizen: The nationality test in § 8 BAföG is switched off for this one grant, so the law does not exclude you. In practice the qualifying benefits are closed to a study permit, so the realistic claimant is someone who was previously an asylum seeker.
And your permit: Ausbildungsförderung under the BAföG is named in § 2 Abs. 3 AufenthG.

BAföG (BMFTR)§ 56 BAföG

StateSafe for your permitClosed on a study permit

BAföG

Federal student financial aid

Up to 992 EUR a month

Up to 992 EUR a month. Half grant, half interest-free loan, and repayment is capped at 10.010 EUR however much you drew.

How to claim

Apply to the Amt für Ausbildungsförderung at your Studierendenwerk, online at bafoeg-digital.de.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Germans, EU citizens with permanent residence or worker status, holders of a Niederlassungserlaubnis or Daueraufenthalt-EU, recognised refugees, and people who worked in Germany for five years before starting, or whose parent worked here three of the last six.
If you are not an EU citizen: A § 16b study permit is not in § 8 BAföG and cannot be. The five-year route needs residence plus lawful employment BEFORE the course starts, which is impossible if you came here to start it. Almost every list that says otherwise is wrong.
And your permit: Named in § 2 Abs. 3 AufenthG, so it never counts against a permit.

§ 8 BAföG§ 8 BAföG

StateSafe for your permitClosed on a study permit

KfW-Studienkredit

Federal student loan

Up to 650 EUR a month

100 to 650 EUR a month, up to 54.600 EUR. Around 6,3 percent variable interest as of September 2026, so read it as a loan and not a benefit.

How to claim

Online through the KfW student loan portal.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Germans resident here, EU citizens registered here three years or more, family members of a German or EU national, and Bildungsinländer who took their school-leaving qualification at a German school.
If you are not an EU citizen: Closed to a Bildungsausländer, meaning anyone who arrived on a study visa with a foreign qualification. The Bildungskredit is closed too: its rules import the § 8 BAföG test wholesale.

KfW

CultureOpen to non-EU

Sonntagseintritt, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen

Munich state museums for one euro on Sundays

1 EUR instead of 9 EUR

1 EUR instead of 9 EUR, every Sunday, at the Alte Pinakothek, the Pinakothek der Moderne, Museum Brandhorst and Sammlung Schack. Under 18s are free any day.

How to claim

Turn up on a Sunday and pay at the desk. One ticket covers several of the houses on the same day.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone. No card, no proof, no student status needed.

Pinakotheken München

CultureOpen to non-EU

Satourday

Free museum Saturday in Frankfurt

Free, every month

Free entry to around fourteen Frankfurt museums on the last Saturday of every month, with guided tours included.

How to claim

Turn up on the last Saturday of the month. August moves to the second-to-last Saturday because of the Museumsuferfest.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone. Two of the houses limit the free entry to under 18s, the rest do not.

Stadt Frankfurt

CompanyOpen to non-EU

GitHub Student Developer Pack

Professional developer tools, free while you study

Free

Free. It carries a JetBrains All Products licence on its own, which is the expensive part, plus cloud credits, a domain and a long list of smaller tools.

How to claim

Apply at education.github.com. Note that free Copilot Student sign-ups were paused in 2026, so expect the JetBrains licence rather than Copilot.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Students on an accredited programme. You can verify with a university email, an enrolment certificate or an ISIC card, so no German university address is required.
If you are not an EU citizen: Nationality plays no part. Verification is about enrolment, and an ISIC card works if your university does not issue you an email address.

GitHub

CompanyOpen to non-EU

Microsoft 365 Education

Word, Excel, PowerPoint and 1 TB of storage

Free

Free where your university holds the campus licence, which most German universities do.

How to claim

Sign in at microsoft.com/education with your university email, or check your university IT portal first, since some hand out their own activation instead.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Enrolled students at an institution with a Microsoft volume agreement. Without one you get a paid student discount instead, not the free tier.

Microsoft

CompanyOpen to non-EU

Spotify Premium Student

Half-price music subscription

72 EUR a year saved

6,99 EUR a month instead of 12,99 EUR, so 72 EUR a year saved, with one month free to start.

How to claim

spotify.com/de/student. It has to be re-verified every year.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Students at a recognised institution, verified through SheerID. Not available if you have already used a Premium trial.

Spotify

CompanyOpen to non-EU

Amazon Prime, half price at 18 to 22

Prime discount that is no longer a student discount

45 EUR a year saved

4,49 EUR a month or 44,90 EUR a year, half the normal price, after six months free.

How to claim

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone aged 18 to 22 in Germany. Since June 2025 this replaced Prime Student, so there is no enrolment check any more.

Amazon

Employees

Most of the money here is in your tax return, which you are probably not filing. The commuter rate changed in January 2026 and is now higher from the first kilometre.

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Deutschlandticket

Nationwide local and regional transport pass

From 44,10 EUR a month

63 EUR a month. 44,10 EUR if your employer chips in at least 25 percent, because that unlocks a further 5 percent discount. Around 53 EUR on the Sozial variant where your city runs one.

How to claim

Subscribe with any transport operator. For the Jobticket, ask your employer directly: many have the scheme and never mention it.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone. The Jobticket rate needs your employer to set it up, and it is tax-free to them under § 3 Nr. 15 EStG.

Bundesregierung

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Entfernungspauschale

Commuter allowance

0,38 EUR per kilometre

0,38 EUR per kilometre from the FIRST kilometre since January 2026. On a 25 km commute over 220 days that is 2.090 EUR off your taxable income.

How to claim

Anlage N of your tax return: days worked times one-way kilometres.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Everyone who commutes, by any means. Capped at 4.500 EUR a year unless you drive your own car, in which case there is no cap.
If you are not an EU citizen: A tax deduction, not public money. It cannot affect a permit.

§ 9 EStG§ 9 Abs. 1 Satz 3 Nr. 4 EStG

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Homeoffice-Tagespauschale

Home office day allowance

Up to 1.260 EUR a year

6 EUR per day worked from home, up to 1.260 EUR a year.

How to claim

Anlage N. If you have no other workplace available, the day counts even when you also went to the office or travelled.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone working from home. You do NOT need a separate study, which is the point of this rule.

§ 4 EStG§ 4 Abs. 5 Satz 1 Nr. 6c EStG

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag

Automatic employee deduction

1.230 EUR, automatic

1.230 EUR off your taxable income, granted automatically. Itemising only pays above that.

How to claim

Nothing to do. New for 2026: union dues now come on TOP of this rather than inside it, so they are worth claiming separately.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Every employee.

§ 9a EStG

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Einkommensteuererklärung

Voluntary tax return

1.240 EUR average refund

The average refund was 1.240 EUR, on 2022 assessments. 87 percent of assessed taxpayers got money back.

How to claim

ELSTER, free. A voluntary return can only help you: if it would produce a bill rather than a refund, you can withdraw it.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone who was employed. If you are not obliged to file, you have four years, so 2022 through 2026 are all still open and there is no penalty for a late voluntary return.

Destatis

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Weiterbildungsförderung für Beschäftigte

Training funding while you stay employed

Up to 100% of course fees

In a company under 50 people the Agentur pays 100 percent of the course fees and up to 75 percent of your wages for the time you are released. In a company of 50 to 499 it is half and half.

How to claim

Your employer books a meeting with the Arbeitgeber-Service. Everything must be agreed BEFORE the course starts; booking first and applying later does not work.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Employees whose qualification is at least two years old, on a course over 120 hours with a certified provider. Your employer has to agree and to release you.

§ 82 SGB III

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Krankengeld

Statutory sick pay after the first six weeks

70% of gross, 78 weeks

Your employer pays 100 percent for the first six weeks. After that your Krankenkasse pays 70 percent of gross, capped at 90 percent of net, for up to 78 weeks.

How to claim

Keep the sick note running without gaps. The Krankenkasse pays you directly once the six weeks end.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Members of a statutory Krankenkasse. The employer stage needs four weeks of service first.
And your permit: Rests on your own contributions, so § 2 Abs. 3 AufenthG covers it.

§ 47 SGB V

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Kinderkrankengeld

Paid leave when your child is ill

15 days a year, per child

90 percent of lost net pay. 15 working days per child per parent in 2026, 30 for single parents, capped at 35 and 70 days across all children.

How to claim

Get the child sick note on day one and send it to your own Krankenkasse. You also have a separate right to unpaid release that cannot be contracted away.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Statutorily insured parents of a child under 12, where nobody else in the household can care for them.

§ 45 SGB V

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Arbeitslosengeld I

Contributory unemployment insurance

60 to 67% of net pay

60 percent of your previous net pay, 67 percent with a child. Six months of payments after 12 months of contributions, rising to 24 months at age 58 with 48 months of contributions.

How to claim

Register as arbeitsuchend within three days of learning your job will end, and as arbeitslos on the first day. Late registration costs you weeks of payments.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone with 12 months of insured employment in the last 30. Work elsewhere in the EU counts toward that, via a PD U1 form, but only if you worked in Germany most recently.
And your permit: You paid for this out of your own wages, so § 2 Abs. 3 AufenthG covers it and it is NOT the same as Bürgergeld. The separate risk is that a Blue Card or skilled-worker permit is tied to a specific job: tell the Ausländerbehörde you have lost it.

§ 149 SGB III

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Kurzarbeitergeld

Short-time work allowance

60 to 67% of the pay you lose

60 percent of the pay you lose, 67 percent with a child. Available for up to 24 months until the end of 2026, then back to 12.

How to claim

Your employer notifies the Agentur in the first month of short time. Ask whether they have, because the notification has to arrive that month.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Employees whose company has cut hours for economic reasons. It is the employer who applies, not you.

§ 105 SGB III

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Insolvenzgeld

Unpaid wages when your employer goes under

3 months of unpaid wages

Your full net pay for the last three months before the insolvency.

How to claim

Apply to the Agentur within TWO MONTHS of the insolvency event, not of your last payslip. The deadline is absolute and this is the single easiest benefit on this page to lose by waiting.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Employees of an insolvent company.

§ 165 SGB III

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Mutterschaftsgeld

Maternity pay

Full net pay, 14 weeks

Your full net pay across the protection period: 13 EUR a day from the Krankenkasse and the rest topped up by your employer.

How to claim

From week 33, send the due-date certificate to your Krankenkasse and a copy to your employer. Privately insured women get at most 210 EUR in total from the federal office, but still get the full employer top-up.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Employed women, six weeks before the birth and eight after, or twelve after a premature or multiple birth.

§ 20 MuSchG

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Umzugskosten

Job-related moving costs

964 EUR, plus 643 each

964 EUR flat for you plus 643 EUR per further household member, on top of the actual removal costs, with no receipts needed for the flat part.

How to claim

Anlage N, under sonstige Werbungskosten. Employer reimbursement cancels the deduction, so claim whichever is larger, not both.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Anyone whose move cuts the daily round trip to work by at least an hour, or who moved to start a job or change employer. Where the hour is met, your private reasons stop mattering.

§ 10 BUKG

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Doppelte Haushaltsführung

Second home for work

Up to 1.000 EUR a month

Up to 1.000 EUR a month for a second home in Germany, 2.000 EUR abroad, plus one trip home a week at 0,38 EUR per kilometre.

How to claim

Anlage N-Doppelte Haushaltsführung, its own form since 2023.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: People keeping a home elsewhere while working in another city, who contribute financially to the original household.

§ 9 EStG

StateSafe for your permitOpen to non-EU

Arbeitsmittel

Work equipment, and the one-year computer rule

Up to 800 EUR net, at once

Anything up to 800 EUR net is deductible in full the year you buy it. Computers and software can be written off in a single year whatever they cost, so a 2.500 EUR laptop comes off this year.

How to claim

Anlage N, under Arbeitsmittel. Keep the receipt: the one-year computer write-off is optional, so nobody applies it for you.

Who qualifies, and the small print

Who qualifies: Any employee buying equipment they need for work. Private use up to about 10 percent is harmless.

Lohnsteuer-Handbuch 2026

2 of these are closed to you on a study permit and are still advertised to international students almost everywhere: BAföG, KfW-Studienkredit. They are left on the page, marked, rather than quietly dropped, because being told plainly that something is shut saves more time than another list that does not mention it.

Still on every other list, and actually gone

This is why the page carries a date. Each of these was checked against the body that ran it, and each is still being recommended to internationals across the web.

Museumssonntag Berlin
Free entry to over 60 Berlin museums on the first Sunday of the month. Berlin cut the funding and the last one ran on 1 December 2024. There is no relaunch planned.
berlin.de
KulturPass
100 EUR of culture credit for 18 year olds, for books, cinema, concerts and museums. Discontinued from January 2026 after the budget was cut from 64 million to almost nothing.
Kulturstaatsminister
Amazon Prime Student
Not dead, but no longer a student product in Germany. Since June 2025 it is a straight half-price Prime for anyone aged 18 to 22, with no enrolment check, so the Studienbescheinigung every guide asks for is pointless.
Amazon

Checked against the issuing authority in September 2026, and every row carries the source it was read from. Where a figure could not be verified officially it was left out rather than guessed, which is why Bildungsurlaub and free Kita are missing: both are sixteen separate state laws and a half-checked table would be wrong for whichever state you live in.

Before you start applying

Two of these count against your permit. The rest cannot.

The rule is statutory, not a matter of opinion. § 2 Abs. 3 AufenthG names the public money that is never held against you: Kindergeld, Kinderzuschlag, Elterngeld, Erziehungsgeld, student support under BAföG or SGB III, Unterhaltsvorschuss, and anything resting on your own contributions.

That last clause is the one people get wrong. Arbeitslosengeld I is safe, because you paid for it out of your own wages every month. Bürgergeld is not, because it is funded from tax. They are treated as opposites even though both arrive when you lose your job.

Citizenship applies a second and stricter test. § 10 StAG wants your livelihood from your own means, with one clean exception since the 2024 reform: 20 of the 24 months before the decision spent in full-time work, and the requirement falls away entirely.

None of this is legal advice, and a marginal case belongs in front of a free Migrationsberatung adviser before it goes anywhere near your Ausländerbehörde.

Questions People Actually Ask

Can claiming a benefit cost me my residence permit?

Only some of them, and the line is in the statute rather than in anyone opinion. § 2 Abs. 3 AufenthG lists the public money that never counts against you: Kindergeld, Kinderzuschlag, Elterngeld, Erziehungsgeld, student support under BAföG or SGB III, Unterhaltsvorschuss, and anything funded by your own contributions, which covers Arbeitslosengeld I and Krankengeld. Bürgergeld is tax-funded and is not on that list, so it does count. Everything else on this page is either on the list or is not public money at all, meaning a discount, a service, a tax deduction or a scholarship.

Does Wohngeld hurt my permit?

Usually not, despite what most guides say. Wohngeld is missing from the § 2 Abs. 3 list, so on the face of the statute it is public money. But it presupposes that you have your own income, and the Bundesverwaltungsgericht held on 29 November 2012 that drawing it is harmless where your livelihood is secured without it. Ask your Ausländerbehörde before a renewal if your case is marginal, rather than avoiding it on principle.

What about German citizenship? Is that the same test?

No, it is stricter. § 10 StAG wants you to cover your living costs from your own means. The 2024 reform added one clean escape: if you were in full-time work for at least 20 of the 24 months before the decision on your application, the livelihood requirement is waived outright. There is also a hardship route under § 8 Abs. 2 StAG for illness, disability, study or single parenthood.

I am a non-EU student. Can I get BAföG?

Almost certainly not. § 8 BAföG lists who qualifies and a § 16b study permit is not among them. The route that sounds like it might work, five years of residence, also requires lawful employment during those five years before your course begins, which is impossible if you came to Germany in order to begin it. The KfW student loan and the Bildungskredit are closed for the same kind of reason. What is open to you is the Deutschlandstipendium, which takes students of every nationality, and STIBET hardship grants through your university International Office.

Which of these do people most often miss?

Three. Half your Integrationskurs fee comes back if you pass the test within two years, which is around 800 euros that nobody claims. A flat pays one Rundfunkbeitrag, not one per flatmate, so a three-person flat that registered separately is overpaying by about 440 euros a year. And most employees never file a voluntary tax return, where the average refund was 1.240 euros and you have four years to do it.

Next steps

Citizenship timeline

When you can apply for permanent residence and a passport, on your own dates.

Tax refund estimator

What the return described above is likely to be worth to you.

Anmeldung guide

The registration that most of this page quietly depends on.

Most of these forms are in German

Every application on this page assumes you can read a Behörde form. That is the real barrier, and it is the one thing we can actually fix.

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Guide by

Abdullah

Creator of Ankommo · Based in Germany

I moved to Germany and built Ankommo to help others navigate the same process I went through. We offer 1-on-1 video consultations on visas, Ausbildung applications, citizenship requirements and settling in.

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