Contact persons

Your key contact persons are social workers in the municipality who supervise you in the dormitories or in the apartment. Local welcoming initiatives as well as voluntary guides and mentors support you regarding first orientation. Migration counseling centers usually provide consultation during fixed office hours. They provide competent support with regard to the asylum procedure, legal aspect for foreigners, social benefits as well as offers of language promotion and other questions of everyday life, education and labor. Besides, there are organizations and associations on site. These provide information, encounters, culture, sports and language courses.

In larger cities, migrants have allied in migrant organizations. Many of them still remember how difficult it is to settle down. Therefore, they assist newly arriving people in translations and orientation. Contact the regional network of migrant organization of Saxony-Anhalt (Landesnetzwerk der Migrantenorganisationen – LAMSA). You can get information there and find out which migrant organizations are located nearby.

Study German

It is important to study the German language as quickly as possible. Only thus you are able to participate in German social life and find a good job. In order to support that, all immigrants, among them recognized refugees with residence permit, can attend integration courses of the Federation. These courses cover 600 hours language course and 300 hours orientation course. During the orientation course, regulations, rights and duties as well as practical knowledge about life in Germany are taught.

Asylum seekers from the countries Syria, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Somalia can attend an integration course while the asylum procedure is pending (as of 10/2016). To do so, they have to direct an application to BAMF. Please ask your social worker or consultant about it.

There are also plenty introductory offers: basic courses, language cafés, language mentoring or voluntary offers of associations. Your social worker will also inform you about on-site possibilities of language training. Language courses might be combined with job hunting and qualification. Therefore, also address the job center or the employment agency (Arbeitsagentur).

Please note: Missing or insufficient language skills are often the main obstacle to labor market integration. Therefore, take advantage of all possibilities to study German as quickly and intensively as possible.

Recognition of professional qualifications

Pursuing a career in Germany mostly requires recognized professional qualifications. If you hold a vocational training or an academic degree, take care that these competences are filed.

In case you have not been able to take advantage of competence assessment offers in the federal state reception center, address immediately after your arrival the social workers or consultants in the municipality responsible for you. They will inform you about the employment agency’s competence assessment that assesses formal education, training, professional qualification and academic degree as well as work experience. By the time your qualification profile is gathered, you should take advice on your possibilities of recognition. Contact the respective counseling centers of Network IQ. The consultants will support you step by step along the often arduous path of foreign degree recognition.

Please note: In Germany, qualifications and professional competences are required for the pursuit of most professions. These can be filed in the recognition counseling. For some professions, recognition is the prerequisite in order to be permitted to work in this profession in Germany.

Integration into labor

As recognized refugee you are allowed to work in Germany, because you obtain an unrestricted employment permit. If your asylum procedure is still pending or if you are suspended from deportation (Duldung), employment permit can be granted at the earliest after three months residency. You can apply for the employment permit at the foreigners’ registration office. The Federal Employment Agency conducts an examination. It agrees if the position meets the minimum legal requirements.

As long as you are obliged to stay in a LAE, you are not allowed to take up employment.

Saxony-Anhalt aims at speedy competence assessment and integration into labor. Many partners collaborate in labor market counseling. Counseling is provided by migrant consultants at the Federal Employment Agency (BA), at job centers, at Chambers of Crafts and Chambers of Industry and Commerce. Many associations as well assist by counseling, e.g. the regional initiative “Professional in Focus” (“Fachkraft im Fokus”), project network Job Bridge PLUS (Jobbrücke PLUS), Network IQ and the regional network of migrant organizations (LAMSA e.V.). Ask your guardian or consultant responsible specifically about the possibilities of labor market integration that come into consideration for you.

Please note: Missing or insufficient language skills are often the main obstacle to labor market integration. Therefore, take advantage of all possibilities to study German as quickly and intensively as possible.

Child Care

In Germany every child has the right to a place in a day care center (Kita), where children are looked after while learning and playing with other children. The same is true for your child the moment it is allocated to a rural or urban district. Attending a day care center promotes the acquisition of the German language and communication with other children. Your social worker will assist you in filing the application for admission to the day care center.

Formal Education

In Germany, all children have a right to education. Girls and boys are required to attend school at the age of six by law. School attendance is compulsory for your children, too. In many cities of Saxony-Anhalt, there are schools, which provide specific language support classes. Your child can acquire German in these classes in order to follow lessons with other children after that. Support your child on learning German. Your social worker will inform you about the closest offers and assist you with the application.

In Germany, all children first attend primary school. Afterwards, they graduate from secondary school. There are different types of graduation. These are the prerequisites for the further education of your child. With a secondary school degree or certificate (Haupt- oder Realschulabschluss), your child can start a vocational training, with a high school diploma he or she can start studying. Without any degree it is difficult to find a good job.

Further information about the German school system is provided by the regional network of migrant organizations in Saxony-Anhalt.

Vocational Training

In Germany, qualification for many professions takes place via the “dual vocational training” (duale Ausbildung). This training usually lasts three years and is compensated. It pairs hands-on learning in a company with theoretical knowledge in the vocational school.

There is also educational training. Educational training usually lasts up to three years and aims at imparting theoretical knowedge. It is not compensated.

You can take advice on the different training possibilities in job centers. Please also ask, if you can apply for financial support regarding your intended training.

A further contact point is the regional network of migrant organizations. The regional network supports young migrants searching a trainee position and accompanies them in the course of the training.