Aid for Ukrainians in Germany: conditions and how to apply

This page is for people in Germany who do not have enough money to live on, who have children or who pay high rent. It covers the conditions and amounts for 2026, the obligations of recipients, and the current status of the bill that so much has been written about.

# Who can get Grundsicherungsgeld?

The basic income support Grundsicherungsgeld goes to people of working age who are able to work, live in Germany and do not have sufficient means. For holders of temporary protection it is available in two cases:

• you have a § 24 permit;
• you have applied for a § 24 permit, gone through the identity check procedure and been issued a Fiktionsbescheinigung; in this case support is granted for no more than six months at a time.

You apply to the Jobcenter. Support for living costs is paid from the first day of the month in which you applied. People who receive Grundsicherungsgeld are, as a rule, insured in statutory health insurance.

Anyone who already receives an old-age pension, including a Ukrainian one, and has access to that money, as a rule does not receive Grundsicherungsgeld, whatever the size of the pension. The government explains that a foreign pension closes access if it is similar to a German old-age pension: it is paid by a public body, it is linked to age and it replaces earnings; this is checked in each case. Such people are helped by the social welfare office (Sozialamt); more on the page Pension in Germany for Ukrainians.

# How much is the support in 2026?

The standard rates in 2026 have not changed from 2025. Housing and heating costs are paid on top of them.

For each child and young person on the rates in the last four rows, an extra €25 a month is paid. The federal portal germany4ukraine.de still writes about €20; that amount is out of date.

# How is housing paid for?

For rent there is a grace year: during the first year the Jobcenter pays your actual rent. From 1 July 2026 there is a limit even in this year: rent is not paid for the part that exceeds one and a half times the amount considered reasonable for your area. The grace year does not cover heating: from the very start, heating is paid only up to a reasonable amount.

# How much savings can you have?

From 1 July 2026, the grace year in which savings were not counted has been abolished. Now each person in the family can keep the following amount without it being counted:

• under 30: €5,000;
• from 30: €10,000;
• from 40: €12,500;
• from 50: €20,000.

The unused part can be passed on to other family members with whom you receive support. Your own home remains protected up to 130 m² for an apartment and 140 m² for a house. For award periods that started before 1 July 2026, the old rules apply.

# What obligations does a recipient have?

Now the Jobcenter offers work or training first, and payments only after that; where reasonable, this includes full-time work. Dropping out of an integration course or a German course for work without good reason is now also a breach of obligations. Parents are required to look for work as soon as their child is 14 months old, if there is someone to look after the child.

Any absence from your place of residence requires the Jobcenter’s prior consent; without an important reason it is usually given for no more than three weeks per calendar year. The federal portal germany4ukraine.de explains this for trips to Ukraine: if a trip lasts from three to six weeks, support is paid only for three weeks, and if it lasts more than six weeks, the payment is usually stopped, and you have to apply again after you return.

In total, for several breaches, the rate is reduced by no more than 30%; the only exception is refusing a specific reasonable job, for which the whole standard rate is not paid. Sanctions do not reduce the payment for housing and heating. If a reduction would cause exceptional hardship, it is not applied. For breaches before 1 July 2026, the old consequences apply. The Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) puts 30% at about €170 for a person who lives alone.

Until 31 December 2026, offices may still use the old name Bürgergeld for the payment.

# What are AsylbLG payments, and who do they apply to now?

Today the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act (AsylbLG) applies to people under temporary protection for a short period: between the moment a person asks for protection under § 24 and the issue of a Fiktionsbescheinigung after their identity has been established. AsylbLG payments stop at the end of the month in which the certificate was issued. Asylum applicants also receive support under the AsylbLG. These payments are granted by the office designated by the federal state.

In 2026, under the AsylbLG, a single adult living on their own, not in a reception center, receives €455, each of two partners or an adult in a reception center €409, and children from €309 to €405 depending on age. Housing and heating are paid separately. Medical care is limited to the treatment of acute illness and pain, vaccinations and necessary check-ups, and care during pregnancy and childbirth; minors receive broader care. Only €200 of assets per person is not counted.

# What will happen to the bill on moving to AsylbLG?

For now it is a bill, not a law. The government approved the bill (Leistungsrechtsanpassungsgesetz) on 19 November 2025; the Bundestag debated it at first reading on 15 January 2026 and referred it to a committee. The last step in the procedure is dated 11 February 2026, and on 8 July 2026 the government was still calling it a draft in the Bundestag. It has not appeared in the Federal Law Gazette. The current rules apply: Grundsicherungsgeld from the Jobcenter, regardless of when you arrived.

What the current text of the bill provides, if it is passed unchanged:

• AsylbLG payments would go to people who were first issued a § 24 permit after 31 March 2025; there are exceptions for those who received a Fiktionsbescheinigung on or before 31 March 2025, or another permit between 4 March 2022 and 31 March 2025;
• the Ministry of Labor, in simplified terms, refers to people who arrived on or after 1 April 2025, but in the text of the bill what counts is the date of the first permit or certificate, not the date of entry;
• the law would enter into force on the first day of the third month after its publication;
• support already granted would be paid until the end of the period in the decision, but no longer than three months after the law enters into force; you would not have to pay back what you received.

The bill does not take away the right to work: the Ministry of Labor writes that people under temporary protection can still start work immediately.

# How do you get Kindergeld?

In 2026, child benefit (Kindergeld) is €259 a month for each child. It is paid by the family benefits office (Familienkasse).

Foreign nationals receive Kindergeld if they have a permit that gives the right to work for at least six months. The law does not exclude the § 24 permit from this rule, and the federal portal germany4ukraine.de explicitly calls it sufficient. A Fiktionsbescheinigung is suitable if it was issued on the basis of § 24 and allows work. The children must be in Germany, another EU or European Economic Area country, or Switzerland, and the application requires a tax identification number (Steuer-ID).

# Who can get Kinderzuschlag?

The child supplement (Kinderzuschlag) is paid to families with low earnings: up to €297 a month per child, including a separate supplement (Sofortzuschlag). The conditions: entitlement to Kindergeld; a gross family income of at least €900 a month for a couple or €600 for a single parent; and, together with housing benefit, this money must be enough for you not to need Grundsicherungsgeld. Savings of up to €40,000 for the applicant and up to €15,000 for each other family member do not stand in the way.

Official sources differ here. The portal of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs (Familienportal) says that people from Ukraine with a § 24 permit for at least six months can get Kinderzuschlag. The family benefits office’s page on requirements for foreign nationals names only citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, and people who have been finally granted asylum (unanfechtbar anerkannte Asylberechtigte). The law sets no separate citizenship requirement apart from entitlement to Kindergeld. Apply, and the family benefits office will decide.

# Who can get Wohngeld?

Housing benefit (Wohngeld) is paid as a rent subsidy to foreign nationals who actually live in Germany and have a residence permit, a Duldung (temporary suspension of deportation) or an asylum applicant’s certificate (Aufenthaltsgestattung), or who are exempted by an ordinance from needing a permit, like people from Ukraine in their first 90 days. The germany4ukraine.de portal explains that it is meant for people from Ukraine who already work but cannot afford their rent. If you receive Grundsicherungsgeld, social assistance or AsylbLG payments that include housing costs, Wohngeld is not granted. You apply to the housing benefit office in your district or city.

# Who can get Elterngeld?

Holders of a § 24 permit can get parental allowance (Elterngeld) after the birth of a child, under the same conditions on the right to work as for Kindergeld. You apply in writing to the office designated by the federal state. Retroactively it is paid only for the last three months of the child’s life before the month of life in which the application was received, so do not delay it.

# What mistakes should you avoid?

• Believing material about a “move to AsylbLG from 1 April 2025” as if it were a law in force: it is only a bill.
• Not telling the Jobcenter about a Ukrainian pension, interest or other income.
• Missing appointments at the Jobcenter: after three missed in a row, support is stopped.
• Putting off the Elterngeld application: it is paid retroactively for only three months.
• Taking amounts from the germany4ukraine.de portal without checking them against the law: some of its pages are out of date.