Financial support and medical care

The Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (“AsylbLG”) applies to people:

• going through the asylum procedure
• whose right to asylum, protection as a refugee and obstacles to deportation have been rejected
• who have a temporary suspension of deportation
• who are obliged to leave Germany
• or who do not have any valid papers or residence title (“illegals”, “sans papiers”).

If you are a member of one of these groups, you will be entitled to the following benefits:

The costs of your accommodation (flat or room in hostel) will be covered.

You will receive money for food or benefits in kind for clothing and day-to-day needs (like travel tickets, cigarettes, sanitary products, household items).

If you are expecting a baby you will receive money for baby equipment and clothing.

Each person living with you receives cash in the amount of at least 79 to 150 euros (depending on age).

For every child under six years of age, you will currently receive 79 euros a month.

After 18 months you will be entitled to more welfare benefits. Then you will be paid a little more money. This should happen without your having to submit an official application. You can consult a counseling service for asylum seekers if the amount paid out is too low. The staff there will file an objection on your behalf.

You are entitled to treatment for acute illness and pain, and to all examinations and treatments relating to pregnancy and birth. The costs of treatment of chronic diseases (such as HIV or diabetes, for instance) will also be covered. At any event, you have to go to the social security office (“Sozialamt”) first to obtain a medical treatment document, that is valid for a limited period of time, with which you then can go to a doctor.

In some cities you are not given a medical treatment document but instead get a health card with which you can go directly to a doctor.

After 18 months at the latest, you will receive a health card and can go to a doctor with the card without a treatment certificate (further information Medical in care Germany).

The rules on whether the costs for an interpreter for a visit to the doctor are covered are different in every German state, town or city. Should you need an interpreter, you can ask for assistance from the counseling service for asylum seekers.

The authority responsible for such applications differs greatly, too. It’s best to get support from a counseling service for asylum seekers.