How to Get Mobility Aids in Germany: Guide for Ukrainian Refugees

Get­ting mobil­i­ty aids in Ger­many as a Ukrain­ian refugee involves under­stand­ing your legal sta­tus, prepar­ing key doc­u­ments, and nav­i­gat­ing the appli­ca­tion process for social ben­e­fits. This guide offers clear steps to help you access the sup­port you need under Germany’s Bürg­ergeld sys­tem with con­fi­dence.

Eligibility Requirements and Legal Status for Ukrainian Refugees

To qual­i­fy for mobil­i­ty aids and relat­ed social ben­e­fits in Ger­many, you must have tem­po­rary pro­tec­tion sta­tus accord­ing to § 24 of the Res­i­dence Act (Aufen­thG). This sta­tus is the foun­da­tion that allows Ukrain­ian refugees to access ben­e­fits and ser­vices sim­i­lar­ly to Ger­man cit­i­zens.

First, you need to reg­is­ter with local author­i­ties (Anmel­dung) and receive a refugee reg­is­tra­tion cer­tifi­cate such as the Anmeldebescheini­gung or Fik­tions­bescheini­gung. This reg­is­tra­tion is essen­tial to start any appli­ca­tion process.

Appli­ca­tions for social ben­e­fits must be made with­in spe­cif­ic time­frames after arrival, so time­ly action is crit­i­cal. Adults aged 18 and over can apply inde­pen­dent­ly, while minors need a guardian to apply on their behalf.

Your abil­i­ty to work also affects ben­e­fit eli­gi­bil­i­ty; those autho­rized to work may have dif­fer­ent appli­ca­tion paths. Spe­cial con­sid­er­a­tion applies to fam­i­lies with chil­dren and to preg­nant women, who may receive addi­tion­al sup­port under the sys­tem.

Documents and Preparation for Your First Jobcenter Visit

Before attend­ing your first appoint­ment at the Job­cen­ter, gath­er all nec­es­sary doc­u­ments to avoid delays. Essen­tials include your pass­port, tem­po­rary pro­tec­tion cer­tifi­cate, and proof of reg­is­tra­tion (Anmeldebescheini­gung).

Hav­ing a Ger­man bank account with an IBAN is impor­tant because ben­e­fit pay­ments are trans­ferred there. If you do not yet have a bank account, you may still apply but should clar­i­fy alter­na­tives with the Job­cen­ter.

Bring hous­ing documentation—such as a rental agree­ment or con­fir­ma­tion of tem­po­rary accommodation—and med­ical doc­u­ments if rel­e­vant, includ­ing preg­nan­cy or dis­abil­i­ty cer­tifi­cates.

If your doc­u­ments are not in Ger­man, offi­cial trans­la­tions will be required. If apply­ing for work-relat­ed ben­e­fits, include pre­vi­ous employ­ment records and qual­i­fi­ca­tions. Addi­tion­al­ly, fam­i­ly doc­u­ments like mar­riage and birth cer­tifi­cates are nec­es­sary to process fam­i­ly-relat­ed claims.

Bürgergeld Application Process and Benefit Amounts

Start by sched­ul­ing an ini­tial appoint­ment with your local Job­cen­ter, where you’ll sub­mit your doc­u­ments and com­plete your appli­ca­tion. The Bürg­ergeld sys­tem replaced pre­vi­ous ben­e­fits and offers improved finan­cial sup­port.

For 2024, the stan­dard month­ly Bürg­ergeld rates are €502 for sin­gle adults and €451 for part­ners. Chil­dren receive allowances depend­ing on their age. In addi­tion to the month­ly pay­ment, you may receive hous­ing cost cov­er­age and allowances for heat­ing, plus one-time sup­port for items like fur­ni­ture for new apart­ments.

Cer­tain spe­cial needs qual­i­fy for addi­tion­al sup­ple­ments, such as dietary require­ments and dis­abil­i­ty-relat­ed expens­es. Expect pro­cess­ing to take around 4–6 weeks, though inter­im pay­ments can help dur­ing this peri­od.

If your appli­ca­tion is denied or the ben­e­fits are insuf­fi­cient, you can file a Wider­spruch (appeal) to request review and recon­sid­er­a­tion.

Ongoing Obligations and Integration Support Services

Once you receive ben­e­fits, you’ll need to report reg­u­lar­ly on your job search, income changes, and oth­er rel­e­vant updates. You’ll also be expect­ed to par­tic­i­pate in inte­gra­tion cours­es, includ­ing Ger­man lan­guage and ori­en­ta­tion class­es, designed to help you set­tle and find work.

The Job­cen­ter will arrange an Eingliederungsvere­in­barung, or inte­gra­tion agree­ment, out­lin­ing your mutu­al oblig­a­tions, such as attend­ing job appli­ca­tion work­shops or employ­ment pro­grams.

Health insur­ance reg­is­tra­tion through the Job­cen­ter is manda­to­ry for all ben­e­fit recip­i­ents. Fam­i­lies should also con­sid­er apply­ing for child ben­e­fits (Kindergeld), which coor­di­nate with Bürg­ergeld pay­ments.

If you or your fam­i­ly mem­bers are stu­dents, explore edu­ca­tion­al sup­ports like BAföG or voca­tion­al train­ing allowances to assist in your devel­op­ment.

Think ahead: the tem­po­rary pro­tec­tion sta­tus is a start­ing point, and mov­ing toward per­ma­nent res­i­den­cy and sta­ble employ­ment is part of the inte­gra­tion jour­ney.

For more detailed steps and insights, check our com­pre­hen­sive guide for Ukrain­ian refugees.

Sources

• Ger­man Fed­er­al Employ­ment Agency (Bun­de­sagen­tur für Arbeit) guide­lines
• Ger­man Res­i­dence Act (Aufen­thalts­ge­setz) § 24 pro­vi­sions
• Cur­rent Bürg­ergeld rates as per 2024 Ger­man social code reg­u­la­tions