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

Get­ting mobil­i­ty aids in Ger­many is an essen­tial step for Ukrain­ian refugees requir­ing sup­port with their dai­ly mobil­i­ty. This guide out­lines how to access these aids through Ger­man social wel­fare pro­grams, focus­ing on eli­gi­bil­i­ty and the appli­ca­tion process under tem­po­rary pro­tec­tion sta­tus.

Eligibility and Legal Status for Ukrainian Refugees

To qual­i­fy for mobil­i­ty aids, Ukrain­ian refugees must first have the Ukraine-relat­ed tem­po­rary pro­tec­tion sta­tus grant­ed under § 24 of the Res­i­dence Act (Aufen­thalts­ge­setz). This legal sta­tus allows imme­di­ate access to social ben­e­fits and employ­ment, set­ting it apart from tra­di­tion­al asy­lum seek­er reg­u­la­tions. You need to be reg­is­tered with the local author­i­ties (Anmel­dung) and pos­sess a refugee reg­is­tra­tion cer­tifi­cate such as the Anmeldebescheini­gung or Fik­tions­bescheini­gung.

Appli­ca­tions for aid should be sub­mit­ted with­in spe­cif­ic time­lines after arrival, so it’s impor­tant to act prompt­ly. Adults aged 18 and old­er can apply inde­pen­dent­ly, while minors require their guardian to file on their behalf. If you have autho­riza­tion to work, this can influ­ence eli­gi­bil­i­ty for cer­tain ben­e­fits but does not restrict access to mobil­i­ty aids. Fam­i­lies with chil­dren and preg­nant women ben­e­fit from spe­cial pro­vi­sions to ensure com­pre­hen­sive sup­port.

Preparation and Documents for Your First Jobcenter Visit

When you vis­it the Job­cen­ter for the first time, hav­ing the right doc­u­ments ready can help your appli­ca­tion go smooth­ly. Essen­tial papers include your pass­port, the tem­po­rary pro­tec­tion cer­tifi­cate, and the Anmeldebescheini­gung con­firm­ing your reg­is­tra­tion. You’ll also need to pro­vide your Ger­man bank account IBAN, as ben­e­fit pay­ments require this. If you don’t have one yet, explain the sit­u­a­tion to explore alter­na­tive options.

Addi­tion­al paper­work like your rental agree­ment or con­fir­ma­tion of tem­po­rary accom­mo­da­tion is nec­es­sary to ver­i­fy hous­ing costs. If applic­a­ble, bring med­ical cer­tifi­cates such as preg­nan­cy or dis­abil­i­ty doc­u­men­ta­tion. Offi­cial trans­la­tions of doc­u­ments from Ukrain­ian or Russ­ian into Ger­man might be required depend­ing on the Jobcenter’s rules. If seek­ing work-relat­ed ben­e­fits, include pre­vi­ous employ­ment records and qual­i­fi­ca­tions. Fam­i­ly doc­u­ments like mar­riage or birth cer­tifi­cates are also impor­tant when apply­ing for ben­e­fits that cov­er depen­dents.

Bürgergeld Application Process and Benefit Amounts

Apply­ing for Bürg­ergeld starts with sched­ul­ing an appoint­ment at the Job­cen­ter to sub­mit your doc­u­ments. The process typ­i­cal­ly takes 4 to 6 weeks for the ini­tial deci­sion, but in many cas­es, inter­im pay­ments ensure you get sup­port dur­ing the wait­ing peri­od. For 2024, the stan­dard rate for sin­gle adults is €502 month­ly. Part­ners receive €451, and chil­dren get dif­fer­ent allowances based on their age.

Besides the basic allowance, the Bürg­ergeld cov­ers:

• Hous­ing costs (Kosten der Unterkun­ft)
• Heat­ing cost allowances
• One-time pay­ments for essen­tial items like fur­ni­ture or ini­tial equip­ment
• Sup­ple­ments for spe­cial needs such as diet or dis­abil­i­ty-relat­ed expens­es

If your appli­ca­tion is denied or the amount offered is insuf­fi­cient, you can file a for­mal appeal through the Wider­spruch process.

Ongoing Obligations and Integration Support Services

After receiv­ing ben­e­fits, you must keep the Job­cen­ter informed with month­ly updates about your job search progress, income changes, and oth­er rel­e­vant infor­ma­tion. You’ll be expect­ed to par­tic­i­pate in inte­gra­tion cours­es like Ger­man lan­guage class­es (Inte­gra­tionskurs) and ori­en­ta­tion cours­es to ease your adjust­ment.

Your Eingliederungsvere­in­barung, or inte­gra­tion agree­ment, will define your job appli­ca­tion tar­gets and par­tic­i­pa­tion in employ­ment place­ment ser­vices. Addi­tion­al­ly, reg­is­ter­ing for manda­to­ry health insur­ance through the Job­cen­ter is essen­tial for access­ing health­care.

Fam­i­lies should apply sep­a­rate­ly for Kindergeld, the child ben­e­fit, which coor­di­nates with Bürg­ergeld to sup­port children’s needs. If you’re study­ing or pur­su­ing voca­tion­al train­ing, pro­grams like BAföG can pro­vide finan­cial help. Long-term, the sys­tem aims to guide refugees from tem­po­rary pro­tec­tion to per­ma­nent res­i­den­cy and sta­ble employ­ment.

For more details on these pro­ce­dures and how to pre­pare, con­sid­er vis­it­ing the offi­cial guide for Ukrain­ian refugees to nav­i­gate the sup­port sys­tem effec­tive­ly.

Sources

Infor­ma­tion derived from bun­de­sagen­tur-arbeit­sagen­tur-de Employ­ment Agency, legal frame­works out­lined in the Res­i­dence Act § 24, and the 2024 Bürg­ergeld reg­u­la­tions pro­vide the foun­da­tion for this guide.