Questions & Answers

You will receive the application documents after an initial consultation in our reception area. There, you will receive exactly the application documents we need to calculate your entitlement to basic income support.

If you are missing any application documents that were previously provided to you, you can download them again here.

For the initial consultation, you will need a valid form of identification. If other people live in your household, we recommend that you bring the identification documents or birth certificates of your partner and children with you.

If you are a foreign national, we also require your valid residence permit.

If you do not understand German sufficiently, please bring an interpreter with you to the interview.

This depends on how quickly you can submit your complete application documents. After the initial interview and the handover of the documents, you will need to make an appointment to submit the application documents to your benefits administrator.

Your documents will then be checked to ensure they are complete. Once all the documents are available, your application can be finalized.

Applications can generally be submitted by email. However, this only serves to meet the deadline.

A personal interview and completion of the application documents are required at a later date.

Applications can be submitted by post and will be considered as submitted on time.

However, for a variety of reasons, it is essential that you visit us in person afterwards, in particular to verify your identity. No payment can be made without identity verification.

Income is the money that comes to you, whether in cash or in your account. It doesn't matter where the money comes from or what it's intended for. Income is deducted from your needs.

Income also includes gifts and inheritances. Income includes, for example, unemployment benefit I, child benefit, BaföG (student loan), BAB (vocational training allowance), housing benefit, pensions, sick pay, maternity pay, wages, salaries, wages from mini-jobs, profits from self-employment, interest, rental income, lottery winnings, etc.

You can ask your case worker how your income will be taken into account. If you have any income, you must declare this when you submit your application. If you are already receiving benefits and you receive income, you are obliged to report this immediately.

Failure to do so may result in overpayment and a claim for repayment. You are liable to prosecution for late notification or failure to notify.

Income reduces your entitlement to basic income support. If you have any income, regardless of the type, the amount of income that will be counted toward your needs must be calculated.

There is no general answer to how much income will be counted. This depends on the type of income and the respective exemptions or deductions.

Assets are everything you already own at the time of filing your application. This includes all assets that can be liquidated, valued as of the date of application.

These include: household goods, motor vehicles of all kinds, real estate, houses, jewelry, cash, life insurance policies, home savings contracts, etc.

Motor vehicles valued at up to 15,000 euros are not counted as assets in the SGB II calculation if you, as the owner, are capable of working.

The following are also not taken into account: reasonable household goods, retirement savings if they meet certain requirements, and assigned or pledged financial investments.

You may also own assets up to a certain value.

If you are applying for basic income support for the first time, you will be subject to a so-called waiting period for 1 year. During this time, as a single person, you may possess assets worth up to €40,000. If there are multiple people in your household, each of the other individuals may possess assets worth up to €15,000.

After the waiting period has expired, each person in the benefit community may own up to 15,000 euros in assets, regardless of age.

Assets are therefore reviewed at the time of application and again after the waiting period has expired.