Language integration of migrants

The linguistic integration of migrants is an area of migration policy and pedagogy that ensures that newly arrived adults master the language of their host country at a level sufficient for work, study, and everyday communication. States address this issue in different ways: some fund free courses and offer gentle incentives, while others tie language proficiency to the issuance of residence permits and citizenship. Over the past thirty years, recognizable national models have emerged, each with its own history, budget, and set of examinations.

The validity of these models is an ongoing debate. Linguists emphasize that an adult with a low level of school education requires many more hours of study than a university graduate. Legal experts point to the risk of discrimination when language becomes a barrier to family reunification. Economists are calculating the costs. Below is a summary of what is known about policy and practice in this area as of the mid-2020s.

What is considered language integration?

Researchers understand linguistic integration as two interrelated processes. The first is practical: a migrant must be able to make a doctor’s appointment, understand a letter from the tax office, and pass an interview. The second is institutional: the state builds a system of courses, tests, and incentives that transforms the obligation to study into an administrative framework.

The practical side has long been measured in numbers. For example, in Sweden, courses for immigrants last from 6 to 30 hours per week, depending on the student’s workload. In Germany, the standard integration course consists of 700 units of 45 minutes each. Hours, levels, and percentages are the working language of this field, and without them, comparing countries is meaningless.

CEFR scale

The technical foundation of almost all European integration policy is the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). It divides language proficiency into six levels — from A1 to C2 — grouped into three blocks: basic user, independent user, and proficient user. The scale was developed in 2001 as a Council of Europe project and was later expanded with an updated version of the descriptors.

The threshold levels for migrants are distributed across the entire lower half of the scale. Level A1 signifies the ability to understand and construct basic self-descriptions. A2 covers routine everyday conversation. B1 allows for coherent discussions about work, family, and current events, while B2 allows for free argumentation. The boundary between A2 and B1 is where the main political divide lies: countries requiring B1 impose significantly higher demands on migrants than countries with the A2 threshold.

Non-European systems have their own scales. The Canadian Newcomers Program is based on the Canadian Language Benchmarks — twelve levels across four skills, with a parallel system for French.

Germany: Course as a duty

The German model grew out of an immigration law that came into force in 2005. Since then, migrants from third countries who do not speak German at the B1 level have been required to attend integration courses, funded by the federal agency BAMF. The standard course consists of 600 language units and 100 orientation units, explaining the political system, history, and everyday customs.

Participants required to attend the course pay €2.29 per unit, or approximately €1,603 for the full course. The state additionally pays the provider €4.58 per unit, resulting in approximately €3,200 in tax expenses per participant. Certain categories of individuals, such as refugees and those receiving unemployment benefits, are exempt from the fee. A refund policy has been in effect since December 2007: those who successfully pass the final B1 test within two years receive half of their fee back.

The scale of the program is staggering. In the first half of 2025, 165,712 people took the Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer exam, 135,862 of whom were first-timers; in all of 2024, 320,343 participants took the test. Among those who began the course in the first half of 2025, the largest groups were from Ukraine (30.1 percent), Syria (17.4 percent), Afghanistan (7.4 percent), and Turkey (6.5 percent).

The final exam is not easy to pass. In the first half of 2025, 54.9 percent of candidates passed the B1 threshold; on the first attempt, the figure was 52.7 percent. The program cost the budget €1.2 billion for 2024. For those who remain below B1, there are professional language courses with target levels A2 and B1, which are accepted after completing the basic program. For those with illiterate and numeracy difficulties, there are special courses with up to 1000 units.

The orientation part of the course has its own exam, “Life in Germany,” which is similar in content to the naturalization test.

The Netherlands: Exam and Community

The Dutch integration system, inburgering, is older than the German one and has inspired a number of European reforms. The first law on the integration of newcomers in 1998 required immigrants from non-Western countries to complete a twelve-month course consisting of 600 hours of Dutch civic education and preparation for the labor market. The exam later expanded to six parts: four language sections — speaking, listening, writing, and reading — plus knowledge of Dutch society and the labor market.

The current version of the law, Wet Inburgering 2021, came into effect on January 1, 2022, shifting responsibility to municipalities. The municipality is now responsible for integrating newcomers, drawing up a personalized participation plan after an extensive interview. This obligation extends to migrants aged 18 to 65 from countries outside the EU, EEA, and Turkey; those with refugee status receive state funding, while family migrants pay their own way.

The law established three pathways. The B1 pathway leads to CEFR level B1 in a maximum of three years, with simultaneous — or rather, parallel — employment or volunteer work. The educational pathway is aimed at young people entering colleges and universities, with a target level of B1 or higher. The independent pathway is designed for those who cannot reach the first two: level A1 and preparation for basic participation in the life of the country.

Those tested are given three years from their arrival; certain categories — those who have lived in the country for five years or longer — are also subject to testing. The reform raised the language threshold for permanent residence from A2 to B1, making the Dutch requirements among the most stringent in Europe.

France: Contract and rising thresholds

The French approach is structured as a bilateral agreement. A republican integration contract (CIR) is signed between the state and a foreigner who has received a long-term residence permit; the OFII immigration office is responsible for the process. At the initial interview, the migrant undergoes a written and oral language test.

Those with a level below A2 are required to study. For serious difficulties, 600 hours of group lessons with a teacher are scheduled; those with insufficient knowledge can use the Frello platform for independent study, also free of charge. Civic training takes place in four sessions, totaling 24 hours.

France is rapidly increasing its requirements. As of January 1, 2026, level A2 is mandatory for a multi-year residence permit, B1 for a ten-year residence card, and B2 for citizenship. The threshold for naturalization has been raised from B1 by an entire level, which commentators have called the most significant tightening in Europe in a decade. Family migrants are required to test their knowledge of the Republic’s values before departure.

Sweden: Law without an exam

The Swedish model stands apart. The svenska för invandrare (sfi) course is free for any adult over 16 who has registered and does not speak basic Swedish; the municipality covers the cost. Attendance and results are not tied to status — the course remains a right, not a requirement.

The program’s structure takes into account the student’s initial level. Three learning paths are divided into four courses: Path 1, with courses A and B, is designed for those with little or no formal schooling and are illiterate; Path 2 is for those who have studied for years but are unfamiliar with the Latin alphabet; and Path 3 is for university graduates. Completion takes three years from the date of registration.

Statistics Sweden’s 2012 data reveal the audience’s composition: the largest groups hail from Iraq, Somalia, Thailand, Poland, and Iran. In the five years leading up to 2012, the number of illiterate migrants in the program doubled; approximately 19,200 participants in 2011 had three years of schooling or less. Citizens of Denmark and Norway who speak related languages are not admitted to the course.

Denmark: Language as a Condition of Status

The Danish system is known for its strictest link between language and legal status. Permanent residence requires passing the Danish Language Test 2 or an exam of equal or higher level. Citizenship requires Prøve i Dansk 3 — an exam roughly at B2 level — plus the 40-question Indfødsretsprøve civics test, with 36 correct answers required to pass. In addition to the language requirement, there is a requirement of eight years of continuous legal residence and at least three and a half years of employment.

Denmark is among the countries that test integration knowledge before issuing visas to family migrants. The combination of a restrictive entry test and high exit thresholds has made the Danish model the subject of frequent legal disputes under Council of Europe conventions.

Canada and Australia: Study without sanctions

Outside Europe, the village or service model predominates. Canada’s LINC program offers free English and French lessons to permanent residents, refugees, and those with pre-approved residency applications. A placement test based on the CLB scale is administered before enrollment; classes cover levels from basic literacy to CLB 6–8. The course carries no risk of status denial for academic failure.

Australia’s AMEP program dates back to 1948 and is considered one of the oldest in the world. Lessons are free, and childcare is provided. In 2021, the previous 510-hour cap was lifted: migrants can now study until they achieve functional English proficiency, with no time limit. Re-enrollment is possible even for those who have already reached the previous limit. Both countries link language to access to the labor market, not using it as a status filter.

Exams before departure

A separate policy area is language requirements before crossing the border. The Netherlands was the first to do so: in March 2005, parliament approved a rule requiring foreigners wishing to visit relatives to demonstrate a basic knowledge of the Dutch language and society in advance. Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom — six EU countries in total — have followed suit.

The threshold is low everywhere: Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK test level A1, the lowest level of the CEFR. The Netherlands and Denmark add questions about society to the language proficiency, while France tests knowledge of the Republic’s values. Preparatory courses are almost never funded by the state; the exception is France, where instruction is free in the language of the applicant’s country of origin. Family members of refugees are exempt from the pre-departure test in all six countries.

Citizenship thresholds

Naturalization requirements form the upper tier of language thresholds. The comparative table as of 2026 looks like this.

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Belgium maintains an A2 threshold, which varies by region, and requires 450 hours of civic training or sustainable employment. Germany tests knowledge of the legal and social system through a test similar to the final exam of integration courses. The general trend is that thresholds have risen almost everywhere over the past two decades, and France, with its transition from B1 to B2 in 2026, has set a new high bar in the EU.

Who studies and how they teach

The audience for integration courses is extremely diverse, and the methodology adapts to this inequality. In Sweden, Path 1, with courses for illiterate students, exists precisely because a significant portion of the audience has never held a textbook in their hands. In Germany, specialized courses of up to 1,000 units are stretched out for people who first need to master the alphabet and numeracy. In the Netherlands, the independence path with a target A1 level was designed for those who cannot complete Path B1.

Differentiation also affects the duration. A Swedish student receives three years for the basic course. A Dutch newcomer can complete the course in three years using any of the three routes. The German full-time course takes about seven months; the distance learning course extends to two years.

The format of study also varies. France offers both 600-hour in-person classes and an online platform. Sweden allows for 6 to 30 hours of classes per week, during the day or in the evening. The Netherlands allows both classroom instruction and independent study before the exam.

A student’s success depends heavily on their initial data. Research from the LINC program documents the progress of three students in Alberta to CLB 5, each with their own speed and barriers. Linguistic literature on migrants with limited school experience describes "hidden difficulties": an adult without reading skills learns alphabetic writing at a significantly slower pace than someone literate in another graphic system.

Results and controversies

Quantitative data on performance is fragmented. Germany has the best-documented results: 54.9 percent of B1 exams passed in the first half of 2025, billions in expenditure, and 320,000 exam takers per year. For the Netherlands, official statistics publish the proportion of those who passed the integration exam on time; starting in 2022, the data will be broken down into three categories.

Integration policy scholarship has evolved around comparative indices. MIPEX covers 56 countries across eight areas and 58 indicators on a scale from 0 to 100; language education is included in the school-based index. According to MIPEX, only four EU countries — Denmark, Finland, Germany, and Sweden — link adult language proficiency to vocational training and hiring measures.

Political scientists call the general shift in European policies a "civic turn": language and values are becoming conditions for access to status, rooted in law. Sarah Wallace Goodman described this shift as the adoption of the Dutch model by EU neighbors. In studies conducted in the 2000s, sociologist Hartmut Esser assessed the effect of German courses as moderate: the apparent success of participants was largely explained not by the course itself, but by age, prior education, and the linguistic environment at work.

Criticism of strict thresholds is based on research on family migration. An analysis of pre-departure tests in six EU countries showed that the A1 threshold screens out a few talented individuals and many vulnerable ones — elderly spouses and people without access to courses in their home countries. The authors of the MIPEX review note the increased support for foreign-language students in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia following the influx of Ukrainian refugees as an example of a flexible response.

The debate over the cost continues. German taxpayers pay approximately €3,200 for a standard course per student. The Dutch community funds refugee routes and delegates the costs to family migrants. Canadian and Australian budgets cover tuition with no ceiling on hours. Which scheme offers the best return in employment and language proficiency is a question for which there is currently less comparative data than political opinion.