Under certain conditions, refugees from Ukraine can receive family benefits such as child benefit, parental allowance, child supplement and advance maintenance payments. The condition is that they have a residence permit according to Section 24 of the Residence Act that includes a work permit for at least six months. Depending on the family benefits, other additional requirements might apply. In some cases, they do not apply to minors. The family portal has compiled more information on a special page for refugees from Ukraine.

If you are employed, you can stay away from work for up to ten working days if a close relative requires urgent long-term care (short-term incapacity to work, Section 2 of the German Caregiver Leave Act (Pflegezeitgesetz)). This allows you to easily organise and ensure care for your family members. Note: You are not entitled to receive a salary or wages during this period. However, for the period of your incapacity to work, you have the option of applying for caregiver financial support from the long-term care insurance fund or health insurance provider of your family member needing long-term care. This is based on the regulations for calculating the child sickness benefit (Section 44a SGB XI (Ninth Book of the German Social Security Code).

If your relative requiring long-term care is abroad, you can also make use of the short-term incapacity to work. However, you are only entitled to receive caregiver financial support if your relative is insured with a German health insurance provider.

You also have the option of being released from work for up to 24 months if your working hours are a minimum of 15 hours per week (family caregiver leave in accordance with the German Family Caregiver Act (Familienzeitgesetz)). If you would like to be released from work for only up to six months, you can make use of the release either partially or fully (caregiver leave in accordance with the German Caregiver Leave Act). Note: You are only entitled to family caregiver leave or caregiver leave if the company is large enough and more than 25 or more than 15 persons who are subject to mandatory social security are employed there. A further prerequisite is that your close relative must require care at a minimum of caregiving level 1 and be in your home environment.

In addition, you are also entitled to be released from work for caring for minors who are close relatives requiring care out of the home as well as for out-of-home support for close relatives in their last phase of life, the latter for up to three months.

An interest-free loan can be applied for as financial support for the duration of the release from the Federal Office of Family Affairs and Civil Society Functions (Bundesamt für Familie und zivilgesellschaftliche Aufgaben).

Further information on the subject of long-term care is available from the advisory hotline. The Long-term Care Service Portal is available to help those seeking advice outside of the service hours (in German).

Service hours: Monday – Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Hotline: 030 / 201 791 31 (advice in German)

Families who fled from Ukraine with their children can apply for child benefit in Germany for these children if they meet the following requirements:

• the parent making the application for the child benefit is residing in Germany

and

• The applicant has a residence permit under Section 24 AufenthG 

Please note: An application can only be made for children who reside in Germany or another country of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or in Switzerland.

The child benefit is paid until the child reaches the age of 18. If your child is older than 18 years, you may also be entitled to the child benefit in certain cases. Additional requirements to those mentioned above must be met for this purpose. You then have to prove that the child, for example, is undergoing vocational training. Further information can be found under Child benefit above 18 years of age.

To allow the Family Benefits Office to assess your application for child benefit, you must prove that the requirements for claiming child benefit are met.

To do this, you require the following evidence:

• residence permit in accordance with Section 24 AufenthG OR
• a temporary attestation about your legal residence (for example, Fiktionsbescheinigung (probationary certificate) or Vorab-Aufenthaltserlaubnis (preliminary residence permit) if these were issued on the basis of Section 24 AufenthG and you are permitted to work

and

• evidence that your children live in Germany or in another state within the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland (for example, registration with an immigration authority or certification from a nursery, support organisation, or similar).

Orphans and children who do not know their parents’ whereabouts may apply for child benefit themselves. In this case, the child benefit is paid out in accordance with the Federal Child Benefit Act (BKGG).

The requirement is that the child has a residence permit in accordance with Section 24 AufenthG. Employment or a minimum residence duration are not required for this child benefit application.

If the child is older than 18 years of age, in certain cases, they may also claim child benefit. To do this, as well as the above requirements, additional conditions must be met. The child must prove that they are enrolled in a vocational apprenticeship, for instance. You can find more information under Child benefit above 18 years of age.

When you apply for asylum, the residence permit in accordance with Section 24 AufenthG expires.

Asylum seekers and recognised refugees only have a claim to child benefit from the point in time that they are granted asylum or that they are recognised as refugees. For the time prior to this, they only have a claim to child benefit if they have been resident in Germany for at least 6 months and are granted asylum or recognised as refugees at a later stage.

Based on the fact that child benefit is deemed income on asylum seeker benefits, there is no financial advantage for those granted asylum and recognised refugees. In addition to this, no employment is permitted during the asylum process.

If the application for asylum or application for recognition as a refugee under the Geneva Convention is rejected and subsidiary protection is granted, you may then claim child benefit from the point that this is granted.

From 01.01.2023 on, the Familienkasse (Family Fund) pays a monthly child benefit of 250 € per child.

If you and your child meet the requirement, you can submit your application for child benefit directly.

Application documents

Please complete and sign your application and send it along with all the necessary evidence to the relevant Family Benefits Office. You can find this by entering your postcode in the department search feature.