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Germany Reforms Migration Counseling for Adult Immigrants (MBE) with Sharpened Profile and Defined Tasks

🇩🇪 Germany1 recorded versionLast change 20 Aug 2026
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Current rules

The Migration Counseling for Adult Immigrants (MBE) programme has undergone comprehensive reform processes aimed at sharpening its profile and clarifying its framework conditions. The tasks of the counselling centres are now more clearly defined to improve connections with other counselling programmes and facilitate seamless transitions to local services, such as job centres. A key objective is to reach individuals in the first three years after their arrival in Germany to ensure quick connection to regular services. Personal conversation remains the most important success factor, despite considerations of digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence for organizational relief and information provision.

Overview

Germany is reworking the Migrationsberatung für erwachsene Zugewanderte (MBE), its federally funded counselling system for adult immigrants. The reform is intended to give the MBE a clearer profile, more clearly defined responsibilities and stronger integration into Germany's wider local counselling and integration system. The government is also looking at how to demonstrate the programme's impact, improve cooperation with municipalities and other counselling services, and use digital tools and AI appropriately. The MBE is not a new programme. It has existed for about 20 years and has developed from a service closely associated with integration-course support into a much broader social and migration counselling system. In 2025 alone, the MBE operated through 915 counselling facilities, handled approximately 240,559 counselling cases, and reached 431,799 people including family members. The 2026 reform therefore matters less because it creates an entirely new service and more because Germany is trying to redefine what the MBE should do, where its responsibilities begin and end, how it works with other services, and how its effectiveness should be demonstrated.

Who is affected by the latest change

  • Adult immigrants in Germany aged 28 and over
  • Individuals seeking advice on integration-related matters
  • People in the first three years after arrival in Germany

What changed in the latest version

Before

The Migration Counseling for Adult Immigrants (MBE) programme started in January 2005. It was a main counselling service for adult immigrants in Germany aged 28 and older. It aimed to help people help themselves. It answered questions about residence law. This is the law about living in a country. It also answered questions about language courses. It helped with recognising foreign qualifications. These are qualifications from other countries. It covered administrative matters, school and careers, money, housing, family, and health. The programme worked across the country. It had over 1,200 counselling centres. The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) managed and paid for it. Six main independent welfare organisations and the Federation of Expellees provided the service.

After

The Migration Counseling for Adult Immigrants (MBE) programme has gone through many changes. These changes aim to make its purpose clearer. They also make its rules more precise. The tasks for the counselling centres are now more clearly defined. This will improve links with other counselling programmes. It will also help people move smoothly to local services, such as job centres. A key goal is to reach people within the first three years after they arrive in Germany. This is to ensure they connect quickly to regular services. Personal talks are still the most important way to succeed. This is true even with plans to use digital tools and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help with organisation and give information.

These changes mean that adult immigrants in Germany will get a more straightforward counselling service. This service will also connect better with other support. This is especially true for those within their first three years of arriving. The clearer tasks for MBE centres should stop services from overlapping. It should also improve how they work with other local services. This will make it easier for immigrants to get the help they need quickly. MBE counsellors and partner organisations must adapt to the new roles. They must also work together better. This will ensure smooth referrals and joined-up support. This also shows a new plan to use technology for some parts of the service. At the same time, it confirms that personal interaction is essential for integration.

Explained simply

Imagine you've just moved to a new country and everything is new and confusing. Germany has a programme called MBE, which is like a helpful guide for adults who have moved there. This programme is now getting an upgrade. Before, it helped with many things, but now it's making its role super clear. It's like a specialised helper that makes sure you get connected to the right places for jobs, language classes, or other needs, especially in your first three years. The goal is to make it easier for you to find your way around and get settled quickly, by working better with all the other local support systems.

Frequently asked

Version history

  1. v1Effective 9 Jun 2026AnnouncementMedium impact
    Germany Reforms Migration Counseling for Adult Immigrants (MBE) with Sharpened Profile and Defined Tasks

    Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) announced big changes for the Migration Counseling for Adult Immigrants (MBE) programme. The MBE helps adult immigrants who are aged 28 and older. The changes will make the programme's purpose clearer. They will also make its rules more precise. The reforms aim to define tasks more clearly. They will also improve links with other counselling programmes. This will help people move smoothly to local services, such as job centres. A new goal is to reach immigrants within their first three years in Germany. Personal talks will still be the most important part of the service. However, the programme will also consider using digital tools and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Timeline

  1. Announced

    9 Jun 2026

    The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) and umbrella organisations, has initiated comprehensive reform processes for the Migration Counseling for Adult Immigrants (MBE) programme in Germany. These reforms aim to sharpen the MBE's profile, clearly define its tasks, and enhance its connectivity with other counselling programme

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