Accommodation - Cost assumption declaration for self-payers with a changed status
Unterkunft - Kostenübernahmeerklärung für statusgewandelte Selbstzahler
Machine translation of the German page, 2026-09-15. The German original is binding.
To avoid homelessness, refugees are continued to be accommodated in the contract-bound facilities of the Landesamt für Flüchtlingsangelegenheiten (LAF, State Office for Refugee Affairs) after the asylum procedure has concluded (persons whose status has changed).
If you find work, earn money and no longer receive benefits from the Jobcenter (job center) or the Sozialamt (social welfare office), you must contribute to the cost of accommodation. You are then a self-payer and receive from the LAF a Kostenübernahmeerklärung (cost assumption declaration) for your accommodation, which states your personal contribution.
Procedure
1. As a person whose status has changed, you will have received a notice from the responsible benefits authority (Jobcenter or Bezirksamt/district office) refusing you benefits to secure your livelihood on the basis of income.
2. Make an appointment (Termin) at the Landesamt für Flüchtlingsangelegenheiten (LAF).
3. Bring all required documents to the appointment.
• If your case is ongoing and you have already spoken with the LAF in person or sent in your documents, you will need to bring fewer additional documents to the appointment.
4. The LAF checks your documents and how your (future) income affects your benefits.
5. You receive a Kostenübernahmeerklärung (cost assumption declaration) from the LAF, which states your personal contribution. You receive a monthly invoice from the LAF for the personal contribution to be paid.
Book an appointment
Book an appointment (service.berlin.de)
Requirements
• Persons entitled to benefits under SGB II and SGB XII (status-changed persons) who, due to their income, no longer have a benefit entitlement and are accommodated in contractually bound facilities of the LAF (State Office for Refugee Affairs).
As a status-changed person, you have received a notice from the responsible benefits provider (Jobcenter or Bezirksamt/district office) denying you benefits to secure your livelihood on the basis of income.
• Appointment scheduling
Documents you need
• Personal identification and residence documents
• valid residence permit (Aufenthaltstitel) with supplementary sheet, or a Duldung (temporary suspension of deportation)
• if applicable, certificate confirming an application to the Landesamt für Einwanderung (LEA, State Office for Immigration), residence permit under Section 24 of the Aufenthaltsgesetz (Residence Act) (often issued in A4 format and valid together with the national passport), or a corresponding Fiktionsbescheinigung (certificate of fictitious residence status) (for Ukrainian nationals and third-country nationals who previously lived in Ukraine)
• if applicable, German travel document for foreigners (Reiseausweis für Ausländer) (blue or grey)
• current confirmation of dormitory/hostel accommodation (Wohnheimbestätigung) (original document)
Confirmation of registration (Meldebestätigung)
• employment contract or extension of the employment contract
• additionally for students and trainees: current valid BAföG notice (student/trainee grant decision)
(every six months)
• additionally for students: current certificate of enrolment (Immatrikulationsbescheinigung)
(every six months)
• proof of payment
only required for an ongoing case
• pay slips from the last three months
only required for a first-time application
• complete rejection notice or revocation notice from the responsible Jobcenter (job centre), or discontinuation notice from the Bezirksamt (district office)
only required for a first-time application
• release from the duty of confidentiality (Schweigepflichtentbindung)
only required for a first-time application
• The scope of documents required, in particular proof of income and assets, depends on the particulars of the individual case.
Fees
none
Legal basis
• Allgemeines Sicherheits- und Ordnungsgesetz (ASOG Bln) [General Law on Public Safety and Order] § 31 gesetze.berlin.de/bsbe/document/jlr-ASOGBE2006V32Anlage-Nr31
• AV Zuständigkeit Soziales (AV ZustSoz) [Administrative Regulation on Responsibility (Zuständigkeit) for Social Affairs] sozialrecht.berlin.de/
• Housing costs for working refugees in accommodation of the LAF (State Office for Refugee Affairs) <https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiyt5LqtrP-AhWJtKQKHfpaCsUQFnoECA8QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.berlin.de%2Fkoordfm%2Fthemen%2Fwohnen%2Fbroschuere_rechte_pflichten_als_bewohner_in_einer_laf_unterkunft_barrierefrei.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0mEz3eboq6SfrOUlzNtWPE>
Processing time
60 min
Responsible for you
Choose a location; the appointment itself is booked on the original page.
- Landesamt für Flüchtlingsangelegenheiten und Unterbringung (LFU)
- Leistungszentrum
Original
Service number 350276 · same path as the original: service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/350276/