👩🏽‍💻 Applying for Social Benefits in Germany

Hartz IV (Unemployment Benefit, aka SLG II)

Hartz IV Unemployment Benefit - Who is Eligible (page in German)

Hartz IV Unemployment Benefit - Forms needed

Guide to Apply for Soforthilfe II Grant (for Freelancers and Kleinunternehmen)

KreativKulturBerlin_Soforthilfe 2-Antragstellung-so geht's.pdf

Summary of Emergency Financial Assistance for Self-Employed People and Freelancers In Germany During the Corona Crisis

Summary of Emergency Financial Assistance for Freelancers In Germany - Google Drive

A Lazy Migrant's Guide to Unemployment Benefits in DE:

Very useful FAQ in English with everything you need to know about how to apply for Jobcenter and whether you're even eligible by Tullio Marino (share link only, don't copy-paste text pls as it is being regularly updated)

https://cryptpad.fr/pad/…+

The only formal JC requirement is that your visa allows you to work at least 15hours of taxable work per week (so minijob doesn't count).

It now appears that applying for these benefits will not invalidate your residency permit, with some limitations. This was recently published here: "....your residency permit will not become invalid between 18th March 2020 and 17th June 2020 if you draw benefits under the short-term labour market scheme or supplementary benefits under SGB II/XII or AsylbLG, in spite of the additional stipulation in your permit."

URGENT RELIEF FROM HARTZ IV BENEFIT:

There's a rule that if you are in an emergency, you can write the Job Center a letter separate from your application that states you're in an emergency. If you generally would be eligible for Hartz IV, then sending this letter should mean you get payment instantly, regardless of whether they have processed your application (as legally, they have 6 months to process it). These are recharged against the months after your application has been processed. They are expecting about 1.2 million new applicants because of COVID-19, so the applications themselves might take some time to process, but this should mean people are able to get money quickly, they just need to take responsibility to fill out the form. Here is a template letter that you can use to send to your job center:

Prepayment request letter template.doc

Red Tape Translation's "How Not to Go Broke As a Freelancer"

Goes into detail about the ways that applying for these fund might affect people with different visa statuses:  ****https://www.redtapetranslation.com/how-not-to-go-broke-as-…/