Welcome Centre Leipzig
Nice to have you here! We want you to find your way around Leipzig as quickly as possible and feel at home. The Welcome Centre Leipzig is a central, low-threshold contact point for initial orientation for new Leipzig residents with a migration background. It is a door opener to various services and offers help. The Welcome Centre does not replace existing specialist services and advice centres, but is intended to complement them.
Current opening hours of the Welcome Center Leipzig
Monday: 13:00 - 17:00
Tuesday: 13:00 - 18:00
Wednesday: closed
Thursday: 13:00 - 17:00
Friday: 9:00 - 13:00
(Counselling services for people seeking protection from Ukraine)
We would like to discuss your concerns in peace without having to interrupt the consultation. Therefore, please come to the Welcome Center at least half an hour before the end of the opening hours.
Newsletter registration
If you would like to be informed about current advisory services and events of the Welcome Center and stay up to date on important topics in the field of migration and integration in your city, simply register here for our newsletter.
The newsletter is published once a month in German.
Video interpreting in many languages
We use free video interpreting for the following languages:
- Arabic (High Arabic)
- Albanian
- Amharic
- Bulgarian
- Chinese
- Dari
- Dinka
- English
- French
- Georgian
- Greek
- Hindi
- Italian
- Japanese
- Kurdish (Kurmanci)
- Kurdish (Sorani)
- Lithuanian
- Macedonian
- Dutch
- Oromo
- Pashto
- Persian (Farsi)
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Romanian
- Russian
- Slovakian
- Somali
- Spanish
- Thai
- Tigrinya
- Czech
- Chechen
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Hungarian
- Urdu
- Vietnamese
Help for Ukraine
People arrive in the city of Leipzig who had to leave their homes before the Russian armed forces launched a war of aggression against Ukraine.
Help for people fleeing as well as for people in Ukraine is organized and coordinated together with civil society.
Further information: www.leipzig.de/ukraine-hilfe
To whom is the Welcome Centre for?
The Welcome Centre is an advice centre for all people with a migration background - regardless of their residence status - who have newly moved to Leipzig or already live in the city.
This includes:
- Third country nationals
- EU Citizens
- Workers
- Refugees
- Students
- And their Families
Offers of the Welcome Centre Leipzig
You will find the following offers at the Welcome Centre:
- Orientation and counselling sessions in English as part of the Citizens' Office Services
- Multilingual initial and referral counselling as well as referral to the relevant offices on all important questions of daily life
- “Kitaplatz” (daycare crèche places) help at www.meinkitaplatz-leipzig.de
- Display and distribution of multilingual, target group or topic-specific information material
Reference:
Information (referral counselling) can be provided by telephone but not in-depth counselling. Longer-term counselling of clients is provided by the competent specialised offices and services.
Who advises at the Welcome Centre Leipzig?
Regular Offers
For counselling within the opening hours, the employees of the following facilities are available for you:
- City of Leipzig, Department for Migration and Integration and the staff of the Welcome Centre
- City of Leipzig, Main Office, Citizen Service
- Association of Binational Families and Partnerships e. V.
Migration counselling for adult immigrants (MBE) - Mosaik Leipzig e. V.
Migration counselling for adult immigrants (MBE) - Internationaler Bund Mitte gGmbH
Youth Migration Service (JMD) - German Red Cross (DRK)
Migration counselling for adult immigrants (MBE)
Specific counselling offers
In addition, other cooperation partners offer specific counselling services.
- Counseling on work and training for migrants and migrant-led companies by Arbeit und Leben Sachsen e. V.
Dates of the consultation hour: 27.02. / 12.03. / 26.03. / 09.04. / 23.04.2024, 13:00-17:00 in each case - General social counseling for people with disabilities by Caritas Leipzig
Dates of the consultation hour: 01.03. / 12.04. / 03.05. / 07.06.2024, 10:00-12:00 each day - Municipal energy-saving advice from Caritas Leipzig
Dates of the consultation hour: 19.02. / 25.03.2024, 13:00 - 17:00 - Counseling on training in the skilled trades, career orientation, recognition of foreign qualifications by Handwerkskammer zu Leipzig.
Date of the consultation hour: 05.03.2024, 13:00 - 17:00 - Counseling on work / training / studies at the Leipzig City Administration by the Personnel Office of the City of Leipzig.
Date of the consultation hour: 11.03.2024, 13:00-17:00 in each case - Counseling on training with the Saxony Police
Date of the consultation hour: 07.03., 11.04., 16.05., 06.06.2024, 15:00-17:00 in each case - Kitaplatz" Advice
Support, among other things, in registering with the portal for parents of the city of Leipzig and submitting your childcare needs to the city.
Special offers and events
Datum | Ort | Veranstaltung |
---|---|---|
04.04.2024 | Online-Angebot | Leipziger Bildungskarte |
29.04.2024 | Online-Angebot | Integrations – und Berufssprachkurse |
Employees
Caroline Schilling
Coordinator Welcome Centre Leipzig
Tasks:
- Organisation and Coordination
- Contact person for cooperation partners within and outside the administration
- Conception, preparation, supervision and follow-up of the information events
- Public relations and networking
Languages:
German and English
Contact:
Katja Jähne
Staff member of the Welcome Centre and Municipal Integration Coordinator
Tasks:
- Initial and referral advice at the Welcome Center
- Telephone counseling
- Contact mediation
- Providing information with language mediation if required
- Making appointments for clients with the relevant authorities, institutions and advice centers
- Support for the Mockau and Paunsdorf social areas
Advisory Focus:
- Asylum counseling
- Family and children
- Leisure, culture, sport and meetings
- school
- Language
- Housing
Languages:
German, English and Japanese
Contact:
Dr. Daria Luchnikova
Staff member of the Welcome Centre and Municipal Integration Coordinator
Tasks:
- Initial and referral counseling at the Welcome Center
- Telephone counseling
- Contact mediation
- Providing information with language mediation if necessary
- Making appointments for clients with the relevant authorities, institutions and counseling centers
- Support for the social areas of Mockau and Paunsdorf
Advisory Focus:
- Disability and inclusion
- Family and children
- Leisure, culture, sports and meeting
- School
- Participation and volunteering
Languages:
German, English and Russian
Contact:
Andeea-Madalina Moises
Staff member of the Welcome Centre and Municipal Integration Coordinator
Tasks:
- Initial and referral counselling at the Welcome Centre
- Telephone Consultation
- Contact mediation
- Provide information with language mediation if required
- Making appointments for clients with the relevant authorities, institutions and counselling centres
- Support for the neighbourhoods of Leipzig East and Schönefeld
Advisory Focus:
- Women
- Health, Psyche and Pregnancy
- Violence, Discrimination
- Services, Financial, Donations
- LGBTIQ+
- Legal, Insurance and Consumer Protection
- Living
Languages:
German, Romanian, Spanish, English and Arabic
Contact:
FAQ - Questions & Answers
The Welcome Centre is open to all people with a migration background who are new to Leipzig.
You must already have arrived in Leipzig in order to use the services of the Welcome Centre.
You can visit the Welcome Centre during the stated opening hours without prior registration.
The Welcome Centre is usually exclusively for oral advice. Please understand that written enquiries that go beyond organisational matters cannot usually be answered. If necessary, we will refer you to the competent office.
The employees of the Welcome Centre Leipzig will support you in registering with the parent portal of the city of Leipzig. They will also help you to create a parent account, to register your needs and to select and, if necessary, change your five preferred facilities.
You can only obtain the certificates from the relevant providers of the language courses.
The respective specialised offices and migration services can offer longer-term support. You can find a list of various contact points here.
First Steps in Leipzig
Welcome to Leipzig! We show you how to get off to a good start in Leipzig.
The information sheet "First Steps in Leipzig" contains important information for new migrants to Leipzig on the following topics.
- Registration at the Citizens Office
- Find an Apartment
- Applying for a residence permit
- Organising health insurance
- Finding childcare for my child/registering my child at school
- Learning German
- Finding work, training or studies
- Discovering Leipzig
- Getting to know new people