A rehabilitation application is not a questionnaire but a justification. The body never meets the person and decides on the basis of how the condition is described. The practical rule follows: the more concretely the limitations are set out, the less room there is for a refusal on formal grounds.
The application: reasoning, documents and choice of clinic
The decision is made on paper, not in conversation. The medical reasoning carries the weight, and your right to state a preference about the clinic is written into law.
✓ Verified: 02/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
AUTHORITY
Deutsche Rentenversicherung (DRV)
Public bodyPension, account clarification and rehabilitation all run through the Deutsche Rentenversicherung — with in-person advice and online services (eService).
DOCUMENTS 4
› Details and tips
👩🏼💼
Lea recommends:
In the application, describe an ordinary day before the illness and an ordinary day now, point by point. That text reads as facts rather than complaint, and it is exactly what shows the gap rehabilitation exists to close.
👨🏻💻
Max recommends:
My first application contained the diagnosis and the word exhaustion. It was refused. In the second I wrote that I cannot stand through a shift and lose concentration after an hour, and attached the findings — the decision came out differently.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What matters most in the application? ▾
The description of limitations in concrete activities. A diagnosis alone says little: the decision rests on what the person can no longer do — stand a shift, lift weight, hold concentration, drive. An application describing this specifically is read differently from one carrying only the name of an illness.
Can I choose the clinic? ▾
The law requires that justified wishes of the beneficiary be met, taking account of personal circumstances, age, family and religious needs. This is not free selection from a catalogue, but neither is it an empty formality: a reasoned preference must be considered and a refusal explained.
How do I justify a preferred clinic? ▾
Concrete grounds count: the clinic’s specialism in that illness, a required medical discipline, language provision, proximity to home because you care for a relative. Statements about somewhere being nicer carry no weight.
How long does the decision take? ▾
The law sets the rhythm through deadlines: once responsibility is settled the body decides within the prescribed period, and where an expert opinion is needed the clock is tied to its arrival. In practice timelines slip, and a written status enquiry with dates is then worth sending.