<p>To date, there has been little research on the extent to which the family integration of new immigrants influences the development of social contacts with people from the host society. There is the possibility that immigrants are less dependent on social exchange with people from the host society as soon as close family members live in Germany with them. Empirical evidence to date does indeed point in this direction, but it rests on a&#xa0;rather narrow foundation. Therefore, using data from the project Forced Migration and Transnational Family Arrangements—Eritrean and Syrian Refugees in Germany (TransFAR), we investigate how the family situation of refugees from Syria or Eritrea living in Germany influences the number of their extra-familial contacts. In contrast to previous studies, we explicitly distinguish between the number of extra-familial intraethnic persons and the number of extra-familial persons originating from Germany. Theoretically, we assume that the benefits resulting from relationships with persons of their own ethnicity should differ from the benefits resulting from relationships with persons originating from Germany. As a&#xa0;consequence, relationships with Germans should hardly replace family contacts, whereas relationships with co-ethnics should more easily substitute for family contacts. In fact, the empirical analyses indicate that family integration does not lead to refugees having fewer relationships with people from the host society, but instead fewer relationships with non-family people of their own ethnicity.</p>