Which German Level Do You Need for Citizenship?
Facts last checked on 30 September 2026. Rules change: confirm with your Einbürgerungsbehörde (naturalisation office) before you apply.
If you want a German passport, the language requirement is B1 on the European scale (CEFR). That is the level where you can handle everyday life on your own: write an e-mail to your landlord, explain a problem at an office, follow the news on familiar topics and give your opinion with reasons. In this post you will learn which certificates prove B1, what else the naturalisation office asks for, how B1 compares with the other German levels you meet in immigration, and how many words B1 actually takes.
The short answer: B1, proven by a certificate
The Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, § 10) asks for "sufficient knowledge of German", which the authorities read as B1. You normally prove it with a certificate from one of these exams:
| Exam | Who runs it | Why people pick it |
|---|---|---|
| Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer (DTZ) | telc / g.a.s.t. for the BAMF | The exit exam of the integration course; free if you are in the course |
| Goethe-Zertifikat B1 | Goethe-Institut | Offered worldwide, modular: you can resit one part |
| telc Deutsch B1 | telc gGmbH | The widest network of centres in Germany |
| ÖSD Zertifikat B1 | ÖSD | Same format as Goethe B1; common in Austria |
A German school leaving certificate, a German university degree or a completed vocational training in German also count, and people who cannot learn a language because of illness, disability or age can be exempted. Ask your office which proof it prefers: some want the certificate original, some a certified copy.
The DTZ is special: it is one test with two possible results. If you reach B1, the certificate says B1. If you do not, it says A2, which is enough for some residence permits but not for citizenship.
What else the naturalisation office checks
Language is one of several conditions. Since the 2024 reform the usual residence period is five years. The shorter three-year route for people with C1 German and special integration achievements was removed again in 2025, so plan with five years unless your office tells you otherwise. You also need:
- the Leben in Deutschland test or the older Einbürgerungstest: 33 questions about the state, history and society, of which you must answer at least 17 correctly (a school leaving certificate from a German school replaces it);
- a secure income without most social benefits;
- a clean criminal record and a declaration of commitment to the constitution.
The language certificate is usually the part that takes longest to arrange, because exam dates fill up weeks in advance. Book the exam before you collect the other documents.
B1 in practice: what the exam asks
All four B1 exams test the same four skills, even if the tasks look different. In the Goethe and ÖSD version you have 65 minutes of reading, 40 minutes of listening, 60 minutes of writing and 15 minutes of speaking with a partner. In writing you answer an informal e-mail, write a short opinion post for a forum and a short formal e-mail. In speaking you plan something together with your partner, give a short presentation about a topic and react to your partner's presentation. You pass a module with 60 of 100 points.
The DTZ is shorter and closer to daily life in Germany: announcements, letters from offices, a letter to your landlord or your child's school, and a conversation in which you plan something together.
How many words is B1?
The Goethe-Institut's B1 word list names roughly 2,400 lexical units, and that list already assumes the A1 and A2 words. When we cleaned the published A1, A2 and B1 inventories into single headwords, we counted 3,186 headwords in total. We wrote up that count, and what it means for a study plan, in How many words do you need for German B1?
The number is less frightening than it looks: you probably know a thousand of them already if you have finished an A2 course. The words that decide the exam are the ones for the tasks above: office and form vocabulary (Antrag, Frist, Bescheid), the phrases for a formal e-mail (Ich schreibe Ihnen, weil ...) and the connectors the writing is marked on (obwohl, deshalb, trotzdem).
How to prepare the vocabulary
- Find your gap. Take a short vocabulary check to see how many B1 words you already know and which topics are weakest.
- Set the exam date and work backwards. Divide the words you still need by the days left, and keep the last week for review only.
- Learn phrases, not only words. For the writing paper, learn complete openings, requests and closings, in the formal and the informal version.
- Study a little every day. Ten to fifteen minutes of spaced repetition beats two hours on a Sunday.
Our German B1 Exam Kit does exactly this: the B1 vocabulary by exam topic, the writing and speaking phrases for each task, connectors and grammar in context, with audio in natural-sounding text-to-speech voices, a vocabulary check and a plan that finishes before your exam date. The first 20 cards are free to try, and the free German decks are there if you are still at A2.
Official sources
- BAMF, integration course and DTZ: bamf.de
- Federal Ministry of the Interior, naturalisation: bmi.bund.de
- Goethe-Zertifikat B1: goethe.de
Words on Repeat is not affiliated with the Goethe-Institut, telc, ÖSD or the BAMF.