What level of German do you need to live in Germany?
What level of German do you need to live in Germany? For most work visas, legally none. For a husband or wife joining a partner, A1. For permanent residence and for citizenship, B1. Those are the three levels the law asks for, and each is written into German statute with a definition: the Residence Act itself says that "simple" German means A1 and "sufficient" German means B1. Below is every residence route with the level it needs, taken from the text of the law, what each level means in practice, how you prove it, and the gap between what the law asks for and what daily life does.
The level of German you need, by route
| What you want | German the law asks for | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|
| Work visa as a skilled worker | none | §§ 18a, 18b AufenthG |
| EU Blue Card | none | § 18g AufenthG |
| Opportunity Card (job-search visa, points route) | A1, or English at B2 | § 20a AufenthG |
| Vocational training (Ausbildung) | B1, unless the school has tested you or you take a preparatory course | § 16a AufenthG |
| Joining your husband or wife | A1, with exceptions | § 30 AufenthG |
| Permanent residence after a Blue Card | A1 after 27 months, or B1 after 21 | § 18c AufenthG |
| Permanent residence as a skilled worker | B1, after 3 years (2 with a German degree or training) | § 18c AufenthG |
| Permanent residence, general route | B1, after 5 years | § 9 AufenthG |
| German citizenship | B1, after 5 years | § 10 StAG |
| A degree taught in German | TestDaF or DSH | the universities |
AufenthG is the Residence Act (Aufenthaltsgesetz) and StAG the Nationality Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz). The levels are those of the Common European Framework, from A1 for a beginner to C2.
What the law means by each level
German residence law does not leave "speaks German" to an official's impression. Section 2 of the Residence Act defines five grades and ties each to a level of the Common European Framework:
| The law's term | Level | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| einfache (simple) | A1 | joining a spouse; Blue Card permanent residence at 27 months; the Opportunity Card |
| hinreichende (adequate) | A2 | one point toward the Opportunity Card |
| ausreichende (sufficient) | B1 | permanent residence; citizenship; vocational training |
| gute (good) | B2 | three points toward the Opportunity Card |
| beherrscht (has mastered) | C1 | none of the routes on this page |
So when a German authority asks for ausreichende Kenntnisse der deutschen Sprache, it means B1, and it will want a certificate that says so.
Moving to Germany to work
For the main skilled-worker permits and the EU Blue Card, the Residence Act asks for no German at all. An employer may well want it, and many jobs need it, but the visa does not.
The Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte), the visa for coming to look for work, is the exception. If you apply through its points system rather than with a recognised qualification, you need at least A1 German or B2 English, and German earns points on top: one for A2, two for B1, three for B2, toward the six points needed. English at C1 earns one.
Vocational training asks for B1, unless the training provider has already checked your German or you will take a preparatory German course first.
Bringing your husband or wife
A spouse joining a partner in Germany normally needs A1, "simple" German, before the visa is issued. The Residence Act lists exceptions, and two cover a great many people: there is no German requirement when the partner already in Germany holds an EU Blue Card or one of the skilled-worker or researcher permits, or is a citizen of Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom or the United States, the countries whose citizens may stay in Germany long-term without a visa.
Permanent residence
The settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis) has no end date, and every route to it asks for German:
- Blue Card holders can have it after 27 months with A1, or after 21 months with B1. This is where German pays off most directly: B1 saves six months.
- Skilled workers can have it after three years with B1, or two if they trained or studied in Germany.
- Everyone else on the general route needs five years and B1.
Citizenship
Naturalisation needs five years of lawful residence and German at B1, shown by passing a B1 language exam. Section 10 of the Nationality Act says so in as many words. The three-year fast track introduced in 2024 has since been repealed: the paragraph that held it now reads weggefallen, removed. Children under 16 need German appropriate to their age instead, and where someone cannot reach B1 despite serious and lasting effort, the requirement can be reduced to getting by in everyday spoken German.
Language is only one of the conditions. For the rest, the naturalisation test, the fee, dual citizenship and how to apply, see this guide to German citizenship from Living in Germany.
How you prove your level
The authorities want a certificate from a recognised exam, not a course report. The most common route for people already in Germany is the integration course run by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF): 600 lessons of German and 100 of orientation, or a fast-track version with 400 lessons of German. It ends with the "German test for immigrants" (Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer, DTZ), which certifies A2 or B1. Passing at B1 and passing the "Life in Germany" test earns the Zertifikat Integrationskurs, and the Residence Act accepts that as proof of the German needed for permanent residence.
For university study in German, the proof is one of two exams, TestDaF or the DSH, the German language test for university admission. International degree programmes and some postgraduate courses do not require German at all.
The law's minimum and daily life
B1, in the Council of Europe's own description, is the level at which you can understand the main points of clear standard language on familiar matters, deal with most situations likely to come up while travelling, and produce simple connected text on familiar topics. It is enough to pass the citizenship requirement. It is not enough to do every job in German, and it leaves plenty of room to grow.
Two things are worth knowing before you plan on English:
- German is the language of the authorities. The Administrative Procedure Act says it in five words, Die Amtssprache ist deutsch, "the official language is German", and lets an office ask for a translation of any document you hand in in another language.
- The visa's minimum is not the job's. A permit that asks for no German says nothing about the language of the office, and many workplaces run in German.
How long B1 takes is a question with real numbers behind it: the Goethe-Institut's estimates, level by level, are in how long it takes to learn German. For what makes German harder or easier than its reputation, see is German hard to learn?
Start with the words that come up most
Getting to A1 and then B1 is mostly a matter of vocabulary and a few grammar systems: articles and cases. The free German course, Verbavia (our own course), teaches German from the most common words up, and the order it uses is in the course's German word list. Three posts take the hardest parts by frequency: the most common German words, German articles and German cases by frequency. And the first words of all are in greetings in German.
Sources
- Aufenthaltsgesetz (Residence Act), from the Federal Ministry of Justice's official text at gesetze-im-internet.de: § 2 (the language levels), § 9 (settlement permit), § 16a (vocational training), § 18c (settlement permit for skilled workers and Blue Card holders), § 20a and § 20b with its points table (Opportunity Card), and § 30 (joining a spouse).
- Aufenthaltsverordnung (Residence Ordinance), § 41, for the countries whose citizens may stay without a visa.
- Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz (Nationality Act), § 10, for citizenship.
- Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz (Administrative Procedure Act), § 23, for German as the official language.
- Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF): the integration course and the final examination.
- Study in Germany (DAAD): language skills for university.
- Wikipedia: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, quoting the Council of Europe's description of B1.
- The statutes were read as in force on 4 November 2026. This page explains the rules; it is not legal advice, and the immigration office (Ausländerbehörde) decides each case.