German for citizenship: B1 in four countries, proved four different ways

§ 10 Abs. 4 of the Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz says the language condition is met when the applicant die Anforderungen einer Sprachprüfung der Stufe B 1 of the European framework fulfils. The Act names no exam and no skill; it asks for B1 as an exam result. Residence is five years (§ 10 Abs. 1).

The exceptions sit in the same paragraph. Children under 16 need only age-appropriate German. People who came under a recruitment agreement before 30 June 1974, or as contract workers to the GDR before 13 June 1990, need only to get by orally in everyday life, with no level, and Abs. 4a extends that oral standard to anyone who shows B1 was impossible despite serious and lasting effort. Abs. 6 waives the requirement for illness, disability and age.

Austria's citizenship act does not state a level. § 10a Abs. 1 of the Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz asks for German gemäß § 7 Abs. 2 Z 2 Integrationsgesetz, and that provision defines Modul 2 of the integration agreement as independent use of German at B1, one level above Modul 1's A2. Basic knowledge of the democratic order and of the history of Austria and the applicant's Land is required too.

The exam the integration act names is the ÖIF's Integrationsprüfung. German as mother tongue counts, a positive school mark in German in the previous school year counts for pupils, and minors under fourteen and people whose lasting condition makes the proof impossible (certified by an official doctor) are exempt. We have not read the ordinance that lists which other certificates Austria accepts for Modul 2, so this page does not say whether a Goethe or telc B1 is enough there.

Art. 6 Abs. 1 of the Bürgerrechtsverordnung asks for mündliche Sprachkompetenzen mindestens auf dem Referenzniveau B1 und schriftliche Sprachkompetenzen mindestens auf dem Referenzniveau A2, in a national language. German is one option of four; French, Italian or Romansh do the same job.

Abs. 2 deems the proof given for native speakers of a national language, for people with five years of compulsory schooling or an upper-secondary or tertiary qualification in one, and for holders of a certificate from a test that meets generally recognised quality standards. The cantons check the certificates and may run their own tests. A B1 certificate in German covers both halves at once, since its writing part is already above A2.

§ 4c of the Bürgerrechtsgesetz makes German and a written civics exam general conditions of naturalisation. Article 3(a) of the Bürgerrechts-Nachweis-Verordnung counts German as proved by recognised language diplomas confirming level B1, and article 4 names the Goethe-Institut and telc certificates. German passed at school year 9, a completed Liechtenstein apprenticeship, or German as mother tongue count as well.

Applicants for whom high age or lasting ill health makes the proof impossible, certified by the public health officer, are exempt. The ordinary route needs ten years' residence and a municipality willing to take the applicant in; a spouse of a citizen needs ten years, with the years of marriage counting double, and five years of marriage.

One certificate goes furthest. A Goethe or telc B1 is named in Liechtenstein's ordinance, is the kind of B1 language exam Germany's Act describes, and covers both of Switzerland's levels at once. Austria is the one country here where the law points at its own exam, so check what the authority accepts before booking anything else.

Speaking is the skill the rules lean on. Switzerland sets the speaking bar a level above writing (B1 against A2), and Germany's older-migrant and hardship routes drop the exam but keep an oral, everyday standard. A preparation plan that leaves speaking to the end has the priorities of these laws backwards.

None of these laws promises a result from a course. A certificate proves the level; it is the exam, not the hours, that counts.