The test: 33 questions from an open catalogue of 310; 17 correct answers pass. Foreign documents need sworn translations.
✓ Verified: 15/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
Ausländerbehörde (ABH)
Municipal authorityThe Ausländerbehörde for your registered address is the one responsible. Enter your postcode and we will show yours.
Test slots in big cities book out weeks ahead: reserve your VHS seat in parallel with ordering translations, not after.
If you completed the integration course and passed the Leben in Deutschland test, you do not need to sit it again: the LiD certificate replaces the citizenship test.
I obtained apostilles and translations BEFORE the office appointment: they, not the German papers, set the real submission date. German documents take days, foreign ones months.
I took the Life in Germany test straight at the citizenship bar of 17, not the course 15: one certificate covers course and naturalisation. Practised with the BAMF app for a week.
Passport, certificates (birth, marriage) with apostille and translation, proof of residence and income, a B1 certificate, the Life in Germany test, a loyalty declaration. The list varies slightly by state.
The longest item: a power of attorney to relatives for the apostille and a sworn translation take weeks. Start there, not with German formalities — see our apostille route.
The same catalogue as the Life in Germany test from the integration course; a passed LiD counts. Register at the adult education centre, 33 questions, pass mark 17.
The 310-question catalogue is public (the same as the Leben in Deutschland test); 17 of 33 pass. Over 90 percent succeed — a few evenings with the app are enough.
Graduates of German schools and relevant degree programmes, and people for whom the test is unreasonable due to age or health.