The B1 for citizenship: who has to take it, who does not, and which certificate counts

They are two different exams and they get confused constantly: A2 is for the long-term residence permit, B1 is for citizenship. The second one is higher, and people who took the first one years ago often do not realise it.

But there is something almost nobody is told, and it saves many people in our community months and money: some people do not have to prove B1 at all. Before you sign up for an exam, read the next section and look at which permit you hold.

First of all: you may not have to

The law (art. 9.1 of law 91/1992) lists two situations in which the language requirement does not have to be proved:

• you hold a valid EU long-term residence permit — what used to be called the carta di soggiorno;
• you signed the integration agreement when you first arrived in Italy.

The first one covers a great many people in the Filipino community, who have been in Italy for years and do hold that permit. If you are one of them, you need no exam at all: you need a valid permit. What it is and how to apply for it is in the EU long-term residence permit.

There is a third route as well, which is not an automatic exemption but is provided for: anyone with serious limitations on their ability to learn a language because of age, illness or disability can produce a certificate from a public health facility stating it.

The integration agreement: who actually signed one

It is the form you sign at the Prefettura or the Questura when you first enter Italy, committing to learn Italian to at least A2 level. Not everybody signed one:

• it applies to people who entered Italy for the first time from 10 March 2012, when the regulation came into force (DPR 179/2011);
• it concerns people who were over 16;
• and who were applying for a permit of at least one year.

If you arrived before 2012, that form does not exist and you cannot use it. But you almost certainly hold the long-term permit, which exempts you anyway.

Two groups who do have to take the exam

They are the ones most often taken by surprise, because they feel they are «already in»:

• citizens of another European Union country;
• anyone holding a residence document for family reasons — the residence card as a family member or spouse of an Italian or EU citizen.

Being married to an Italian does not exempt you from Italian: citizenship through marriage requires B1 exactly as citizenship by residence does.

Since when it has been required

The requirement came in with decree-law 113/2018, converted into law 132/2018, which inserted art. 9.1 into the citizenship law. It applies to every application submitted from 4 December 2018 onwards.

People who applied before that date did not have to prove it. If you are picking up an old application, look at the date it was submitted online: that is the one that counts.

If you do have to: the routes that count

There are three, and they all count equally.

1. A B1 certificate from a recognised body

The bodies recognised by the State are four, each with its own name. A certificate that does not come from one of these does not count, however handsome the diploma:

• cert.it — Università degli studi di Roma Tre;
• CELI — Università per stranieri di Perugia;
• CILS — Università per stranieri di Siena;
• PLIDA — Società Dante Alighieri.

Each of them has a network of partner schools and centres across Italy where the exam is held: you do not have to travel to Perugia or Siena. Look for the nearest venue on the body's own website.

2. The CPIA

The Centro provinciale per l'istruzione degli adulti — the state adult-education school, the one that runs evening classes — can issue the B1 certificate valid for citizenship. It is the cheapest route and the least known.

⚠️ Do not confuse it with the other thing the CPIA does. The A2 test taken at the CPIA for the long-term permit is a different thing and does not count for citizenship. When you phone, ask explicitly: «il B1 per la cittadinanza».

3. An Italian qualification

A lower or upper secondary school diploma, or a degree, obtained at an institution recognised by the Ministry of Education will do. If you studied in Italy, you may already have what you need at home.

What does not count, and gets submitted anyway

• an A2 certificate, from any source: it is the level below;
• attendance certificates from a course — they say you turned up, not that you passed an exam;
• certificates from bodies that are not recognised, including private schools and online courses outside the network of the four bodies;
• regional vocational qualification certificates: they certify a trade, not a language.

Submitting one of these does not lose you the application, but it stalls it: a request for additional documents arrives, and meanwhile the months pass.

A2 and B1: what the difference is in practice

With A2 you can make yourself understood in everyday situations: say who you are, ask for information, understand a simple notice.

With B1 you have to hold a conversation about things you know, recount an event, explain an opinion of yours, grasp the sense of a text written in ordinary Italian — a letter from an office, a newspaper article. There is reading, listening, speaking and writing: four parts.

It is not a huge leap for someone who has lived and worked in Italy for years. It is a real leap for someone who has never written anything in Italian.

The four questions to ask before you enrol

• When is the next session? The bodies hold few dates a year, and enrolment closes weeks in advance.
• How much does it cost? It varies by body and by venue: get it in writing beforehand, not afterwards.
• How long does the certificate take to arrive? Months can pass between the exam and the piece of paper, and the citizenship application wants the certificate attached.
• Is it really the B1 for citizenship? Ask in those words. It is the mistake that costs the most.

If you do hold the long-term permit

Then your route is shorter, and it is worth repeating: attach the valid permit and sit no exam. The rest of the requirements — years of residence, income, the documents from your home country — are in Italian citizenship by residence.

And if you are still working towards the long-term permit, the test you need now is A2: it is explained in the Italian test for the long-term permit.

Bahay Italia is not a patronato and does not file applications for you: it explains how the rules work, so that when you go to someone you already know what to ask.

Not sure which exam you need? Post about it in the Citizenship section of the community: we answer there, and the answer stays available to anyone with the same doubt.