The Italian test for the long-term permit: the level is A2, and you need 80 %

There are plenty of pages explaining the Italian language test for the long-term residence permit, and they nearly all say the same thing: go to the portal, send the request, wait for the summons, turn up. What you actually need in order to prepare, though, is almost never written down: which level is required and what score you need to pass.

They are two numbers, and both are in the decree that governs the test: the level is A2, and to pass you must obtain at least eighty per cent of the total score. With 80 % required, "I get by when I speak" is not enough: you go prepared.

Who needs this test

Only those applying for the EU long-term residence permit — the one with no expiry date, applied for after five years of legal residence. It also applies to family members for whom the same permit is requested.

It is not needed for an ordinary permit renewal: if you are renewing a work or family permit, this test has nothing to do with you.

The level: A2, and what it really means

The decree puts it like this: the foreign citizen must have a level of Italian that allows them to "understand frequently used sentences and expressions in everyday areas", corresponding to level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

A2 is the second of the six European levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2): it is an elementary level, not an intermediate one. In practice, someone at A2:

• understands common words and sentences about family, shopping, work, housing and health;
• reads short, simple texts: a notice, a timetable, a letter from an office, a sign;
• writes short messages: a request, an explanation, a form with their own details;
• can hold a simple exchange about familiar things.

You are not required to speak well, nor to write without mistakes. You are required to understand and make yourself understood in everyday matters.

The number almost nobody writes down: 80 %

Article 3 of the decree states that "to pass the test the candidate must obtain at least eighty per cent of the total score". In the test as it is administered today the total is 100 points: you need 80 points out of 100.

That is a high threshold, and it changes how you should prepare. An A2 test at 60 % can be passed even with a fair number of mistakes; at 80 % only a few wrong answers are allowed. People who turn up "just to try" usually go home and try again three months later.

What the test looks like

The decree says the test is taken on a computer, at the prefecture or at the venue it indicates, after identification, and that it is built on the comprehension of short texts and on interaction skills. The exact content is not fixed by the decree: it is set by an agreement with one of the certifying bodies.

According to the pages of the CPIAs — the public adult education schools, which often host the sessions — the test usually consists of five exercises: two listening, two reading and one writing, for a total of 100 points and a duration of about 60 minutes. On the day you need an identity document and a pen.

There is a little-known and useful right: at the request of the person concerned the test can be taken on paper instead of on a computer. The content, the marking criteria and the time limit stay exactly the same. If the computer is one obstacle too many, ask.

How to apply

The request is submitted online to the prefecture competent for the place where you are domiciled, through the Ministry of the Interior portal: portaleservizi.dlci.interno.it.

The decree lists what the request must contain, and says so on pain of inadmissibility: your personal details, the details of your residence document — type and expiry date —, the details of your valid travel document and the address where you want to receive the summons. A wrong detail here is not a small matter: it is a request that does not count.

The prefecture summons you within sixty days of the request, stating the day, the time and the place; today the summons arrives electronically. The result is entered into the Ministry's information system, and the police headquarters reads it from there when examining your permit application: you do not have to bring any certificate yourself.

If you do not pass

You can take it again. The decree says that after a negative result you submit the request as you did the first time; the Ministry specifies that the test can be retaken only after 90 days from the date of the previous exam. Three months is also the right amount of time for a proper course.

Who does not have to take it

The test does not apply to:

• children under fourteen, your own and your spouse's;
• those with serious limitations to their capacity to learn a language due to age, illness or disability, certified by a public health facility.

Then there are the exemptions: those in one of these situations do not take the test, but attach their documents to the permit application.

• Those holding a certificate of Italian at level A2 or above issued by one of the four recognised certifying bodies: Roma Tre University, University for Foreigners of Perugia, University for Foreigners of Siena, Società Dante Alighieri.
• Those who have attended an Italian course at a CPIA and obtained at the end a qualification attesting a level not below A2.
• Those who have had a level not below A2 recognised among the credits of the integration agreement.
• Those holding a lower or upper secondary school diploma obtained in Italy, or attending an Italian university, a doctorate or a master's course.
• Those who entered Italy under some of the special cases in article 27 of the consolidated immigration act (the decree lists letters a, c, d and q) and carry out that activity.

The most useful exemption to know is the first, because it is the one you can build for yourself: if you obtain an A2 certificate from one of the four bodies, you do not take the prefecture test at all. People already attending a course often have this route within reach without knowing it.

Do not confuse it with the integration agreement

Much of the confusion out there starts here. The integration agreement — the one signed when applying for your first permit, governed by Presidential Decree 179/2011, in force since 10 March 2012 — requires 30 credits within two years and an A2 level of spoken Italian. It is a different procedure, with different deadlines and different consequences.

The test described in this guide is instead the condition for the long-term permit, comes years later, is taken at the prefecture and is marked with a score. If someone tells you "I have already done it", it is worth asking which of the two they did.

How to prepare, without spending

The CPIAs — provincial centres for adult education — are public schools present in every province and run free Italian courses for foreign citizens. It is the most solid route: you learn, and at the end of the course you can obtain a qualification that counts as an exemption.

One practical warning worth knowing in advance: for the prefecture test the CPIAs issue no certificate. The result of that test is recorded by the prefecture, and the police headquarters reads it from the system. The CPIA qualification is a different thing — useful, but different.

In three lines

• It is only needed for the EU long-term permit.
• The level is A2, the threshold is 80 points out of 100, the test lasts about an hour.
• With an A2 certificate from one of the four recognised bodies, you do not take the test.

This guide explains the national rule, with the sources at the foot of the page. Venues, calendars and summons procedures are decided by the prefecture of your province: its website is the place to check the details. If you have a doubt about your own case — an exemption you may be entitled to, a deadline coming up — ask a patronato or a lawyer before sending the request.