Der Einbürgerungstest (or the German citizenship test)

In February, I took the German citizenship test. It’s a requirement for both applying to citizenship and for permanent residency by now. It can be a bit of a pain to register for – you have to get lucky with an appointment where you have to book the test a couple months out or you may have to get an appointment in another state. I got in the lucky camp and was able to register in December 2025 to take the test in February 2026 in Berlin. I was thinking of taking it after I got back from Tenerife the last week of November and the next day was December 1st. Lo and behold, appointments popped up on that day. I guess the appointments must refresh on the 1st of the month.

The cost of registering for the test was only €25. Pretty cheap for such a beneficial thing imo. And studying for the test was a breeze. I just downloaded an app to practice the questions that would appear on the test. There are 300 possible questions for every German state + 10 specific ones for your state (so Berlin specific questions are different than Bavaria’s potential questions). You only get 33 questions on the actual test (30 from the 300 and 3 from the 10). Just barrel through the questions until you actually learn them and you’ll be able to pass. I went from getting 1/3 of all questions wrong (so about 100 wrong) on my first try to getting nearly perfect on my final practice run. And the result?

Well, what do you know? A perfect score! I am on my way to becoming the perfect German. Kidding of course (I doubt that’s even allowed to exist). I definitely overdid it by studying on and off for 2 weeks instead of 1 week but hey, better safe than sorry. Or in other words “sicher ist sicher”.

How to register for the test? There are clear enough directions and background on All About Berlin but to cut to the chase: go to the official website, search through every VHS location, and register for an appointment. Now this being Germany, what you sign up for is an appointment to show up in person to register for the test and pay for it, you don’t directly register for the test itself online. So typisch. But hey if you get it, you get it. After taking your test (all in paper too of course), you get your results in 2-8 weeks. My results came in 3 weeks.

What’s next? Well, there’s still more bureaucracy to go through to be able to apply for PR. And I really need to do that this year before my visa expires. What’s life abroad without some visa issues? 🙂

Summary of steps to complete the German citizenship test (for reference):

1. Register online for the test. You need to register on the website.
2. Show up for the appointment at the registration center. This is also the place where you will take the test. Sign up for the test and pay the €25 fee. The test date could be in a couple months.
3. Study for the test. Use an app or a website with the entire list of possible questions they will ask you.
4. On the test date, go to the VHS and take the test. It is on paper. This should go by pretty quickly if you studied at all. You only need 17/33 questions right to pass.
5. Wait a few weeks for test results to come in the mail. They will send you a big certificate for passing.
6. You are now finished! At least for this part of the requirement. Time to tackle the other requirements needed for PR or citizenship.