The Italian A2 test and the B1 certificate — frequently asked questions

Do I need the A2 test or the B1 certificate?

It depends on what you are applying for. The EU long-term residence permit requires level A2, and you prove it with the state Italian language test booked through your Prefettura (or with one of the qualifications that exempt you). Italian citizenship by residence or by marriage requires level B1, and there is no state exam for it: you buy a certificate from a recognised body and it must already be attached when you file the application. Watch the order of events: if you already hold a valid EU long-term residence permit, you are exempt from the B1 requirement for citizenship.

Official source: Ministry of the Interior — Italian language test · Prefettura — citizenship by residence and the B1 requirement

What exactly is the A2 Italian language test?

It is an A2-level test required by art. 9(2-bis) of the Immigration Consolidated Act and governed by the Ministerial Decree of 7 December 2021, which repealed and replaced the decree of 4 June 2010. You apply for it at the Prefettura of your province; the test itself is normally held at a CPIA adult-education centre, in front of a commission from that school. It is not a certification: you are not handed a document. The result is recorded in the Ministry’s information system and read by the Questura when it processes your permit application.

Official source: DM 7 dicembre 2021 — Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 36, 12-02-2022

How is the A2 test built?

Three papers, 100 points in total, about an hour of actual working time:

• Listening comprehension: two short audio texts, each played twice, 10 questions worth 3 points each — 30 points, about 25 minutes.
• Reading comprehension: two short written texts (notices, small ads, letters, instructions, short articles), 10 questions worth 3.5 points each — 35 points, about 25 minutes.
• Written interaction: a single task — reply to an e-mail, a postcard or an invitation, or fill in a form — 35 points, about 10 minutes.

Official source: Prefettura di Roma — the Italian test

How do you pass the A2 test? What is the pass mark?

The decree is blunt: the candidate must obtain "at least eighty per cent of the total score". That is 80 points out of 100 on the TOTAL, with no minimum on any individual paper — you can do badly on one part and still pass, as long as the sum reaches 80. It is a high bar and almost nobody says so plainly: you can afford to lose only 20 points in total, and if the written-interaction task falls into the partial band (28 points instead of 35) your margin drops to 13 — four listening questions, or three reading questions. One thing is in your favour: a wrong answer and a blank answer are worth exactly the same, zero. Nothing is deducted, so always answer.

Official source: DM 7 dicembre 2021, art. 3 co. 3

How much do I have to write in the written-interaction task?

There is no minimum and no maximum word count. Unlike the specification for the two comprehension papers, the one governing this task sets no length at all. The score is a three-band judgement on task completion: up to 35 points if your answers are coherent and appropriate to every piece of information you were asked for (or if the form is filled in completely), up to 28 if they are only partial, 0 if the answer cannot be assessed. So what counts is covering everything you were asked — usually three specific pieces of information — not writing at length. And getting the message across counts for more than flawless grammar: that is the CEFR line the specification itself invokes.

Is the A2 test free?

We cannot tell you for certain, and you should be sceptical of anyone who states it without a source. Neither the Ministry’s page nor the Prefetture’s pages give a fee for the test, and the governing decree says it is implemented "without new or increased burdens on public finances" — but that is a clause about the State budget, not a statement that the candidate pays nothing. No official source writes "free of charge". Confirm it with the Prefettura of your province when you apply.

Official source: Ministry of the Interior — test page

How do I book the A2 test?

You apply online to the Prefettura of the province where you live, through the services portal of the Department for Civil Liberties and Immigration, using SPID or CIE. The decree provides that you are called within sixty days of the request; the venue is the CPIA the Prefettura has designated, and sessions are organised through the year as needed. If you cannot attend, an absence is only excused with medical documentation delivered before the session.

Official source: DLCI services portal — booking · Ministry of the Interior — how it works

Who is exempt from the A2 test?

The decree lists the cases. You do not have to sit the test if you are:

• a child under fourteen;
• someone with a severe limitation on language learning due to age, illness or disability, certified by a public health facility;
• a holder of an Italian certificate at A2 or above from one of the bodies listed in annex A of the decree;
• someone who completed a CPIA course with a qualification at A2 or above;
• someone whose A2 level was recognised within the credits of the integration agreement;
• a holder of an Italian lower- or upper-secondary school diploma, or currently enrolled at an Italian university, doctoral programme or master’s;
• someone admitted under art. 27(1)(a), (c), (d) or (q) of the Consolidated Act — company managers and highly specialised staff, university lecturers, translators and interpreters, accredited journalists — and actually performing that work.

Official source: DM 7 dicembre 2021, arts. 1 and 4 + annex A

If I fail, can I take the test again?

Yes. The decree only says that "the foreign national may repeat the test", without setting a limit. The Ministry’s website states a ninety-day wait after a fail or an unexcused absence: that is administrative practice announced on that page, not a rule written into the decree, so check with your Prefettura how it is applied in your province.

Official source: Ministry of the Interior — retaking the test

Do I get a certificate after the A2 test?

No, and this is an important difference from a certification. The result is communicated to you and recorded in the Ministry’s information system, where the Questura handling your permit application looks it up. It is valid solely for the purpose of issuing the long-term residence permit: it is not a document you can present elsewhere, to an employer or a university.

Which B1 certificate counts for citizenship?

The law requires "adequate knowledge of the Italian language, not below level B1", proven either with an Italian school qualification or with a certificate from a recognised certifying body. The recognised bodies are the University for Foreigners of Siena (CILS), the University for Foreigners of Perugia (CELI), the Società Dante Alighieri (PLIDA) and Roma Tre University (cert.it). Two cautions: the list can change, because the 2021 decree provides for an accreditation measure that may widen it, and some Prefetture list five, adding the University for Foreigners "Dante Alighieri" of Reggio Calabria. Before you enrol and pay, check the current list with the Prefettura that will handle your case. Diplomas from bodies outside that list — for example the "Firenze" diplomas issued by AIL — are not among the accepted qualifications.

Official source: Prefettura — the language requirement for citizenship · CILS — University for Foreigners of Siena · CELI — University for Foreigners of Perugia · PLIDA — Società Dante Alighieri

Who is exempt from the B1 requirement for citizenship?

Three groups. People who signed the integration agreement — and for the Ministry the signature alone is enough, you do not need to have completed it successfully; holders of a valid EU long-term residence permit; and, following Constitutional Court judgment no. 25 of 2025, applicants with severe limitations on language learning arising from age, illness or disability, proven with a certificate from a public health facility (not from your GP). EU citizens and holders of a family permit, on the other hand, do have to take the B1.

Official source: Constitutional Court, judgment no. 25/2025 · Ministry of the Interior circular 0014605 of 13-03-2025

How much does a B1 certificate cost?

There is no national price: the fee is set by the individual exam centre, and a stamp duty or enrolment contribution is sometimes added on top. Any figure you read on a blog should therefore be treated as indicative only. Ask the centre where you intend to sit the exam directly, and ask for the session calendar at the same time — that varies by body too, and there are only a few dates a year.

B1 "standard" or B1 "for citizenship" — what is the difference?

Two of the bodies also offer a version of the B1 exam designed only for the citizenship application, shorter than the full B1. It is valid for that purpose, but it covers a narrower slice of competence and its usefulness stays limited to the citizenship file: if you also need a B1 for work, for a course or for an employer, ask the centre which of the two versions fits before you enrol. On these versions there is usually no carry-over of a part you passed — fail one section and you retake, and re-pay for, the whole exam.

Is the A2 test the same as the integration-agreement test?

No, and they are often confused because both are held at a CPIA. The integration-agreement test covers spoken Italian at A2 plus a civics component, and it exists to keep your first permit, not to obtain the long-term one. It is a two-to-five-minute face-to-face conversation with an examiner — never a monologue — and it is marked on how effectively you communicate rather than on grammatical accuracy. The test this page is about is written, taken on a computer, and covers comprehension and written interaction.

How do I prepare for the A2 test?

The most useful thing is to practise on the real format, paper by paper: listening with the audio played twice, reading real notices and small ads, and above all written interaction, which is worth 35 points out of 100 and is the part almost no free material trains. On Italiano A2 you get complete practice tests in the format of the real one, with objective questions marked instantly and AI feedback on the text you write — free. Keep an eye on your total rather than on any single exercise: the threshold is on the overall score.

Does the A2 test also count for citizenship?

No — and it is worth understanding the tangle, because it catches almost everyone. The result of the A2 test is valid solely for the issue of the long-term residence permit: it is not a language qualification you can attach to a citizenship application, which by law requires level B1. But — and this is where the confusion comes from — once that test has got you the EU long-term residence permit, holding a valid permit of that kind exempts you from the B1 requirement. So it is not the test that counts for citizenship: it is the permit it leads to.

Does the B1 certificate have to be ready when I file the citizenship application?

Yes, and this is the mistake that costs the most time. The law requires the language knowledge to be proven "at the moment the application is filed": the certificate goes in with the application, it is not handed over afterwards. Budget for the real timeline — the bodies hold only a few sessions a year, and weeks or months pass between sitting the exam and receiving the certificate — and count backwards from the date you want to file. If you fall under one of the exemptions, you attach the proof of the exemption instead of a certificate.

I am an EU citizen — do I need any proof of Italian?

Not in order to live here: as an EU citizen you do not need a residence permit, so the A2 test does not apply to you. For Italian citizenship, though, you do — and with fewer ways out than others have. Prefettura guidance says explicitly that EU citizens must produce the B1 certificate. The two main exemptions — holding the EU long-term residence permit and having signed the integration agreement — belong to instruments designed for non-EU nationals, so as a rule neither is available to you. In practice: if citizenship is the goal, plan for the B1 certificate from the start.

Can I buy an A2 certificate instead of sitting the Prefettura test?

Yes. The decree exempts anyone holding an Italian certificate at A2 or above from one of the bodies listed in its annex A, as well as anyone with an Italian school qualification or who completed a CPIA course at A2 or above. It is a sensible route if you already hold a certificate, or if you need a qualification you can use elsewhere anyway; if all you need is the permit, the Prefettura test does the same job without buying anything. Two cautions before you pay: the list of accepted bodies can be widened by an accreditation measure, and not every Prefettura lists exactly the same bodies — check the current list with the Prefettura that will handle your case, and ask the exam centre for the price, because there is no national fee.