Which level of Italian you need: A2 for the permit, B1 for citizenship

For the EU long-term residence permit you need level A2; for Italian citizenship you need level B1. They are two distinct requirements, proved with two distinct instruments: A2 with the state test you request from the Prefettura, B1 with a certificate bought from a recognised body. Mixing them up is the single most frequent mistake, and it costs time and money: there is no state test for B1, and a B1 certificate does not replace the permit procedure.

The two requirements compared

Aspect	A2 — EU long-term permit	B1 — citizenship
What you prove	Level A2	Level B1
With what	The Italian language test (or a qualification that exempts you)	A certificate from a recognised body, or an Italian school qualification
Who organises it	Ministry of the Interior, through the Prefettura, at the CPIAs	Recognised certifying bodies
Do you get a certificate?	No: the outcome goes into the Ministry's system	Yes, and it stays yours
How you pass	At least 80 points out of 100 on the total, with no minimum per paper	It depends on the body: there is no single percentage
When you need it	During the permit procedure	Already at the moment you apply for citizenship
Cost	No fee is published by the Ministry or by the Prefetture: ask your Prefettura	Set by the exam centre; there is no national price

A2 — the test for the long-term permit

The requirement comes from art. 9 co. 2-bis of the Consolidated Immigration Act and is governed by the Ministerial Decree of 7 December 2021, which repealed and replaced the decree of 4 June 2010 (the latter should no longer be cited as being in force). The request is filed online with the Prefettura of the province where you live; the test is usually sat at a CPIA before a commission of the school.

The test has three papers — listening 30 points, reading 35, written interaction 35 — lasts about 60 minutes of working time and is passed with at least 80 points out of 100 on the total. It is not a certificate: you are handed no attestation, the outcome is recorded in the Ministry's system and the Questura reads it. The full picture is in what the A2 test is.

You are exempt from the test if, among other cases, you are under fourteen; you have serious limitations to language learning due to age, illness or disability certified by a public healthcare body; you hold an Italian certificate at A2 or above from one of the bodies listed in Annex A of the decree; you have completed a CPIA course of study with a qualification at A2 or above; you have obtained recognition of level A2 within the credits of the integration agreement; you hold an Italian lower- or upper-secondary school diploma, or you are enrolled at a university, a doctoral programme or a master's course in Italy. The full list, with article references, is in who is exempt from the test.

B1 — the certificate for citizenship

The law requires "adequate knowledge of the Italian language, not below level B1" (art. 9.1 of Law 91/1992, inserted by Decree-Law 113/2018 converted by Law 132/2018), for applications filed from 4 December 2018 onwards. Two heavy differences compared with A2:

• there is no state test: you buy a certificate from a recognised body, or you present an Italian school qualification;
• the certificate must already be in your hands when you apply; it does not arrive afterwards.

The recognised bodies are the Università per Stranieri di Siena (CILS), the Università per Stranieri di Perugia (CELI), the Società Dante Alighieri (PLIDA) and Università Roma Tre (cert.it). Two cautions: the list can grow, because the 2021 decree provides for an accreditation measure, and some Prefetture list five, including the Università per Stranieri "Dante Alighieri" of Reggio Calabria. Before enrolling and paying, check the current list with the Prefettura that will handle your file.

Exempt from B1 are those who have signed the integration agreement — for the Ministry the signature is enough (circular 0014605 of 13 March 2025); holders of an EU long-term residence permit that is currently valid; and, following Constitutional Court judgment no. 25/2025, those with serious limitations to language learning due to age, illness or disability, proved with a certificate from a public healthcare body. Citizens of the European Union and holders of a permit for family reasons, by contrast, do have to do the B1.

The order matters

From that exemption comes the most useful practical note on this page: if you obtain the EU long-term residence permit and keep it valid, you are exempt from the B1 for citizenship. In many cases, those who do the permit first never need to buy a B1 certificate at all. Those who buy the B1 and only afterwards obtain the permit have paid for an exam they did not need. It is an order of moves, not an automatic rule: your situation is assessed by the Prefettura handling your file.

For other procedures the level is not published here

One clarification worth more than a list: for procedures other than these two — other types of permit, say, or family reunification — our sources publish no language level requirement at all, and we do not invent one. If you need to know whether a specific procedure carries a language requirement, the only reliable contact is the office that handles it: the Prefettura or the Questura of your province.

Watch out too for a third exam that gets confused with A2: the integration agreement test, which covers spoken Italian at A2 level plus a civic culture component and serves to keep your first permit through the agreement's credits. It is sat at the CPIA like the A2 test, but it is an interview of a few minutes, not a written test on a computer.

If your path is the A2

Train on the real format: the free practice tests reproduce the three papers with their true weights, and the writing trainer with AI feedback covers the part worth 35 points out of 100. The most frequent questions on both paths, with links to the official sources, are in the FAQ.

The information in this guide is for general information only and is not legal advice. Italiano A2 is not a certifying body or an exam centre and is not affiliated with the Ministry of the Interior, with any Prefettura or with any CPIA. Immigration and language rules change: before booking, paying or filing an application, always check the current requirements with the Prefettura or the Questura handling your file.