Magazine · · 2 min read
Citizenship test in Germany: how many questions, how many right?
33 questions, 60 minutes, a pass from 17 correct answers. What sits behind these three numbers, where the questions come from — and why the whole test can be learned in advance.
The three numbers that matter
The German citizenship test (Einbürgerungstest) has 33 questions: 30 general ones and 3 about the federal state you live in. You have 60 minutes for all of them. Every question has four answers, exactly one of which is correct.
33 questions, 60 minutes, 17 correct answers — that is all you need to remember beforehand.
You pass with at least 17 correct answers. That is a little over half, so a well-prepared candidate has plenty of room. Unprepared, it is still a real hurdle, because many questions test terms that rarely come up in daily life.
Where the questions come from
All questions come from a public catalogue published by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). It contains 300 general questions plus 10 for each federal state, 460 in total. The test draws the 30 general questions and the 3 for your state from it.
No question pool is smaller than one you can work through entirely.
Because the catalogue is public, no question in the test is one you could not have seen beforehand. That is the key difference from almost any other exam: the material can be known completely.
The “Leben in Deutschland” test and the citizenship test
The “Leben in Deutschland” test is the final test of the orientation course and uses the same catalogue. It counts as passed from 15 correct answers; from 17 correct answers it also serves as proof for naturalisation.
For naturalisation, 17 correct answers count — in the “Leben in Deutschland” test as well.
Fees, registration, test centres and exemptions — such as who does not have to take the test — change and depend on the individual case. Only what the BAMF and your naturalisation authority say is binding.
A sensible way to learn the catalogue
Going through 460 questions in order means forgetting the first ones before reaching the last. It works better to learn by topic — fundamental rights, elections, history, your own state — and to repeat the hard questions more often than the easy ones.
Learn by topic, repeat what is hard, finish by practising against the clock.
That is how Einbürgerungstest online üben is built: every question of the official catalogue verbatim, grouped by topic, with an exam simulation under real conditions and a display of when you are ready. It is a private learning service and not affiliated with the BAMF; the test itself is taken at an approved test centre.
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