The B1 Italian test for citizenship: what it is and how to pass the speaking part

Who needs the B1 Italian test for citizenship?

Anyone applying for citizenship by marriage (art. 5 of Law 91/1992) or by residence (art. 9). Art. 9.1, added in 2018, makes both conditional on «un'adeguata conoscenza della lingua italiana, non inferiore al livello B1» of the Common European Framework¹. The Constitutional Court reads it as covering those two routes only².

Citizenship by descent is not one of them. The 2025 reform of descent, Law 74/2025, limits who can still claim through an Italian ancestor, but it contains no language test³⁴.

The rule applies to applications filed online from 4 December 2018 onward, and EU citizens are not excused⁵⁶. Both routes are filed on the Interior Ministry's online portal⁷⁸, and the language proof sits on the Prefettura's document checklist for each⁶.

Who is exempt from the B1 test?

You do not need a certificate if you can show one of the following instead¹⁶:

• A qualification, un titolo di studio, from a state or state-recognised school or university, one the education ministry recognises, alone or together with the foreign ministry¹.
• A signed accordo di integrazione, the integration agreement non-EU residents enter with their first permesso di soggiorno¹.
• A permesso di soggiorno UE per soggiornanti di lungo periodo, the long-term EU residence permit¹.
• A certified inability to learn. Judgment 25/2025 struck down art. 9.1 where it failed to exempt applicants with «gravi limitazioni alla capacità di apprendimento linguistico» caused by age, illness or disability, certified by a public health service².

Everyone else sits an exam.

Which certificates count, and where do you take the exam?

Four bodies are recognised by the education and foreign ministries, and the Prefettura names them: Università per Stranieri di Siena (CILS), Università per Stranieri di Perugia (CELI), Società Dante Alighieri (PLIDA) and Università Roma Tre (CERT.IT)⁵. Together they form the CLIQ association, which has had an agreement with the foreign ministry since 2013⁹. The Prefettura also accepts B1 certification obtained through the state adult-education centres, the CPIA⁵.

Some of the bodies run a shorter B1 built for citizenship¹. At CILS it is B1 Cittadinanza, listed as «B1 C» on the enrolment pages, and Siena's own instructions say this is the level to pick for a citizenship application¹⁰. It covers a narrower slice of B1 than the standard exam, so it is valid only for citizenship, not for work or university¹.

The CILS fee is 100 euro, in Italy and abroad, against 90 for the standard B1¹¹¹², and it is not refunded¹⁰. There is no capitalisation: fail one part and you retake the whole exam at a later session¹¹. In 2026 the B1 C session runs six times, February to December, with enrolment closing roughly a month before each date¹³.

You sit it at an exam centre, a sede d'esame, with an agreement with Siena: in Italy, or abroad through the Istituti Italiani di Cultura and other partners¹⁴. You enrol with the centre and follow its instructions, unless you sit in Siena itself¹⁹.

What is in the CILS B1 Cittadinanza exam?

The syllabus describes an adult handling daily life in Italy. Listening texts are standard Italian at medium speed, which is also the Italian you should bring¹⁵. The exam has four parts¹⁵:

• Listening: two tasks, about 30 minutes, each recording played twice.
• Reading and grammar: two tasks, 40 minutes, including a cloze.
• Writing: one task, 40 minutes, an email of 80 to 120 words asking for information or sorting out a problem.
• Speaking: one task of about ten minutes, a short personal introduction followed by a conversation with the examiner.

The written parts come first. The oral usually follows the same afternoon, one candidate at a time, and every oral is recorded¹⁶.

What does the oral part of the B1 citizenship exam ask?

Less than people fear, and it is published. The examiner's sheet opens with a presentazione personale of about one minute, led by questions like «Come ti chiami?», «Quanti anni hai?», «Di dove sei?», «Dove vivi? Se vivi in Italia, da quanto tempo?» and «Che cosa fai nella vita, studi o lavori?»¹⁷.

Then a face-to-face conversation of two to three minutes. You choose one of four topics; the examiner asks a first question and follows up on what you say. The topics on the published sheet: city or countryside, and the pros and cons of each; which parts of Italian culture feel furthest from your own; healthcare in Italy and in your country; and which documents and steps you need for citizenship¹⁷.

The sheet addresses you with tu. That is normal here. Answer with Lei, as you would any official, and nobody will mind if you slip.

Scoring is out of 12: up to 4 points for getting your meaning across, 4 for grammar, 3 for vocabulary, and 1 for pronunciation and intonation¹⁸. An accent costs you almost nothing. Silence costs you everything.

How do you rehearse the speaking part out loud?

The oral is short, personal and predictable, so it rewards one thing: having said these sentences aloud, to a person, before the day.

• Prepare your introduction until it is boring. Name, age, where you are from, where you live and since when, what you do. One minute, no notes, the same words every time.
• Prepare all four topics, not your favourite. The follow-ups track your answers, so have two reasons and one example ready for each side of each topic.
• Practise being interrupted. Answer in two or three short sentences, stop, and let the next question come. Long speeches run out of grammar.

1. EsaminatoreCiao. Come ti chiami e di dove sei?Hi. What's your name and where are you from?
2. YouBuongiorno. Mi chiamo Anna e sono americana, di Chicago.Good morning. My name is Anna and I'm American, from Chicago.
3. EsaminatoreDove vivi? Da quanto tempo sei in Italia?Where do you live? How long have you been in Italy?
4. YouVivo a Bologna da tre anni. Mi sono trasferita per lavoro.I've lived in Bologna for three years. I moved for work.
5. EsaminatoreBene. Hai scelto città o campagna. Preferisci vivere in città o in campagna?Good. You chose city or countryside. Do you prefer living in the city or in the countryside?
6. YouPreferisco la città. A Bologna vado dappertutto a piedi o in autobus, e ho il medico e i negozi vicino a casa.I prefer the city. In Bologna I go everywhere on foot or by bus, and I have the doctor and the shops near home.
7. EsaminatoreE gli svantaggi della città?And the downsides of the city?
8. YouIl rumore e l'affitto, che è alto. Però, per me, i vantaggi contano di più.The noise and the rent, which is high. But for me the advantages count more.

A tutor who runs mock orals is the gold standard, and the CPIA are a recognised route to the certificate⁵. Parlaviva is what you use between those: a voice coach you can call for a few minutes a day. The free plan gives you fifteen minutes of speaking a month on iPhone or the web; paid plans are bought on the web. The coach plays the examiner, and when the call ends you see the sentences that broke and how to fix them. It is a rehearsal room, not a certificate.