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Language skills
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For many visas, a certain level of German language proficiency is required.
What language level do I need?
The required language level depends on your desired purpose of stay. As a general rule, you need the following level:
| Family reunification with spouse | A1 |
| Child reunification (children 16 or older) | C1 |
| Au-pair | A1 |
| Voluntary service | A1 |
| Vocational training | B1 |
| Study in German (without prior course) | C1 |
| Study in German (with prior course) | None |
| Language Course | A2 |
For a family reunification visa, there are a number of exemptions from the language proficiency requirement.
How do I prove my language level
The decisive factor is a certificate after passing the exam. We only accept certificates issued by institutions testing in accordance with the standards of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE).
How you prepare for the language exam – whether in a language school, on your own with a self-study book, with a private teacher or via online courses – is up to you.
If you take your language exam in Nigeria, we only accept certificates from the Goethe-Institut. The Embassy or Consulate itself does not carry out any language examinations or classifications.
We do not accept certificates that are older than one year.
It is possible to take the exams separately by module (reading, listening, speaking, writing) and submit the certificates of the module exams together. The language certificate is only complete if all four modules have been passed. The oldest individual module examination must not be older than one year.