Italian for citizenship, and the B1 you have to certify.

Who has to prove their Italian, and who does not

This is where most confusion starts, so plainly:

• Citizenship by residency requires certified B1 Italian, and has since December 2018.
• Citizenship by marriage also requires certified B1.
• Citizenship by descent (jure sanguinis) has historically had no language requirement for the application itself, though rules and consular practice do change and some consulates ask more than others.

We are language teachers, not immigration lawyers, and we will not pretend otherwise: always confirm the current requirement with your consulate or your lawyer before planning around it. What we can tell you with confidence is what B1 means and how to get there.

What B1 actually means

B1 is the level where you become independent in the language. Concretely, you can handle the predictable situations of daily life, work and travel; you can describe experiences, explain a plan, give reasons for an opinion; and you can follow the main points of clear speech on familiar subjects. It is not sophisticated Italian. It is functional, unassisted Italian, which is precisely why the state chose it.

Certification comes from one of four recognised bodies: CILS (Siena), CELI (Perugia), PLIDA (Dante Alighieri Society) and Cert.it (Roma Tre). There is also a dedicated citizenship-level exam, CILS B1 Cittadinanza, which tests only listening, reading, writing and speaking at the level the application requires and is usually the most efficient route. Which one suits you depends on dates, location and format, and it is one of the first things we work out together.

How we prepare you

• A level check first. An honest assessment of where you are against B1, in all four skills, before anyone promises a timeline.
• A dated plan. We pick the exam session and work backwards from it, so every lesson has a place in the schedule.
• Skill-by-skill work. Most candidates are uneven, strong in reading and weak in writing or speaking. We spend the time where the marks are actually being lost.
• Real past papers, timed. The format itself catches people out. By exam day the paper should be boring.
• The oral, rehearsed. The speaking section is where nerves cost most, so we run it repeatedly until it is routine.

How long it takes

From absolute zero to a certified B1 is typically nine to eighteen months at two lessons a week with steady practice between them. From a rusty A2, often three to six. Anyone offering you B1 in eight weeks from nothing is selling you something. We would rather give you a real timeline and hit it.

If the citizenship is part of a wider move, our page on learning Italian before moving to Italy covers the practical language your first months will demand, and if your route is by descent, the heritage learners path is usually the better fit.