Residency and work permits.

• Germany
• Switzerland
• Austria
• Liechtenstein
• Luxembourg
• Levels

I teach the exams named below. They’re listed on the exam page. Further down I say what A1, A2, and the rest feel like in real life.

Germany

Checked 8 November 2026.

Several German work visas have no legal German requirement. A1 is the spouse rule and the gate for the Opportunity Card, not a rule for every permit. Regulated jobs can still ask for German on the licence, even when the visa line is empty.

Opportunity Card points, on top of the A1-or-English-B2 gate: A1 scores nothing, A2 is 1 point, B1 is 2, and B2 or higher is 3. English at C1 is 1 extra point. That route needs 6 points. Only the highest German level counts.

Spouses of EU Blue Card holders and of many skilled workers do not have to show A1. Citizens of some countries, including the United States, are also treated differently for spouse reunification. The mission decides which case is which.

A regulated job, such as medicine, nursing, or teaching, can still demand German, often around B2 plus a profession-specific test, even when the work visa itself has no language line. Preparation for that level is under B2 and above.

Switzerland

Checked 8 November 2026.

These are the federal minimums for German-speaking cantons. A canton can ask for more. What counts is the language of the place you live. In a German-speaking canton, that’s German. Speaking and writing are scored apart.

EU and EFTA nationals usually have no language exam for the B permit. The job is what gets most work permits. German still decides the later settlement permit, and employers in those cantons expect you to have it.

Nationals of Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein are commonly exempt from the Swiss German-language proof. So are people whose mother tongue is the local language, and people who did several years of school or a higher qualification in that language.

The recognised-certificate list used here is the SEM list of 1 October 2026. SEM updates that list again on 1 January 2027. Goethe, telc, ÖSD, TestDaF, and ECL count when they are on that list. The speaking-and-writing section is where to start if the two scores differ.

Austria

Checked 8 November 2026.

The Red-White-Red Card for the worker has no A1-before-entry rule. Holding that card counts as fulfilling Integration Agreement Module 1. Other titles often ask for A1 before the first application, and later modules ask for more.

Sometimes that A1-before-entry proof is waived. The office decides. I don’t.

Liechtenstein

Checked 8 November 2026.

German is the language of the country, so a German exam does come up. The lines below are for people from outside the EEA and Switzerland. EEA and Swiss citizens are on a different track.

For work, for the permit, and for a visit, ordinary German is the right German. School uses it. The office writes it. Goethe, telc, and ÖSD test it. People also speak a dialect close to Swiss German. You don’t need that dialect first. When they hear standard German, they answer in it.

Luxembourg

Checked 8 November 2026.

Citizenship here tests Luxembourgish, not German. The Sproochentest is speaking at A2 and listening at B1. A work permit doesn’t ask for Goethe or telc the way a German or Swiss file can.

For a holiday, standard German is enough. People understand it, and a lot of print is in German. The person at the counter may answer in German, French, or English, whichever you start in.

A job is less simple. Some workplaces use German. Plenty use French or English, and locals speak Luxembourgish with each other. Bring ordinary German. Don’t assume it’s the only language the job wants. Kids there still learn to read in German. That’s the German I teach. I don’t prepare the Sproochentest. The lessons are the usual ones: private, homeschool, or immersion reading.

What the levels feel like

The exam page has the names and the passing rules. This is what I mean when I say someone is A1, or B1, when we’re talking.

A1

The very beginning. You can say who you are, buy something, and follow if the other person slows down. Spouse visas, and being allowed to apply for the German Opportunity Card, usually start here.

A2

Short, practical German. Family, work, a simple message you can actually read. Recognition visas in Germany, Austria’s Module 1, the spoken half of an ordinary Swiss C permit, and settlement in Liechtenstein are around here.

B1

You can tell a story that hangs together, get through most ordinary days, and write something another person can follow. Germany wants this for settlement and citizenship. Austria’s Module 2 is B1. A vocational-training visa in Germany asks for it. An early Swiss C permit wants spoken B1. Liechtenstein citizenship wants B1.

B2

A meeting, a newspaper article, a clear explanation on paper. University taught in German often starts around here, though the programme can set its own rule. A licensed job, medicine or teaching for example, can ask for about this even when the visa itself says nothing about language.

C1 and C2

C1 is longer study and writing you could hand to a colleague. telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule is the university exam at that level. C2 is the big Goethe diploma, for hard texts and talk that has to be precise. TestDaF with TDN 4 in every part, and DSH-2, are the other usual ways into a German university. They aren’t the same exam as a C1 certificate, and a programme can name something else.

Official pages

• Make it in Germany, required German language skills (January 2026)
• Make it in Germany, Opportunity Card points
• Swiss SEM, language requirements
• SEM list of recognised language certificates (1 October 2026)
• Austrian Interior Ministry, proof of German language skills
• Austrian Integration Agreement
• Liechtenstein foreigners ordinance, spouse’s A1 proof
• Liechtenstein integration agreement, A2 within five years
• Liechtenstein settlement checklist, A2 and civics
• Liechtenstein national administration, B1 for citizenship
• Luxembourg, nationality language test is Luxembourgish

Write for a free session and evaluation