Permanent residency: how to prove the requirements for "legal and social knowledge"?

[Reya 2]

Hi everyone,

I'm going to be applying for my permanent residency soon and there's a couple of requirements I feel that are a little amibigous and not clearly explained.

 

The most unclear one is:

"Basic knowledge of the legal and social system and living conditions in Germany"

 

How does one prove this? I've heard it's the Leben In Deutschland Test (LiD Test), but when I go to look for appointments, they are always apart of either an integration course or a citizenship test, and neither of these are relevant to me. 

 

The other one is:

"You must have an adequate command of the German language (level B 1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages)." 

 

This seems clear at first - just get a B1 certificate. But what if I have taught myself up to a ±C1 level? I can obviously show the person who takes my appointment in-person, that I can conduct the entire meeting in German without much issue. Does anyone have experience with this?

 

The reason I ask is because a friend of mine speaks around B1 level German, but did neither the Leben in Deutschland Test nor did he complete a language certificate. He applied and was granted the permanent residency status. He has a Taiwanese passport, so as far as I know there's no special treatment there.

 

Thanks in advance for any help  

 

 

Sources:

Requirements
https://www.berlin.de/einwanderung/dienstleistungen/service.871055.php/dienstleistung/121864/en/

https://www.bamf.de/EN/Themen/MigrationAufenthalt/ZuwandererDrittstaaten/Migrathek/Niederlassen/niederlassen-node.html
 

Leben in Deutschland Google Search Results

https://www.google.com/search?q=leben+in+deutschland+pr%C3%BCfungstermine&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiEi6TZuon0AhUGSfEDHUMQD7oQBSgAegQIARAx&biw=1745&bih=859&dpr=1.1

 

[neilD 31]

I tried here in Freiburg (after 25 years of living here) they still wanted B1.

My wife and I got 98%!!!!

 

The test we did was NOT the integrartion course rather "leben in Deutschland" 

[travelerworker 73]

Hi,

quite strange...those sound like requirements for Citizenship, not PR.

Of all the people I helped with PR application A1 was the only requisite.

Take into account that sometimes they use the same form for different applications, so some sections don't apply to you.

You may want to double check.

 

Of course, before some smart ass comes to school me, this is just a personal opinion, I am not an expert.

Good luck!

 

[pappnase 2,152]

16 hours ago, Reya said:

 

The reason I ask is because a friend of mine speaks around B1 level German, but did neither the Leben in Deutschland Test nor did he complete a language certificate. He applied and was granted the permanent residency status.

The requirement is that you satisfy the competent authority that you have the requisite knowledge. There are rules which say they must accept various qualifications, but they are allowed to accept alternatives.

For example when I applied for naturalisation, the case-worker decided that my German was good enough and didn't ask for a certificate.

 

 

[Reya 2]

Hey all,

 

Thanks a lot for your responses, they help

If anyone has any experiences with applying for permanent residency without having done the Leben in Deutschland test please let me know!

[engelchen 13,034]

1 hour ago, Reya said:

If anyone has any experiences with applying for permanent residency without having done the Leben in Deutschland test please let me know!

 

It is possible if you have a German secondary school diploma or German university degree in Politics or Public Administration, etc. under certain circumstances. 

 

On the other hand, the Leben in Deutschland test is a joke.

[pappnase 2,152]

2 hours ago, engelchen said:

Leben in Deutschland test is a joke

This is true, if you can't pass this having lived in Germany for a few years then you are really not trying. According to this article the pass rate is about 99%, it might have fallen a bit since then but it's still very high. 

All the questions and answers are published, and a quick read through will tell you if you know this stuff.

If you don't then there are a bunch of websites and apps which will help you drill for it. (if it's not a quick read through then your German isn't good enough for the other requirement).

 

[Narjiz 148]

8 hours ago, Reya said:

Hey all,

 

Thanks a lot for your responses, they help

If anyone has any experiences with applying for permanent residency without having done the Leben in Deutschland test please let me know!

I know people who did not do it but I think the requirements changed after and now everyone needs either leben in deutschland or the Einbürgerungstest. I signed up for the second because the leben in DL test is not open to those who did not do the integration course according to the several VHS and the ABH I contacted. Just download the app and do 20 questions a day and when you get them wrong memorize the answer and go on. You need German for sure. I remember reading the questions a couple years ago when I was in my B1 course and I struggled to understand a lot of the questions. Reading them now they are pretty easy questions but you do need to go through them. 

[engelchen 13,034]

1 hour ago, Narjiz said:

I know people who did not do it but I think the requirements changed after and now everyone needs either leben in deutschland or the Einbürgerungstest.

 

There is now only one test.

 

[dstanners 1,415]

10 hours ago, Reya said:

If anyone has any experiences with applying for permanent residency without having done the Leben in Deutschland test please let me know!

I didn't have to take the test (or the language test) when applying for citizenship two or three years ago. Instead, they accepted some exams I passed whilst on an exchange year at university in Germany in the '90s instead (I think it was the solid 4.0 in employment law that swung it!). The best thing to do is call up the relevant official and have a chat with them (in German of course). The guy I dealt with was really helpful.

 

 

[Fietsrad 230]

Do be aware that the Leben in Deutschland test includes several specific questions for the Bundesland where one takes it!

 

I took the test in one place, then moved to another Bundesland, the test was accepted there, did not have to take a new test. Did get 100% right, mind. I should like to try all 300+ questions, would I even get any wrong?

[pappnase 2,152]

Yeah each time you take the test 3 are specific to your  Bundesland. You need to get 17 out of 33 total to pass, so if you got 100% then the 3 'local' questions would make no difference at all.  

Possibly if you only just passed with 17 or 18 out of 33 and then moved Bundesland they might ask you to test again, but they might not even be able to do that.

 

[TurMech 159]

Since when it is required to submit a citizenship test result at the permanent residence application?

I wasn't asked that back in 2018. Are the blue card owners exempt from this?

[Reya 2]

Thank you all - Im just gonna bite the bullet and do the Leben in Deutschland test and see if I can avoid the language exam

 

Will let y'all know how it goes

[optimista 5,499]

Got 4 wrong ! In 16 minutes.