How many questions are on the German citizenship test, and how many do you need to pass?
Vishwen Labs
Thirty-three questions, seventeen to pass. BAMF describes the test in a few sentences: you receive a Testheft with 33 questions and have 60 minutes to answer them; for each question you choose the right answer from four options; 30 questions belong to the areas Leben in der Demokratie, Geschichte und Verantwortung and Mensch und Gesellschaft, and 3 to the Bundesland where you have your Erstwohnsitz; with at least 17 correct you have passed. The Einbürgerungstestverordnung fixes the same numbers in its first section. Nothing about the format is preliminary.
The numbers, and where they are written
The Einbürgerungstestverordnung of 2008, last amended on 21 June 2024, says in § 1 that the test is taken with Testhefte of 33 questions, 30 from the general catalogue and 3 from the Land's, that it is passed with at least 17 correct answers, that 60 minutes are allowed under supervision, and that a uniform certificate is issued. Seventeen of 33 is 51.5 percent. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so every question should be answered, and there is no separate threshold for the three Bundesland questions.
Where the 33 come from
From a published pool. BAMF's Gesamtfragenkatalog holds 300 general questions and 10 for each of the 16 Länder; a candidate's pool is therefore 310 questions, the 300 plus their Land's 10, and the 33 in the Testheft are taken from it unchanged, with the same four options. BAMF publishes the catalogue as a PDF and as an interactive practice tool in its Online-Testcenter, together with a Musterfragebogen, a sample Testheft. That is the whole test: 310 known questions, 33 of which you will see.
What the pass mark means in practice
Seventeen of 33 is a low bar by the standards of neighbouring tests. The UK's Life in the UK test requires 18 of 24, 75 percent; Denmark's indfødsretsprøve 36 of 45, 80 percent; Sweden's new test has not published its threshold. Germany's is just over half, and the questions are public. The practical consequence is that the test is rarely failed by someone who has worked through the catalogue once in German, and rarely passed by someone who has not, because the wording matters more than the difficulty.
The app's mock
The mock in Einbürgerungstest bestehen runs 33 questions in 60 minutes and passes at 17, exactly the official format, with the 3 Land questions taken from the Bundesland you set. Each result comes with a breakdown by chapter and a review list of the misses, and every question, right or wrong, shows its explanation in German and in your language. Because the format is official, the result reads directly: 17 or more here is 17 or more there, on the same questions.
How to use the 60 minutes
Less than two minutes a question, and most candidates need far less: the questions are one or two sentences and the options are short. Read all four options, because BAMF's distractors are built from true statements about neighbouring facts, and a first plausible option is often not the right one. Answer everything. And treat the three Bundesland questions as the easiest points on the sheet, since only ten exist for your Land and you can know all of them.
Einbürgerungstest bestehen is an independent study aid and is not affiliated with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) or any other German authority. The test questions are BAMF's published Gesamtfragenkatalog, which anyone may practise free at BAMF's Online-Testcenter; the app's lessons, explanations and translations are its own.
Questions people also ask
Is there a time limit on the Einbürgerungstest?
Yes, 60 minutes for the 33 questions, according to BAMF and § 1 of the Einbürgerungstestverordnung. Most candidates finish well inside it; the questions are short and the answers are one of four options.
What percentage do you need to pass the German citizenship test?
17 of 33 correct, which is 51.5 percent. There is no separate threshold for the three Bundesland questions; any 17 will do.
