Since December 2018 the road to Italian citizenship by marriage or by residence passes through one gate: a certified B1 level of Italian. I have prepared candidates for this exam for years, first as a teacher and then as the builder of the tools I wished my students had. Let me give you the complete picture in one place, the way I would explain it in a first lesson: what the law asks, which certificates count, what the exam looks like, and how a working adult actually prepares for it.
Who needs the B1 certificate
The requirement was introduced by law in December 2018. It applies to applications for citizenship by marriage and by residence. It does not apply to recognition of citizenship by descent, and a small set of exemptions exists, for example qualifications earned at recognised Italian institutions. Rules and procedures evolve, so treat this article as orientation and always confirm your specific case with your consulate or prefettura before you plan anything around it.
B1 itself is a level of the CEFR, the European framework of language levels. In plain terms it means independence: you can hold a conversation on familiar topics, handle everyday situations, tell a story about your life, and write a simple connected text. If the letters mean little to you, I explain all six levels concretely in what the Italian CEFR levels really mean.
Which certificates are accepted
Only certificates from recognised certifying bodies count. There are four: CILS from the Università per Stranieri di Siena, CELI from the Università per Stranieri di Perugia, PLIDA from the Società Dante Alighieri, and Cert.it from Università Roma Tre. They test the same level in slightly different formats, and the choice between them is mostly a question of calendar and exam style. I compare them properly in which B1 certificate to choose, and the most popular option gets its own walkthrough in the CILS B1 Cittadinanza guide.
What the exam actually tests
Whatever the certificate, expect four kinds of task: listening to recorded audio and answering questions, reading texts and doing the same, writing short texts such as a letter or a description, and speaking with an examiner. Each section has a threshold. This is worth saying clearly, because many candidates prepare only the skill they enjoy: the exam is passed section by section, and the section that fails people most often is listening, which is why I wrote a separate method for it in training B1 listening and one for the writing section.
How to prepare, honestly
Three ingredients, in this order. First, know your real starting level, without flattery: here is how to check. Second, follow a weekly plan that touches all four skills rather than your favourite one; my full plan is in how to prepare for the B1 exam. Third, and this is the ingredient most people skip, rehearse the exam itself with complete, timed mock tests, for the reasons I explain in why mock exams matter.
This is exactly where I put my effort as a developer. The 
amo Italian app now includes a dedicated B1 exam section with 35 complete mock tests built around the citizenship exam: full simulations you sit, score and repeat, alongside the A1 to C2 course, the graded readers and the daily review the rest of this blog describes. To be equally clear about the limits, because honesty is a policy here: the app trains and verifies you, but the certificate itself can only be issued by one of the four bodies above. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling paper.
In your language
Citizenship candidates come from everywhere, so we keep dedicated guides on the citizenship test in Spanish, Portuguese, French and German, with more resources in 17 languages on the languages hub of thuisitaliaans.com. The exam is in Italian; your preparation does not have to start there.
Note and attributions: CILS is a certification of the Università per Stranieri di Siena, CELI of the Università per Stranieri di Perugia, PLIDA of the Società Dante Alighieri and Cert.it of Università Roma Tre; all are named for identification only and no affiliation or endorsement is implied. The CEFR is a Council of Europe framework. Nothing here is legal advice: verify current requirements with your consulate or prefettura and on the official sites of the certifying bodies. The mock exams in the amo Italian app are training simulations, not an official certificate.
