What EMN countries have citizenship tests as part of the naturalisation process?
Naturalisation is the process through which an individual can receive a nationality not previously held at the time of their birth. A recent EMN ad-hoc query offers comparative information on citizenship tests as part of the naturalisation process across EMN Member and Observer Countries.
The ad-hoc query examines whether the 25 responding EMN Member and Observer Countries require a citizenship test for individuals to acquire nationality. For those that do, the ad-hoc Query asked about the authority or institution responsible for administering and drafting these tests, the topics covered, the connection between language and citizenship components in these tests, measures or sanctions in place to prevent potential misuse, and fees for the tests.
Some countries such as Austria, Cyprus, Germany and Spain do organise examinations as part of the naturalisation process. The authority or institutions responsible for administering these vary but generally are government institutions responsible for education, migration, or citizenship issues.
Topics covered in citizenship tests can include knowledge of culture, history, geography, political and current affairs and knowledge of the language of the country. In some countries, there is a standalone examination of language proficiency as part of naturalisation procedures.
In the majority of countries that organise tests, there is a fee for participating in the examination.
Ireland does not require non-citizens to pass a citizenship test in order to acquire nationality.
Citizenship, acquired through naturalisation, is widely acknowledged as a key measure of integration and therefore an important element of integration policy. In 2020, our colleagues in the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), investigated language and civic requirements for naturalisation elsewhere in Europe. The report provides an overview of requirements adopted for naturalisation in EU Member States and the UK and a ‘deep dive’ into practices in selected case study countries particularly relevant for Ireland. The report found that the introduction of requirements in Ireland would represent a significant new policy direction, bearing potentially considerable costs. In addition, information on what extent language and citizenship requirements lead to better integration outcomes is sparse, therefore it was difficult to reach any conclusions about the long-term effects of language and civic integration requirements linked to citizenship.
Read the full results of the ad-hoc query here.
Ad-Hoc Queries are a tool that the European Migration Network and the European Commission use to collect information on a wide range of migration and asylum policy topics. Explore the collection of AHQs here
