How Passkompass works
Everything on this site comes from two kinds of source: the official question catalogue and the text of the law. Nothing you enter in the mock exam or the calculator leaves your browser. Laws last read on 22 October 2026.
The question catalogue
The basis is BAMF’s complete question catalogue, dated 7 May 2025: 300 general questions and 10 for each of the 16 states, 310 questions a candidate can face. The catalogue is annex 1 to the Citizenship Test Ordinance, an official work that is free under section 5 of the German Copyright Act. The version of the annex published on gesetze-im-internet.de still reflects the situation before the 2025 federal election in questions 72 (chancellor) and 73 (largest groups); we reproduce BAMF’s newer version.
42 questions show a picture in the exam. We do not reproduce the catalogue’s images, such as coats of arms, photos and maps; we describe what they show so the question can be answered without the picture. The English translations are our own.
The answers
BAMF only shows the answers in its online practice test, not as a list. Radif Partners tied every answer on this site to a primary source, such as the Basic Law, a state constitution, an electoral law or official records, and confirmed it in a second review. If an answer differs from the official practice test, the official test prevails; please tell us.
The mock exam
Under section 1 of the ordinance the test has 33 questions, 3 of them about the state, with 60 minutes; you pass with 17 correct answers. Our mock exam draws 30 general and 3 state questions without repeats and shuffles them. The first paper is fixed so every page looks the same; each click on “New mock test” draws a new random one. Answers appear in catalogue order.
The application calculator
- Period: 5 years from the start of lawful residence (section 10 StAG); if married to a German, 3 years of residence and 2 years of marriage, whichever comes later (section 9 StAG). The calculator takes the earlier of the two routes.
- Time abroad: up to 6 months does no harm; after a longer absence you enter your return as the start and any credited months separately, 36 at most (section 12b StAG).
- Titles: study, training, language course, job seeking and permits under section 25(3) to (5) of the Residence Act exclude you, as do a Duldung and an asylum-seeker permit.
- Livelihood: basic income support or social assistance excludes you, except after 20 months of full-time work in the last 24 and the other statutory exceptions.
- Convictions: up to 90 day-rates or 3 months suspended are disregarded (section 12a StAG).
- Language and test: if missing they are “still to prove” but do not move the month, since both can be done before the period ends.
“Today” in the calculator is the month of our latest reading of the law, not your device’s clock, so every visitor gets the same result.
Fees, settlement permit, Blue Card
Fees under section 38 StAG: €255 per person, €51 per child without income naturalised with a parent, plus €25 per test. Settlement permit periods follow section 9, 18c, 26 and 28 of the Residence Act. Blue Card thresholds are 50 and 45.3 percent of the pension contribution ceiling of €101,400 for 2026.
What we leave out
Processing times: there are no uniform official figures, and individual reports are no basis. Prices of language exams, translations and documents: they depend on the provider. The law of other countries, for example on losing your previous nationality.
Checks and updates
Automated tests check every period, every fee, how the mock exam is drawn and the structure of the catalogue (300 plus 10 per state, four answers, exactly one correct). A script regularly compares BAMF’s catalogue file and the legal texts with our version and flags any change before a new version goes online.