It was common practice for authorities to test the applicant's abilities in spoken and written German. In the opinion of the citizenship authorities, the Citizenship Act (Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz, StAG) requires applicants to possess spoken and written German skills. Two important rulings of the Federal Administrative Court have specified the requirements for foreign candidates for German citizenship.
Practice has shown that the vast majority of applicants speak German sufficiently well and can read texts of average difficulty. The most problematic was the dictation within the authority's office. Many applicants cannot coherently write about a topic with few grammatical errors. There are various reasons for this. Some are simply illiterate, so they cannot write even in their native language. Middle-aged and older foreigners have never had to write in German and lack the skill of writing in Latin letters.
The Federal Administrative Court put an end to this practice of the citizenship authorities with its rulings, defining the following testing criteria. It is sufficient if the applicant is able to read and understand a text from everyday life, and can also check the correctness of a text written by third parties. The applicant must also be able to read another text clearly in such a way as to understand and absorb the written expressions from it – in other words, to read, understand, and coherently reproduce in their own words a simple official text. By doing so, they fulfill the criteria of sufficient knowledge of German established by the Federal Administrative Court. Thus, the unpleasant and often humiliating dictation at the citizenship authority has become a thing of the past.
For many candidates for German citizenship, the eased rules for taking the German language test will be a significant support. In this regard, attention should be drawn to the provision of §10(1)(3) StAG: the citizenship candidate must demonstrate their ability to live independently of social benefits (such as ALG II), social assistance, and basic old-age support. An exception can be made for those who live on these social benefits 'due to circumstances beyond their control.' I believe that Jewish contingent refugees and foreign family members of older late resettlers fall under this preferential rule. They cannot be blamed for depending on social support. Given the well-known difficulties in the labor market for the local working-age population, older migrants with poor German skills and no work experience in the country have no real chance of employment. And a citizenship candidate under 65 must prove their unfortunately futile efforts to find a job.