Sproochentest guide
Luxembourg Citizenship Language Requirement
Yes, most applicants must prove they speak Luxembourgish, and only two narrow exemptions exist.
Yes, for most applicants. If you are naturalising as a Luxembourg citizen, you have to show you can speak some Luxembourgish, and you prove it by passing the Sproochentest, the official spoken-language test. A couple of real exemptions exist, and this post walks through who qualifies. If the language has been keeping you up at night, start here before you worry about anything else.
It helps to picture the moment. You are five minutes into the interview, and the examiner asks why you are learning Luxembourgish. You have one clean sentence ready: Ech léiere Lëtzebuergesch, well ech d'Lëtzebuerger Nationalitéit wëll kréien (I'm learning Luxembourgish because I want to get Luxembourg citizenship). That one sentence is the whole reason the requirement exists. The country wants new citizens who can hold a short, everyday conversation, and the exam is simply how they check.
What the requirement actually asks
The bar is lower than the worry around it. The speaking part is set at A2, the level of simple daily talk. You are not asked to be fluent. You answer a few questions about your life, then describe a photo. There is no reading or writing test (INLL).
If you are naturalising, the Sproochentest is required unless you fall under a specific exemption. Speaking at A2 is enough.
The test costs 75 euros per attempt. There is no limit on retakes, though you can only register again once you have received your previous result (guichet.public.lu). So the requirement is real, but it is not a one-shot gate.
One mix-up worth clearing up now. There is also a separate civics course called Vivre ensemble au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg that naturalisation applicants complete. That course is not the language test, and passing one does not replace the other. Two different steps.
Who is exempt
Two exemptions exist, and both are narrow. Neither is granted automatically, so you have to claim it and provide proof. The official conditions are on guichet.public.lu.
| Route | Who it covers | What you provide |
|---|---|---|
| Medical exemption | Your physical or mental state prevents you from learning Luxembourgish | A specialist medical certificate; the exemption is granted by the Minister of Justice |
| 20 years of residence | You have lived in Luxembourg for at least 20 years and are acquiring nationality by option | Proof of residence, plus a 24-hour introductory Luxembourgish course in place of the full test |
A note on the second route. The 24-hour course is a short introduction, not the full exam, and even then you do not skip the language entirely. It applies to the option track for long-term residents, so it is not a general "skip the test after 20 years" rule. Check your own case against the guichet page before you count on it.
Things that do not exempt you
A few hopes come up again and again. None of them get you out of the test on their own.
There is no age-based exemption. Being older, or retired, does not waive the language requirement, whatever you may have read on a forum. The two routes above are the only verified ones.
Passing another State Luxembourgish exam does not exempt you either. Luxembourg runs other Luxembourgish certificates for other purposes, and for naturalisation the requirement is the Sproochentest. If someone tells you a course certificate or a different diploma counts, check it against your own case on guichet.public.lu before you rely on it. The safest assumption is that you need the test unless a page from the Ministry of Justice says otherwise.
How much Luxembourgish you really need
This is the part that calms most people down. The speaking test is two short parts, about ten minutes in total, both at A2. You answer questions on an everyday topic, then describe a photo. There is a separate listening test of 35 minutes at B1, where you hear three short audio texts and answer multiple choice on a tablet.
You pass the whole exam by scoring at least 50 percent on the speaking test. If speaking comes in below that, you can still pass when the average of your speaking and listening scores reaches 50 percent. Speaking carries the day. Listening is the safety net. We break the maths down in how the Sproochentest is scored.
So the bar is not fluency. It is holding a simple conversation and keeping going. The figure you will see online, around 70 percent passing, is press-reported by outlets like Delano and Paperjam, not a number the INL publishes, so treat it as a rough signal. A more useful way to think about difficulty is hours of speaking out loud. The topics are everyday and predictable: your home, your work, your free time, your family. You build a few short answers, like the citizenship sentence above, and you say them until they come without thinking. That habit moves your score far more than the calendar does. For an honest sense of the effort, see how long it takes to prepare.
If naturalisation is your goal and no exemption fits your case, the kindest first move is to start hearing real questions early. Take a free practice run and find out which interview topics you can already answer out loud today.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to speak Luxembourgish to get Luxembourg citizenship?
For most applicants, yes. If you naturalise, you must prove you can hold a simple conversation in Luxembourgish by passing the Sproochentest, the official spoken-language test. The speaking part is set at A2, so you do not need to be fluent. Two narrow exemptions exist, medical and 20 years of residence by option, but neither is granted automatically.
What language level do I need for naturalisation?
The speaking test is assessed at A2, the level of simple daily talk: you answer a few questions about your life, then describe a photo. The separate listening test is at B1. There is no reading or writing. You pass the whole exam with at least 50 percent on the speaking test, or with a speaking and listening average of 50 percent if speaking falls below that.
Who is exempt from the Sproochentest?
Two routes. A medical exemption applies if your physical or mental state prevents you from learning Luxembourgish; you provide a specialist medical certificate and the Minister of Justice grants it. The second covers people who have lived in Luxembourg at least 20 years and are acquiring nationality by option, who take a 24-hour introductory Luxembourgish course instead of the full test. Both are narrow and must be claimed with proof.
Does being over a certain age exempt me from the language test?
No. There is no age-based exemption. Being older or retired does not waive the language requirement, whatever forums may suggest. The only verified routes out of the test are the medical exemption and the 20-years-of-residence option course.
Does another Luxembourgish certificate or course count instead?
Not on its own. For naturalisation the requirement is the Sproochentest specifically. Luxembourg runs other Luxembourgish certificates for other purposes, but a course certificate or a different diploma does not replace it. Check your own case on guichet.public.lu before relying on anything else.
How many times can I retake the test?
There is no limit on retakes. The fee is 75 euros per attempt, and you can only register again once you have received your previous result. So it is not a one-shot gate, but you cannot book the next attempt until your last score arrives.
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