Which language certificates can be recognised?

If a recognised language certificate is required as proof of German language skills as part of the visa procedure, only language certificates based on a standardised language test in accordance with the standards of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) can be accepted.

Which language test providers are there?

This currently applies to certificates from the following providers - regardless of the test location:

• Goethe-Institut e.V.
• telc GmbH
• Österreichisches Sprachdiplom (ÖSD)
• TestDaF-Institut e.V.
• ECL Prüfungszentrum

This information is provided without guarantee. You can find a current overview of all ALTE-certified language test providers at https://de.alte.org/Our-Full-Members.

How long is the language certificate valid for?

As a rule, only certificates with an examination date no more than one year ago can be accepted. If individual modules have been repeated, the date of the oldest module passed applies.

A certificate can only serve as proof if all test modules have been passed.