"How good does my Spanish need to be?" sounds like a question about confidence. In 2026 it is increasingly a legal question with a precise answer, written into immigration rules as a letter and a number: A2, B1, B2.
The answer depends less on the country than on the stage of the move. Arriving, staying for good and becoming a citizen are three different thresholds, and governments are raising the second and third. The level that matters is the one required at the point where your status becomes permanent, and that point is usually years after the move itself. Which means the honest planning answer to "how much do I need before I move?" is: less than you fear on day one, and more than you expect by the time it counts.
The Scale Everyone Now Uses
Almost every requirement below is expressed on the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the CEFR. Its global scale has six steps, from A1 to C2, grouped into basic, independent and proficient users. Three of them do nearly all the legal work.
A2 is a basic user: someone who understands frequent expressions about shopping, family, local geography and work, and can handle simple, routine exchanges.
B1 is the first independent level. The Council of Europe's description includes being able to deal "with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling" where the language is spoken, understanding the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters, and giving brief reasons for opinions and plans.
B2 is a different animal. It means following the main ideas of complex texts, including technical discussion in your own field, and talking with native speakers with enough fluency that neither side is strained.
The distance between these levels is not trivial. The UK Home Office, announcing its move from B1 to B2 for settlement, estimated that it takes around 200 hours of learning to move between the two.
What the Rules Say in 2026
United Kingdom. The UK tests English at entry for work visas and again at settlement, and the bar is rising at both. Since January 2026, applicants for most work visas have had to show English at the "A level" standard, which the Home Office equates with B2. For settlement, the requirement on most routes is B1 today, but Statement of Changes HC 1691 raises it to B2 from 26 March 2027, and it applies to people already on the path. The routes named include Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Scale-up, Innovator Founder and UK Ancestry. The test must be taken with a Home Office-approved provider.
Japan. Japan's current guidelines set no formal language level for permanent residency. That may change. The Immigration Services Agency's draft revised guidelines, whose public comment period closed on 3 September, would make Japanese at B1 a factor for applications from April 2027, measured on Japan's own adaptation of the CEFR. The draft exempts highly skilled professionals and their families, people with at least six years of schooling in Japan, and some children of permanent residents born in Japan. It is a draft, not a rule, but it shows where Japan's system is heading.
Germany. Naturalisation after five years of lawful residence requires sufficient German, and § 10(4) of the Nationality Act defines that as passing a language exam at B1. For children under 16, age-appropriate language development is enough.
France. French citizenship asks for more. Whether by decree after residence or by declaration after marriage, applicants must show French at B2, spoken and written, through a French diploma or a recognised test such as the TCF or TEF. Test certificates must be less than two years old.
Spain. Spain sits at the other end. Nationality by residence requires the Instituto Cervantes' DELE exam at A2 or higher, plus the CCSE, a separate test of knowledge of the Constitution and of Spanish society, according to the Cervantes guidance. A2 is a basic level, but the knowledge test is in Spanish too.
Two other cases show why the letter on the certificate is only half the story. In Malta, English is one of the country's two official EU languages alongside Maltese, which is why many newcomers manage without Maltese, and why the language nobody talks about still shapes daily life there. And Portugal, long a favourite for its short path to a passport, has become a case study in how quickly the other half of the equation, the residence period, can move, as our piece on Portugal's 2026 nationality law explains.
Why Governments Keep Raising the Bar
The official reasons are strikingly similar. When the UK announced the move to B2, the Home Secretary put it in one sentence: "Fluency in English is the single easiest path to integration and contribution." The Home Office framed the rule as part of making settlement something that is earned through contribution and integration rather than granted after a fixed number of years.
Japan's draft uses the language of daily life rather than of contribution. It says that someone who will live in Japan for many years needs a certain level of Japanese to adapt smoothly to the local community and get through social life without difficulty, and it pairs the language requirement with a check on knowledge of Japan's rules and systems.
Both arguments point the same way. Language has moved from being a personal choice that makes life easier to being evidence a state asks for before it commits to someone permanently. For anyone planning a long stay, that turns learning from a hobby into part of the paperwork.
The Pattern Behind the Rules
Put these requirements side by side and a pattern emerges.
The heaviest tests attach to permanence. Every requirement above is tied to settlement or citizenship, with the UK's work visa rule as the main exception. Some countries also test at the renewal stage of a temporary permit, so the rules of the specific permit are worth checking, but the decisive exam usually comes when the status becomes permanent.
The bar is moving up, not down. The UK is going from B1 to B2 for settlement. Japan is going from no formal level to B1. France already asks B2 for citizenship. In the systems reviewed here, every change currently on the table raises the requirement.
The requirement tends to arrive when you are least able to cram. A five-year settlement date or a ten-year permanent residency application sounds far away. But B2 is not reached in a summer course, and a rule change announced a year ahead, as the UK did in March 2026, leaves little room for anyone who has not been learning all along.
Exemptions follow skill and childhood, not money. Japan's draft exempts highly skilled professionals and people schooled in Japan. Germany relaxes the test for children. Wealth, by itself, buys no exemption from any of these rules.
So How Much Do You Need Before You Move?
It helps to split the answer into three thresholds.
To function on arrival: A2 is a sensible minimum. None of the rules above applies at the moment of arrival. But A2 is the level at which you can handle shopping, directions, simple forms and routine conversations without help. Below it, every appointment with a landlord, a doctor or a tax office depends on someone else, and that dependence is one of the quiet reasons some moves fail, as we discuss in who should not emigrate.
To stay permanently: aim for B1 and plan for B2. B1 is the working level for settlement in most systems today. The UK's move to B2 and Japan's draft B1 show the direction. If your permanent status is five or ten years away, it is reasonable to assume the requirement at that date will be at least as high as the highest one on the table now.
To become a citizen: know the exact level for your country, early. Spain asks A2, Germany B1, France B2. The difference between A2 and B2 is measured in hundreds of hours. Anyone for whom a second passport is part of the plan, for themselves or for their children, should know which of these they are aiming at before they choose where to live, not after. The family view of that decision is set out in The Two-Passport Family.
Practical Points That Save Time Later
Certificates expire. France accepts TCF and TEF results only if they are less than two years old. The UK requires tests from approved providers. A certificate taken too early can be worth nothing on the day it is needed, so check validity periods before booking.
Tests are specific. Spain requires the DELE, not just any Spanish certificate, and the UK requires Home Office-approved tests. General course certificates rarely satisfy an immigration rule.
Children are treated differently, but not uniformly. Germany applies age-appropriate development for children under 16. Japan's draft looks at schooling in Japan. A family's plan should cover each member separately.
Start before you need it. The 200-hour estimate for B1 to B2 is for a learner already at B1. Learning alongside a full-time job, that is months of consistent work. The cheapest time to start is before the move, when there is no deadline attached.
The question "how much of the language do you need?" has a comfortable version and a real one. The comfortable version asks what gets you through the door. The real one asks what gets you to the status you actually want, and the rules of 2026 answer it more precisely, and more demandingly, than they did a few years ago.
Work with Sebastian
If you are choosing a country with permanent residency or citizenship in mind and want to map the language, residence and tax requirements on one timeline, book a consultation.
