Is language A2 certificate required for Perm Residency ?

    Hi All,
I arrived on a D7 visa 2022 and am nearly mid way through my temporary residency. At the five year point I will apply for permanent residency, however I have been informed by a few people I have spoken to that to move from temp to perm residency I will need to pass the A2 language exam - is this correct as I thought that was just a requirement to gain citizenship?
Does anyone know for sure ?
   

    -@neale_p

Yes, A2 just the same as citizenship.

@neale,

https://eportugal.gov.pt/pt/servicos/pe … permanente

But you can still continue with temporary residence if you wish.

@JohnnyPT

Thanks Johnny - I am just starting an intensive language course - so hopefully I will pass the end exam.

@neale,

Here you can download Sample Test (Prova Modelo) / Exemplo do Exame:

A2 language exam:

https://caple.letras.ulisboa.pt/exame/2/ciple

(At the Bottom page)

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 97#5022340

(Post #11)

@JohnnyPT

Excellent !!  Thanks very much - this will help me I am sure. Cheers  Johnny, much appreciated.

@neale_p

Yes, although there's another option. You can take the government credited class and get a certificate. This fulfills the requirement. It's one year of classes likely 2x a week for 3 hour classes. I did it successfully last year.

@hbinder36

Congratulations to you for passing it.

I am doing a similar course - however its a total of 150 hours spread over 4 days per week (so about 9 weeks duration), so more condensed than your one. Just finished week 2 and so far its going ok. 

Im doing my language course at the end of the month, still can't pass A1. Must have done a few of these courses now. The trouble is everyone speaks English to me. I also don't have a  requirement to learn German for my residency permit. Maybe one day if I want to become Austrian I will have to learn it, but to get citizenship I have to have B2.

150 hours is not enough to do this test. Unless you study hard and have extra support.

@neale_p

I didn't have to perform

any exams of anything to get a permanent resident permit valid 10 years (not the same as citizenship at all)

@Bruper my response was in regards to Citizenship.

@JohnnyPTWow!!!! 😳 I did not realise this - good to know.  We will obviously have to improve on our knowledge of Portuguse!  Thanks for this.

@JuneMalone

You only need to improve your portuguese if you really want to take the test. To live in Portugal you don't need a language test at all... I've looked at the A2 language exam and 150 hours is clearly not enough to be successful with it...

The trouble is everyone speaks English to me.

It's true - while enough people don't know enough English that you need to learn Portuguese, those who have that ability often seem to be somewhat eager to exercise it.

That can be kind of a lure, for a native English speaker who wants to get more Portuguese practice.  I've heard reports from a couple of deals like this - your Portuguese for my English, we'll practice together.  Lots of interest from Portuguese speaking people (though often Brazilian, which to me would be a problem - in continental Portugal, you're better off learning European Portuguese), but you need some kind of structure to equalize the use of the two languages or it will be all English.  One example was just a one off proposal on a local facebook group or somethin, let's go for walks and learn each other's language, another was an organized online discussion group run by someone interested in language learning.

9 weeks is an awfully short time to learn Portuguese from scratch, but it's enough to put you into a position to start using the language on a daily basis.

@neale_p

Please , where are you doing this course ?

Would you kindly share details as well as the

cost ?

also is it online or in person ?

It will help us to know .

Regards

Aditi

@neale_p

Please , where are you doing this course ?

Would you kindly share details as well as the

cost ?

also is it online or in person ?

It will help us to know .

Regards

Aditi

@neale_p Where are you doing this course through? I can't attend official class so looking for something similar to get my certificate. My 2-year Temp Residency expires now 14 October, so still a few years left for me to learn and pass the exams.

Im doing my language course at the end of the month, still can't pass A1. Must have done a few of these courses now. The trouble is everyone speaks English to me. I also don't have a requirement to learn German for my residency permit. Maybe one day if I want to become Austrian I will have to learn it, but to get citizenship I have to have B2. -@SimCityAT

To my knowledge, Austria doesn't allow dial citizenship. In this respect the requirement for B2 is understandable.

I passed the A2 CIPL last year. I can testify that my conversational Portuguese is rudimentary at best. A2 level is not a great level of proficiency. I found an excellent series of online courses, including a course exclusively focused on preparing for the CIPL exam. At 75 euros for a 12 week course (1x a week…so you have time to internalise the course work), it is inexpensive and a relatively easy way to learn. Google Portuguese language lessons.net - all one word. She runs courses from A1 to B2, as well as free conversation sessions for her students, and her CIPL course is a must for the person who doesn’t feel confident about doing the exam.

@JuneMalone
You only need to improve your portuguese if you really want to take the test. To live in Portugal you don't need a language test at all... I've looked at the A2 language exam and 150 hours is clearly not enough to be successful with it... - @JohnnyPT

This is a bit old,  but it just popped back up...

https://www.belionpartners.com/portugue … ed-to-know

This and others all say A2

A2 in any language requires you to be familiar with the most common day to day vocabilary, and have basic grammar skills.

Pronunciation is also important, as is listening comprehension.

2 years or less will see most people get there. If you really go for it, six months.

I did the A2 CIPLE exam two years ago, but I took the normal language courses (4 months each level) at the Faculdade de Letras/universidade de lisboa before sitting for the exam. The exame itself s easy but the listening section is hard because they speak fast, accent , and answers are not straight forward. Having said that, it is multiple choice questions. so you can put a group of questions that you dont know with the same letter of answer, surely some will be correct! the speaking part is so so but the teachers are friendly so they do not expect you to be fluent.

My aim was not to pass the exam, my aim was to speak fluently and acquire the language therefore I attended those language courses.

The official language course from the portuguese government offers all the language levels required for the language tests.

Link: https://www.instituto-camoes.pt/en/acti … l-a1-basic