The law was passed in 2015. It was to have been implemented from 2020. In 2023, Bavaria was the first to dare to introduce the language test for physiotherapists, among others… But since no other federal state did anything, the introduction of this test, which has long been mandatory for human medicine throughout Germany (at C1 language level), was postponed. After all, they did not want to put their own country at a disadvantage when it came to the immigration of foreign care workers, who would otherwise certainly not have had their professional qualifications recognised there.

There are major concerns that such a specialised language test could be more difficult than the previously required “normal” B2 test in German. And because other federal states had not even started to think about implementing it, one thing led to another.

The current situation is that no federal state is currently considering the mandatory introduction of the B2 specialised language test, partly due to legal concerns. Individual administrations are endeavouring to achieve a commitment in the medium to long term. However, this involves longer time horizons and other federal states are strictly opposed to it.

The situation regarding the introduction of the language test for nursing staff in each federal state is as follows:

Bavaria: suspended; normal B2 will continue to be recognised
Baden-Württemberg: not planned at present; normal B2 will continue to be recognised
Berlin: theoretically possible since 19 June 2024, but not mandatory; normal B2 continues to be recognised
Brandenburg: proof unclear, plans underway; normal B2 still possible
Bremen: theoretically available from 1 September 2022. Proof unclear; specialised language test to become preferred language proof; B2 still possible
Hamburg: theoretically available from 1 January 2023; B2 still possible until nationwide introduction
Hesse: not currently planned; normal B2 will continue to be recognised
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: possible from 1 September 2023; proof unclear; normal B2 will continue to be recognised
Lower Saxony: introduction of the mandatory language test has been postponed indefinitely. Successful knowledge test is considered sufficient proof of language skills; normal B2 continues to be recognised
North Rhine-Westphalia: not planned at present
Rhineland-Palatinate: registration possible since 1 January 2024, proof unclear; normal B2 continues to be recognised
Saarland: unclear; normal B2 continues to be recognised
Saxony: introduction of specialised language tests is currently not mandatory, only voluntary, language schools are free to develop and introduce them, but this has not yet happened; normal B2 is still recognised
Saxony-Anhalt: unclear; normal B2 will continue to be recognised
Schleswig-Holstein: theoretically to be taken from 1 January 2024; B2 still possible until nationwide introduction
Thuringia: unclear; normal B2 will continue to be recognised