The Greek citizenship exam (ΠΕΓΠ): B1 language plus knowledge of Greece

Last updated 29 July 2026

Greek citizenship needs more than the language: the ΠΕΓΠ exam covers Greek at B1 plus the history, geography, culture and institutions of the country. It is held twice a year, in writing. Past papers with answers are published free by the Ministry of the Interior.

The most common confusion among people moving to Greece is assuming an Ελληνομάθεια certificate will do. It will not — that is a different exam run by a different body. Here is how it actually works.

ΠΕΓΠ and Ελληνομάθεια are not the same thing

If you are naturalising in Greece, the one you need is the ΠΕΓΠ. It was created by law 4735/2020 and is a precondition for filing the application.

Who does not have to sit it

Exempt candidates are:

• ethnic Greeks (ομογενείς);
• anyone who completed nine years of primary or secondary education, or six years of secondary education, under the compulsory Greek curriculum;
• graduates of Greek-language programmes at Greek universities;
• holders of a master’s degree from such a programme;
• anyone who wrote a doctoral thesis in Greek at a Greek university.

If you studied in Greek, check your documents before you register.

How the exam works

The exam is written. An oral form exists for candidates over 62 who prefer it, for those with a certified learning difficulty, and for those with a certified disability of 67% or more.

Four areas:

1. Thematic units — geography, history, culture, institutions
2. Written comprehension and production
3. Oral comprehension
4. Oral production

What the questions actually look like

The thematic section of the April 2026 paper had 20 tasks. The formats:

• multiple choice — most of the paper;
• matching — pairing regions with their characteristics, for instance;
• true / false on individual statements;
• fill the gap from a supplied word list;
• mark on a map — islands, Natura 2000 protected areas;
• identify a monument from a picture.

The questions are factual and specific: the longest river in Greece, the second-largest city, the highest mountain on Crete. This is not an essay about history — it is checkable facts you either know or do not.

Which is why preparing for the thematic part is a memorisation job, and preparing for the language part is a practice job. They are different modes of work and worth planning separately.

Where the official material is

The Ministry of the Interior publishes past exam papers together with their answers on the ΠΕΓΠ platform, including separate versions for the oral form, plus a procedural guide for candidates.

It is the best preparation source available, and it is free. No paid course will show you the wording more accurately than last season’s actual paper.

Preparing for the language half

B1 means you follow speech on everyday and work topics, read straightforward texts, and can write a coherent letter or set out a position. From scratch to B1 with regular study is roughly two to four years; less if you already live in Greece and hear the language daily.

What moves the needle at this stage:

• vocabulary by level — B1 rests on volume of words, not knowledge of rare rules;
• reading texts at your level every day rather than in weekly bursts;
• listening practice — the exam has its own oral-comprehension section;
• writing with corrections — writing yourself and seeing exactly what to fix.

Lambda Lingua covers precisely that set: spaced-repetition flashcards graded A1–B2, texts with tap-to-translate, listening practice and written-work review. It does not cover the thematic half of the ΠΕΓΠ — for that, use the official papers with answers.

After the exam

With the certificate you file the naturalisation application at the Regional Citizenship Directorate for where you live. There is no time limit.

⚠️ This page is a starting point, not legal advice. Requirements and procedures change: before applying, check the official ΠΕΓΠ platform and the Greek Ministry of the Interior.