Inburgering exam in the Netherlands: levels, routes and exemptions

The Dutch civic integration exam (inburgeringsexamen) is at level B1 if your integration requirement started on or after 1 January 2022, and at A2 if it started before that date. Two exceptions: on the self-reliance route the target is A1 with no central exam, and on the B1 route the municipality may let you sit at A2 if you cannot reach B1 despite genuine effort.

Below we set out who must integrate, how the three learning routes work, which deadlines and exemptions apply, and what the result means for permanent residence and naturalisation.

Is the exam at A2 or B1?

That depends on which Act applies to you. The Civic Integration Act 2013 (Wet inburgering 2013) applies if your requirement started before 1 January 2022: the level is A2, and you stay under that Act until you finish, however long it takes.

The Civic Integration Act 2021 (Wet inburgering 2021) applies if your requirement started on or after that date. The standard level is B1 (Article 7 Wet inburgering 2021), but the learning route your municipality assigns sets the level you actually work towards.

Two other levels are easily confused with these. The exam abroad, which family migrants take before coming to the Netherlands, is at A1. Naturalisation has its own language condition, currently A2.

Who must integrate?

A foreign national aged 16 or older and below state pension age, living lawfully in the Netherlands for a non-temporary purpose, must integrate (Article 3 Wet inburgering 2021). The Civic Integration Decree 2021 (Besluit inburgering 2021) lists which purposes count as temporary.

In practice this mainly affects family migrants, such as a partner joining a Dutch or settled sponsor, and people with asylum status. DUO, the agency that runs the Act, sends you a letter when your obligation starts. Keep it: it states which Act applies and from what date, and it often settles a later dispute about your deadline.

Are EU, EEA and Swiss nationals exempt?

Yes. You are outside the requirement, as are family members who derive a residence right from you under EU free movement law, whatever their own nationality. Free movement law does not waive the naturalisation language condition, so voluntary integration can still be useful.

What about highly skilled migrants and students?

If your permit is for a temporary purpose, you do not have to integrate. This covers highly skilled migrants (kennismigranten), EU Blue Card holders, intra-corporate transferees, students and seasonal workers.

Under Article 2.2 Besluit inburgering 2021, residence as a family member of someone here for a temporary purpose also counts as temporary, so partners and minor children of a highly skilled migrant are normally exempt. Check the DUO letter regardless: if an obligation was registered, the three-year clock runs whether or not you noticed.

Do Turkish nationals have to integrate?

Under the 2013 Act Turkish nationals were outside the requirement because of the standstill clauses in EU-Turkey association law, which bar new restrictions. Since 1 January 2022 Turkish newcomers are subject to the requirement under the Wet inburgering 2021.

Family migrants must again pass the civic integration exam abroad. Whether this is compatible with the EU-Turkey standstill clauses is contested. Dutch district courts have so far upheld the requirement as justified by the aim of integration (ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2024:7842; ECLI:NL:RBZWB:2026:6147), while the EU Court of Justice struck down a Danish integration requirement for family reunification with Turkish workers (C-279/21, 22 December 2022). The highest Dutch courts have not yet given a definitive ruling. If you are Turkish and receive an obligation or a fine, have it checked before the six-week objection period ends.

Which learning routes exist under the 2021 Act?

There are three: the B1 route, the education route and the self-reliance route. Your municipality assigns your route after a broad intake and a learnability test, so you cannot simply pick one. On every route you also complete the participation statement trajectory and, except on the education route, the labour market and participation module.

How does the B1 route work?

You take the central exam in reading, listening, writing and speaking at B1, plus knowledge of Dutch society. A pass gives you a diploma stating the level achieved.

Can you sit the exam at A2 instead of B1?

Yes, if you cannot reach B1 despite real effort; the municipality decides this, not DUO. You need at least 600 hours of tuition with a provider holding the Blik op Werk quality mark, plus evidence of sufficient effort. The municipality then revises your personal plan, and you can object if it refuses.

How does the education route work?

This is a full-time language bridging programme of around eighteen months, combining Dutch with numeracy, English and study skills, leading into vocational, higher or university education. DUO student finance must start before your 30th birthday, which makes the route less attractive for older candidates.

How does the self-reliance route work?

This route applies if the learnability test shows you cannot reach B1 within three years. You follow a minimum number of Dutch lessons combined with participation activities, and finish with a municipal interview and a certificate.

That certificate meets the integration requirement but not the naturalisation language condition. For naturalisation you must still pass the exam components at A2 separately.

What are the participation statement and the labour market module?

The municipality organises both, and DUO monitors the deadline. The participation statement trajectory (participatieverklaringstraject, PVT) introduces the rights, duties and values of Dutch society and ends with your signature on the statement.

The labour market and participation module (Module Arbeidsmarkt en Participatie, MAP) covers finding work and your rights as an employee, and is compulsory on the B1 and self-reliance routes. A Staatsexamen NT2 diploma, or certificates at B1 or higher, can exempt you from the matching language components, but not from the PVT and the MAP.

What does the municipality decide?

Under the 2021 Act the municipality runs the process: a broad intake, your personal plan and your route. The intake looks at your language ability, education, work history and circumstances, and includes the learnability test, which only answers whether you can reach B1 within three years.

Your route, support and programme intensity are set out in the personal integration and participation plan (persoonlijk plan inburgering en participatie, PIP). The PIP is a decision under administrative law: you can object within six weeks and then appeal to the court, and it can be revised later, for example after a downgrade to A2.

The municipality pays for the programme of asylum status holders. Family migrants and other migrants pay for their own programme, with a DUO loan available to cover the cost.

How long do you have, and can you get more time?

You have three years, running under the 2021 Act from the day the municipality adopts your PIP. DUO can extend the period if the delay is not your fault, for example because of a literacy course first, illness, a death in the family, childbirth, or delay caused by the municipality or the school.

Apply for an extension in good time and with evidence. For a temporary medical condition, an extension is usually a better choice than a medical dispensation.

What happens if you do not integrate in time?

DUO can impose an administrative fine after the deadline has passed, normally combined with a new deadline; under the 2013 Act the maximum fine for not passing in time is €1,250. Following a ruling of the Council of State (Raad van State), DUO no longer fines asylum status holders for missing the deadline and does not reclaim their integration loan.

Family migrants can still be fined, and under the 2013 Act remain liable to repay their loan. More importantly, permanent residence and naturalisation stay closed to anyone, whatever their status, until the requirement is met.

Can you get an exemption or dispensation?

Yes. Articles 4 and 5 Wet inburgering 2021 distinguish exemption (vrijstelling), where the requirement does not apply or you already meet the standard, from dispensation (ontheffing), where the requirement applies but you are released from it. The main grounds:

• Dutch education: a qualifying Dutch diploma, a Staatsexamen NT2 diploma, or a comparable Belgian or Surinamese qualification; eight years or more in the Netherlands during compulsory school age also exempts you.
• Demonstrated knowledge and skills: full or partial exemption if you already have the required level; DUO decides.
• Medical grounds: a lasting psychological or physical impediment, or an intellectual disability. You apply through Mijn Inburgering, pay a fee, and an independent doctor examines you before DUO decides.
• Demonstrated effort: genuine, documented effort, including at least 600 hours of tuition with a certified provider, without reaching the level.

A dispensation on demonstrated-effort grounds meets the requirement and opens the way to permanent residence. It does not produce an A2 diploma, so your naturalisation position needs a separate assessment.

What applies if you are still under the 2013 Act?

If your obligation started before 1 January 2022, you stay under the Wet inburgering 2013 at level A2 and arrange your own course, with a DUO loan of up to €10,000. The exam covers the four language skills, knowledge of Dutch society and orientation on the Dutch labour market (ONA); the participation statement applies if your obligation started on or after 1 October 2017.

How does the integration exam abroad work?

Family migrants usually take the civic integration exam abroad (basisexamen inburgering buitenland) at level A1 before receiving a provisional residence permit (MVV). You sit it at a Dutch embassy, consulate or authorised location, and must generally file the MVV application within a year of passing.

Nationals of countries that do not need an MVV, such as EU and EEA countries, Switzerland, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, skip this exam. Passing abroad does not complete the Dutch requirement: it starts again after arrival.

How does integration affect permanent residence and Dutch nationality?

For a permanent residence permit or EU long-term resident status, the IND requires proof that you met the requirement: an integration diploma, a Wet inburgering 2021 certificate, or an exemption or dispensation decision. A self-reliance route certificate is accepted for this purpose.

For naturalisation under Article 8 of the Kingdom Act on Dutch Nationality (Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap), the language condition is currently A2 in all four skills, plus knowledge of Dutch society and the labour market component. A B1 route or education route diploma, or a Staatsexamen NT2 diploma, meets it; a self-reliance certificate does not. Proposals to raise the level to B1 have not entered into force; check the consolidated text on wetten.overheid.nl.

What can we do for you with civic integration?

Our immigration lawyers assist migrants and their sponsors with integration questions:

• We check the DUO letter and establish which Act, deadline and level apply to you.
• We assess whether an exemption or dispensation under Articles 4 and 5 Wet inburgering 2021 applies.
• We draft the objection against your PIP, route or fine within the six-week deadline.
• We prepare an application for an extension or a downgrade to A2, with the supporting evidence.
• We check whether your result is enough for permanent residence and for naturalisation.

Summary

• Under the Wet inburgering 2021 (obligation from 1 January 2022) the standard level is B1; under the 2013 Act it is A2.
• Highly skilled migrants, their partners and children, students and EU/EEA/Swiss nationals are normally outside the requirement.
• You have three years, with an extension possible if the delay is not your fault.
• DUO no longer fines asylum status holders for missing the deadline; family migrants can still be fined.
• Permanent residence needs the requirement met; naturalisation currently needs A2 in all four language skills.

Frequently asked questions