The short answer: which law applies to you
The start date of your inburgeringsplicht decides your level, not your arrival date and not the date you book an exam.
- Started before 1 January 2022: Wet inburgering 2013. You take the language exams at niveau A2 or higher.
- Started on or after 1 January 2022: Wet inburgering 2021. Your level follows the learning route (leerroute) in your PIP, the persoonlijk plan inburgering en participatie (PIP).
Your DUO letter and Mijn Inburgering, which you open with DigiD, show which law applies and which exams you need (DUO overview). This question does not apply if you are not inburgeringsplichtig, such as EU, EEA and Swiss nationals.
A2 under the Wet inburgering 2013
Under the 2013 law, you choose your own course and take the exams at A2 or higher. A higher exam, such as the staatsexamen NT2 at B1, also counts.
The A2 exam tests the Nederlandse taal (Dutch language) and the Nederlandse samenleving (Dutch society) in five parts: Lezen (reading), Luisteren (listening), Schrijven (writing), Spreken (speaking) and Kennis van de Nederlandse Maatschappij (KNM, knowledge of Dutch society). Depending on your start date, you also do ONA (Oriëntatie op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt) and the PVT (participatieverklaringstraject).
B1 route inburgering: the three routes under the 2021 law
Under the 2021 law, the gemeente first holds a broad intake (brede intake) with a learnability test. It then writes your PIP, which names one of three routes:
- B1 route: the language exams at B1, the staatsexamen NT2, plus KNM, the PVT and the MAP (Module Arbeidsmarkt en Participatie). This route prepares you for work.
- Education route (onderwijsroute): language exams at B1 or B2, for mostly young people who go on to study.
- Z-route (zelfredzaamheidsroute): you learn Dutch towards A1. A2 exams are allowed but not required. You do the PVT and MAP and finish with an interview at the gemeente, then get a certificate.
Most people under the 2021 law are in the B1 route. Among family migrants it is more than 90 percent.
Afschalen: when the B1 route becomes A2
Inside the B1 route, B1 is not always final. Have you followed at least 600 hours of Dutch lessons at a certified school, and does B1 still not work out? Then you can ask your gemeente about afschalen (scaling down) to A2. The gemeente decides and records it in your PIP. It can apply to one exam part or to several.
So you can end up with Lezen at A2 and Spreken at B1, for example. The other parts stay at B1.
Afschalen is not the same as changing route. It exists only inside the B1 route, and it does not apply to people under the 2013 law, who already take A2.
Is A2 being abolished?
No law has made B1 inburgering compulsory for everyone. Under the 2013 law the requirement is still A2 or higher. Under the 2021 law, B1 route parts can still be scaled down to A2, and the Z-route has no language exam requirement at all.
Naturalisation also still accepts A2: you need the A2 inburgeringsexamen or the staatsexamen NT2 at B1 or B2 (DUO on naturalisation). A Z-route certificate on its own is not enough to naturalise. The cabinet plans B1 for naturalisation; this is not law yet.
Your level and the 3-year deadline
Whatever your level, you have 3 years to complete inburgering. If you miss that without a reason DUO accepts, DUO can fine you. Under the 2021 law the fine is at most €1,000 for your learning route, plus €340 each for a late PVT or MAP. Under the 2013 law it is at most €1,250. Asylum status holders are never fined (DUO fine page).
If you take the A2 exams, practise each part with DUO's free practice exams before you book. Each A2 part costs €50, and every retake costs the fee again. Under the 2021 law, the gemeente pays the first two attempts for asylum status holders.