The digital inburgeringsdiploma
From 1 January 2026 every inburgeringsdiploma is digital. When you have passed all your exam parts, go to Diploma in Mijn Inburgering, which takes you to Mijn diploma's, and download it there as a PDF. The download is free, and you can repeat it whenever an employer, gemeente or the IND asks for a copy.
The digital file is the official version: it counts the same as a certified copy, and because the IND accepts it, you can send it straight in with a naturalisation application. Use it only as a file, though, because DUO says a printout of the PDF is not valid.
Paper still exists for anyone who wants it. You can request one paper diploma free of charge through the same Diploma button, after which it arrives by post within 8 weeks, while any later paper copy costs €72. Details are on DUO's diploma page.
None of this changes the exam itself; it only affects the document you receive after you pass.
Shorter cancel and reschedule window
Since 24 November 2025 you can cancel or move a booked A2 exam free of charge up to 7 days before the exam date. Before that it was 14 days (DUO's announcement).
That gives you an extra week to decide, but the cut-off is strict: if you cancel inside the last 7 days, you lose the fee for that exam part. Because DUO charges per part and again for every retake, a lost booking is money you effectively pay twice. If work, childcare or travel is uncertain, pick a date you can keep rather than the earliest one on offer.
Your inburgering deadline and DUO verlenging
Under the Wet inburgering 2021 (the Civic Integration Act) you have 3 years to finish your inburgering. That covers your leerroute and its exams, plus the participatieverklaringstraject (PVT) and, on most routes, the module arbeidsmarkt en participatie (MAP). The length of that inburgering deadline did not change in 2026.
You can get extra time, called a verlenging, but only for reasons DUO accepts, which is why so many people search for "DUO verlenging inburgering". The official list under the 2021 law covers these situations:
- You first had to follow a literacy course.
- You started a Dutch education programme.
- You or a family member were ill, or a family member died.
- You had a baby. A mother can ask for 16 extra weeks if the child was born during her integration period and that period started at least 2.5 years ago.
- You are or were homeless, or stayed in a shelter.
- The gemeente did not arrange a school in time, or your school temporarily could not teach you.
- You followed many lessons and passed at least 2 of the 4 language exams.
- Another reason outside your control.
You apply with a DUO form and supporting evidence, and DUO replies within 8 weeks. Extra time is granted only once per period, so a second reason in the same period does not add more.
Proposed extension grounds that are not law yet
You may read that new extension grounds started in 2025 or 2026, but they have not. In February 2025 the government put a draft change to the Regeling inburgering 2021 out for public consultation. It proposed extra time for:
- a proven shortage of childcare places;
- an early start, when your persoonlijk plan inburgering en participatie (PIP) is set while you still live in COA housing;
- working at least 32 hours a week for at least 6 months;
- partners and fathers after the birth of a child.
As of October 2026 we found no final publication, and DUO's own list does not include the childcare, work or COA grounds. Do not plan your deadline around them until DUO lists them.
Missing the deadline without a valid reason can lead to a DUO fine of up to €1,000 for the leerroute and €340 each for a late PVT or MAP (DUO on fines). After a fine you still have to finish, with extra time, although asylum status holders never receive this fine.
Extra time for B1 Spreken, not for A2
On 18 December 2025 DUO announced extra time for some people on the B1 route, because there are too few exam places for Spreken at B1, part of the Staatsexamens NT2. It applies only if Spreken B1 is the last exam you still need and your deadline is almost over. DUO sends a letter to everyone who qualifies, and no letter means no extra time (DUO's notice).
This concerns the deadline rather than extra minutes inside the exam room, and no comparable rule exists for the A2 exam.
What stays the same at A2
The A2 integration exam has the same five parts in 2026: Lezen (reading), Luisteren (listening), Schrijven (writing), Spreken (speaking) and Kennis van de Nederlandse Maatschappij (KNM). DUO, the Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, runs them, and you book and pay for each part separately, again for each retake. DUO sets the fee, so check the live amount on what inburgering costs.
The loan rules also stayed put. Asylum status holders under the 2021 law cannot borrow from DUO: the gemeente pays their course and 2 exam attempts. Other inburgeraars can usually borrow, with the amount based on income, and pay interest on what they owe (DUO on loans).
What is not changing, despite the headlines
A2 has not been abolished, and not everyone has to do B1 now, because no adopted 2025 or 2026 rule does that for the DUO A2 inburgeringsexamen.
Naturalisation headlines are a separate topic: proposals about a higher language level for naturalisation are not a change to your inburgering exam. Your own route and exam parts are in your DUO inburgering account, Mijn Inburgering. If DUO has not written to you about a change, prepare for the exam you have, and use DUO's free practice exams next to ours.