Who must do inburgering
Most adults who come from outside the EU to live in the Netherlands for the long term are inburgeringsplichtig, which means they are required to integrate: family migrants who join a partner here and asylum status holders above all. You learn Dutch, pass the civic integration exam (the inburgeringsexamen) or follow the route your gemeente sets, and get to know Dutch society.
The date your inburgeringsplicht started decides which law applies, not your arrival date or the date of your exam. From 1 January 2022 onwards it is the Wet inburgering 2021; before that, the Wet inburgering 2013. Your DUO letter and Mijn Inburgering show which one is yours.
If you need an mvv (entry visa) to live with your partner here, or you come to work as a religious minister, you start before you arrive, with the basisexamen inburgering in het buitenland at a Dutch embassy or consulate (Rijksoverheid).
Inburgering exemption: who does not have to integrate
According to Rijksoverheid, you do not have to integrate if:
- you are a national of an EU country, Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland or Switzerland, or a family member living here on that person's EU right of residence;
- you are under 18 or have reached the Dutch state pension age;
- you lived in the Netherlands for at least 8 years while you were of compulsory school age;
- you have certain Dutch diplomas or proof of education in Dutch;
- your permit is for a temporary purpose, such as study, au pair work or work as a highly skilled migrant, until you switch to a non-temporary permit.
If you are inburgeringsplichtig, DUO can still release you. A vrijstelling (exemption) applies when you already meet the requirement, for example with a Dutch diploma, while an ontheffing (dispensation) applies when illness, a disability or proven effort over a long time means you cannot reasonably meet it. Until DUO confirms either one in writing, your deadline keeps running.
What the gemeente and DUO do
DUO tells you by letter that you must integrate. Under the Wet inburgering 2021 the gemeente then holds a broad intake and writes your persoonlijk plan inburgering en participatie (PIP), which sets one of three learning routes. The B1 route leads to the staatsexamen NT2 at B1 level, combined with work or volunteering; the education route prepares mainly young people for study in Dutch; and the self-reliance route (Z-route) works towards a lower language level and ends in a final interview instead of exams.
KNM is part of every route, as is the participatieverklaringstraject (PVT), and the B1 and Z routes add the Module Arbeidsmarkt en Participatie (MAP). Under the Wet inburgering 2013 you choose a course yourself and take the language exams at A2 level or higher, with ONA if your duty started from 1 January 2015 and the PVT if it started from 1 October 2017.
Who pays, and the DUO loan
For asylum status holders under the 2021 law the gemeente pays the course and 2 exam attempts, so they cannot borrow from DUO. Family migrants and other migrants pay for their own inburgering and can usually borrow from DUO, in an amount based on their income (DUO on loans). The €10,000 maximum that many pages quote applies only to asylum status holders under the 2013 law.
The inburgering deadline, extra time and the fine
You have 3 years. DUO gives extra time, a verlenging, only for the reasons on its extra time list, such as a long illness, a literacy course, giving birth, homelessness or a gemeente that did not arrange a course in time. Extra time for a childcare shortage, for working 32 hours a week or for an early start in COA housing was proposed in 2025, but it is not law.
Miss the deadline without such a reason and DUO can fine you: under the 2021 law at most €1,000 for the learning route, plus €340 each for a late PVT or MAP, and under the 2013 law at most €1,250. Asylum status holders are never fined (DUO on fines). After a fine you still have to integrate, with extra time to finish.
Permanent residence, naturalisation and KNM
The inburgeringsplicht is separate from what the IND asks later. A permanent residence permit usually requires an inburgeringsdiploma, and to naturalise your residence must also be non-temporary, which a study permit is not (IND).
The KNM exam can ask who must integrate, who is exempt and which tasks belong to DUO or the gemeente, so practise recognising those rules in simple Dutch situations with DUO's practice exams.