Failed the inburgeringsexamen (civic integration exam) more than once: your options

A failed attempt alone does not trigger a late-completion fine. DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, the Dutch education service) (External site, opens in a new tab) can fine you for missing your integration deadline if you have no right to an extension. Asylum status holders under either integration law receive no late-completion fine. Their integration obligation continues. The integration fines guide explains what to do with a fine letter.

For the Staatsexamen NT2 (State Exam in Dutch as a second language) (External site, opens in a new tab) at B1 or B2, you can retake the failed component. You can register again only after you receive its result. For result letters and where to check them, see exam results and waiting times.

Check which law applies in Mijn Inburgering: Wet inburgering 2013 (Civic Integration Act 2013) or Wet inburgering 2021 (Civic Integration Act 2021). Under the 2021 law, your gemeente makes your persoonlijk plan inburgering en participatie (PIP, personal integration and participation plan) with you. It states your route, required exams and level. Under the 2021 law, ask your gemeente about support or route changes. DUO handles exam administration.

Choose according to what prevented you from passing.

Under the 2013 law, the effort-based waiver is called ontheffing (waiver) wegens aantoonbaar geleverde inspanningen (AGI, waiver for demonstrated effort). An ontheffing removes an obligation. AGI is unavailable under the 2021 law.

Consider extra time if an accepted reason delayed you. A2 exams within the 2021 B1-route and AGI have course-hour conditions.

Check DUO’s reasons for extra time (External site, opens in a new tab) before applying for a waiver. They include illness, literacy courses, childbirth and homelessness. Under the 2021 law, they also include delays caused by the gemeente or school. You can receive one extension for a given period. A different period may qualify for another extension.

For other exemption grounds, see integration exemptions and special cases.

Your gemeente decides changes to your PIP. If repeated failures put your deadline at risk, ask for a meeting. We suggest bringing your results, attendance record and teacher’s advice. Ask whether your school or route still fits. Ask how your passed exams count towards completing your plan.

Usually, you can change routes only within 1.5 years after your integration term starts. You can change from the onderwijsroute to the B1-route or zelfredzaamheidsroute (Z-route, self-reliance route) throughout the term. Your gemeente must record the change in your PIP. These are DUO’s route-change rules (External site, opens in a new tab).

Your gemeente can allow one or more language components at A2 if B1 is too difficult. You need at least 600 attended hours of Nederlands als tweede taal (NT2, Dutch as a second language) at a qualifying provider. You also need evidence of sufficient effort during those lessons. Your gemeente records its decision in your PIP. These conditions come from the Besluit inburgering 2021 (Civic Integration Decree 2021) (External site, opens in a new tab).

Qualifying literacy lessons can form part of those 600 hours. Qualifying NT2 hours during your brede intake (initial assessment) can also count. A2 exams are available within the B1-route, rather than the onderwijsroute. If you follow the onderwijsroute, ask your gemeente about support or a change to the B1-route.

DUO adds 6 months automatically (External site, opens in a new tab) if you meet all the conditions below. This applies to the initial 3-year term in the B1-route, including after a switch to A2:

• Your integration term started at least 2.5 years ago.
• You passed at least 2 of the 4 language exams at the level in your PIP or higher.
• You passed Kennis van de Nederlandse Maatschappij (KNM, Knowledge of Dutch Society).
• You completed the participatieverklaringstraject (PVT, participation declaration process) and Module Arbeidsmarkt en Participatie (MAP, Labour Market and Participation Module).
• If you hold asylum status, you attended all KNM course hours and all language lessons specified in your PIP, except authorised absences (External site, opens in a new tab).
• If you are a family or other migrant, you attended at least 450 hours in total of language and KNM courses at a school with the Blik op Werk (View on Work) quality mark.

For help understanding or challenging a decision letter, see free and subsidised legal help in the Netherlands.

Under the 2013 law, DUO decides whether you qualify for extra time or AGI. The conditions below separate these two options. Failed exams alone do not give you a waiver.

You can apply for extra time through the course-hours and exam-attempt route if you meet all four conditions:

• Your integration term started at least 2.5 years ago.
• You attended at least 300 classroom hours of qualifying courses or education.
• You took Oriëntatie op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt (ONA, Orientation on the Dutch Labour Market) at least once, if required.
• You took every other exam you still need at least twice.

Qualifying integration courses are A2, B1 or B2 courses at a Blik op Werk school. Hours from an integration course must fall within your integration term. Online hours do not count. The qualifying education types follow below.

Mijn Inburgering shows whether you need ONA. Passed exams are excluded from the two-attempt condition. Staatsexamen NT2 B1 or B2 attempts count too.

For extra time, DUO counts an ONA attempt (External site, opens in a new tab) only after it approves your portfolio. You must also have completed the eindgesprek (final interview). A returned portfolio or an approved portfolio awaiting its interview does not count. Check the attempts registered in Mijn Inburgering before applying.

For the 300-hour condition, any one of these types of education can also count. You must have attended it in the 2 years before applying:

• Voortgezet speciaal onderwijs (VSO, special secondary education) with the exit profile arbeidsmarktgericht (labour market) or dagbesteding (day activities).
• Praktijkonderwijs (practical education).
• Internationale schakelklas (ISK, international transition class) aimed at VSO, practical education, work or civic integration.

You must apply for this extension with Aanvraag verlenging inburgeringstermijn (application to extend the integration term) (External site, opens in a new tab) (PDF, 207 KB).

1. Complete the form.
2. Upload it in Mijn Inburgering. If uploading fails, you can post it to DUO.

DUO says you will hear within 8 weeks. It can extend your term by up to 2 years.

For the qualifying-education alternative, DUO’s web page names 300 classroom hours but does not say which subjects count. The application’s Onderwijstijd (education hours) declaration records Dutch, society lessons and other subjects or internships separately. Ask DUO which columns count towards your 300-hour total, and ask your school to record those hours on the extension form (External site, opens in a new tab). We cannot establish a Dutch-lessons-only limit from these sources.

For both the A2-course and literacy-course paths, your term must have started at least 2.5 years ago. Your school must have been listed on zoekinburgerschool.nl when you started. Only classroom hours count.

For an A2-course or literacy-course application, you must meet all shared conditions above and all conditions for one of the two paths below. DUO’s AGI conditions (External site, opens in a new tab) also explain a separate path for people who attended practical education, VSO or an ISK.

For the A2-course path, you must meet both conditions:

• You attended at least 600 qualifying course hours.
• You tried to pass every exam you still need at least 3 times, including ONA if required.

For ONA, returned portfolios do not add to your registered exam attempts (External site, opens in a new tab). Check the completed attempts recorded in Mijn Inburgering before applying.

You can combine A2, B1 and B2 course hours to reach 600 hours. Alternatively, you can combine A2 and literacy hours to reach 600 hours, with at least 200 A2 hours.

At most 2 Staatsexamen NT2 attempts per exam count towards the 3 attempts.

For the literacy-course path, you must meet both conditions:

• You attended at least 600 course hours, including at least 300 literacy hours.
• You must take a DUO test after applying.

The rest may be A2 course hours.

The literacy-path test costs €150 in 2026. DUO checks whether you can learn Dutch. DUO refuses the waiver if you can learn Dutch or give no answers during the test.

Already passed exams may mean you cannot get a literacy-path waiver.

DUO can take 6 weeks to mark your portfolio. It can take another 6 weeks to mark a corrected and resubmitted portfolio. The interview takes place within 6 weeks after you register. These stages can total 12 weeks, about 3 months, or 18 weeks with one correction, more than 4 months. This is our calculation from DUO’s ONA timings (External site, opens in a new tab). Start earlier than this if you need the attempt for an extra-time application.

The 12- and 18-week examples end at the interview. The result comes later: DUO says within 8 weeks. Time between portfolio approval and your interview registration can also add to the total. Check when your completed attempt appears in Mijn Inburgering; the interview date is not a promised result date.

If you failed the ONA interview or cancelled it too late, you need to send your portfolio again, pay again and take a new interview. If you want to know why you did not pass, email DUO.

You may qualify for an ONA exemption (External site, opens in a new tab) if you worked as an employee in the Netherlands for at least 6 of the last 12 months. You need at least 48 hours of work in each of those months. Apply through Mijn Inburgering.

If you cannot follow an ONA course, ask your gemeente whether MAP is an option. After you complete MAP, DUO checks whether you receive an ONA exemption. If DUO grants the exemption, it sends you a letter. See the ONA exemption guide and the ONA portfolio and interview guide.

Illness, disability, dyslexia, psychological problems or other personal circumstances can make the standard exam format difficult for you. Staatsexamens NT2 lists dyslexia and psychological problems as examples (External site, opens in a new tab). Check an adapted exam before applying for a medical waiver. For these options, see medical waivers and adapted exams.

If you cannot log in to request advice, use the paper application.

For A2 language and knowledge exams, follow this order:

1. Request adapted-exam advice (External site, opens in a new tab) in Mijn Inburgering.
2. After DUO approves your request, book with DUO’s exam registration form.

For the Staatsexamen NT2 at B1 or B2, request adaptations during registration (External site, opens in a new tab). DUO sends instructions.

A medical waiver is for compulsory integration under the 2013 or 2021 law. The application costs €225 in 2026. Argonaut (medical assessment service) gives advice, and DUO decides. DUO refunds the fee only if it grants the waiver. If Argonaut says you can integrate within 5 years, you receive no waiver. For a temporary illness or disability, check extra time instead. These are DUO’s medical-waiver conditions (External site, opens in a new tab).

The ontheffing bijzondere individuele omstandigheden (BIO, waiver for special individual circumstances) (External site, opens in a new tab) is for exceptional, lasting personal situations. You need a DUO letter requiring you to integrate, evidence of effort to learn Dutch, and a lasting inability to integrate. DUO can grant BIO only if no other waiver or extra-time option applies. A BIO waiver alone is insufficient for naturalisation.

If another attempt fits your situation, use your previous result to choose what to change. If the level is too difficult, discuss your PIP or route first. We suggest this order:

1. Write down your remaining exams, required level and deadline from Mijn Inburgering.
2. Identify what was difficult: vocabulary, speed, writing structure, stress, computer use, hearing or reading.
3. Choose one change: targeted practice, a different course, an adapted-exam request, an extra-time request or a gemeente meeting.
4. Practise the part you still need before booking.

For A2 booking instructions, see A2 exam registration.

Start with DUO’s official practice exams (External site, opens in a new tab) for A2, B1 or B2. For extra practice, use Inburgering.org’s free mock exam selector. Our mock exams are practice materials.

We suggest keeping copies of these records before a meeting or application. The evidence required depends on your request:

• Results and dates for every failed and passed exam component.
• Your current deadline and the integration law that applies to you.
• Course attendance hours, school contract, invoices or a school statement.
• A short teacher’s note explaining what remains difficult and what has improved.
• Medical or specialist evidence for a health-related request.
• Letters about your obligation, PIP, results or deadline.

Include letters from DUO, the gemeente, IND (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst, Immigration and Naturalisation Service) or Staatsexamen NT2.

For a medical-waiver application, bring your medical papers to Argonaut. Send no medical papers to DUO.

If the 2021 law applies, ask your gemeente to review your support, PIP or route before the deadline. If the 2013 law applies, check the extra-time conditions first, then AGI if you meet its conditions. If health or exam format is the barrier, check adaptations before paying for another attempt. Keep using your current deadline until DUO confirms extra time.

• Integration deadline and extra time.
• 600-hour effort-based waiver under the 2013 law.
• Exam registration: where to book.