After Inburgering (Civic Integration): Work, Benefits, and Further Study

CBS uses voldaan / afronding for people who have met their civic-integration obligation. Among those who had this status by the end of 2025, about 46% worked in 75–100% of the months in their first year after completion. Only about 9,000 people had completed, all from the earliest cohorts of the 2021 law. These figures describe that early group and may not represent later cohorts. This page analyses the official CBS Statistiek Wet inburgering (SWI) figures. CBS produces the statistics; Inburgering.org summarises them.

• About 46% worked most of their first year. Of people who had completed inburgering, roughly 46% were in paid work for 75–100% of the months in their first year afterwards, while about 42% worked in no month at all.
• About 63% received no benefit. In the first year after completing, about 30% received an uitkering (benefit) in 75–100% of the months.
• About 60% of completers worked in 2025. About 40% of people who were still integrating worked that year.
• Onward study was mostly vocational. Among the small number who entered education after completing (recorded for the B1-route), roughly 58% went into mbo (vocational education), with smaller shares into hbo and university.
• The figures cover a small, early group. Only about 9,000 people had completed by end 2025, all from the first cohorts of the 2021 law.

In the CBS data, "completed" means a person's status is voldaan / afronding: they have met their civic-integration obligation under Wet inburgering 2021, the integration law that started on 1 January 2022. The obligation can run for several years, so only the earliest entrants had completed by the end of 2025. This group contained about 9,000 people. Everything below describes what this early group did in the months after completing.

For the steps and rules around finishing, see our guide to what happens after passing the inburgering exam.

CBS measures work after completion as the share of months in the first year in which a person was in paid work. The table below uses the total group across routes and target groups, for people in their first year after completing. This chart covers about 8,990 people. The percentages can shift as later cohorts complete.

About 46% worked in 75–100% of the months in their first year, while about 42% did not work in any month. The remaining 12% worked for part of the year, so roughly 58% worked in at least one month. These figures cover about 8,990 early completers and may shift as later cohorts complete.

CBS records the share of months in the first year in which a person received an uitkering (benefit). This chart covers about 6,100 people, and the underlying benefit detail runs through 2024. The table below is the total group.

About 63% of this early completed group received no benefit in any month of their first year. About 30% received one in 75–100% of the months, and roughly 37% received a benefit in at least one month. A person can hold a part-time job and receive a supplementary benefit in the same month. The work and benefit tables therefore overlap and do not sum to one population.

A wider CBS chart records whether each person did any paid work during 2025. It covers the whole obligated population and groups people by integration-obligation status (status inburgeringsplicht). This chart covers about 130,600 people and compares completers with people who were still integrating.

People who had completed were more likely to have worked in 2025 (about 60%) than those still integrating (about 40%), with the whole obligated population at about 43%. The completed group behind the 60% figure contains about 9,975 people. This comparison cannot show that completion causes employment. People who complete may already differ from those still integrating in age, route, and circumstances.

CBS records onward education after completion for the B1-route. This group contains about 1,300 people across all levels. Mbo (vocational education) accounts for roughly 58% of those who enrol. Smaller shares enter hbo (higher professional education) and university (wo). These shares describe only this early group of B1-route completers.

Within the mbo group, most people enter mbo-1 or mbo-2 rather than mbo-3 or mbo-4. Each cell contains only a few hundred people, so the rounded shares may shift as later cohorts complete. The four rounded shares in the table total about 101%. Vocational education is the most common destination among the completers who enter education.

These figures describe a small, early group and cannot predict an individual's outcome. Among the first people to complete, roughly half worked steadily in their first year, most received no benefit, and most of those who entered education chose vocational mbo. Later cohorts will give CBS a larger sample, and the percentages may change.

For more on the work-and-income side of integration, see our overview of inburgering, work, and income. To see how language results compare, read which language levels people actually reach, and for the practical next steps once you have finished, see what happens after passing the inburgering exam.