Inburgering (civic integration) deadline: 3 years and extra time from DUO (Dutch education service)

DUO allows one extension per affected period (External site, opens in a new tab). Two reasons during the same period do not give two extensions. You can receive another extension for a different period.

DUO confirms your start date after the gemeente (municipality) sets your persoonlijk plan inburgering en participatie (PIP) (personal integration and participation plan). This applies under the Wet inburgering 2021 (Civic Integration Act 2021, Wi2021).

DUO first sends a letter saying you must integrate. The gemeente then holds the brede intake (initial assessment) and sets your PIP. DUO’s second letter gives your start date.

Under the Wet inburgering 2013 (Civic Integration Act 2013, Wi2013), DUO’s letter gives your start date. DUO explains both start-date letters (External site, opens in a new tab). Check your exact start and end dates in Mijn Inburgering. For help logging in, use our Mijn Inburgering guide.

If the participatieverklaringstraject (PVT) (participation declaration programme) is one of your Wi2013 requirements, its deadline is 1 year after registration with the gemeente. Ask the gemeente for extra time for PVT. DUO explains this separate PVT deadline (External site, opens in a new tab).

Many categories require your term to have started at least 2.5 years ago. That is 6 months before the end of the original 3-year term. An earlier extension may have moved your deadline. Use your start date to check this condition, then follow the application rules for your reason.

For example, a term starting on 1 April 2024 reaches 2.5 years on 1 October 2026. You can apply from that date for a category with this condition. Start collecting evidence earlier: medical records, school documents and exam attempts can take time to obtain.

Use this table to compare the main conditions and evidence for your reason. These application categories require your term to have started at least 2.5 years ago; the sections below explain automatic extensions and education rules.

For homelessness or a domestic-violence shelter stay (External site, opens in a new tab), collect documents showing the dates.

For illness (External site, opens in a new tab) or a family member’s death (External site, opens in a new tab), the eligible relatives are your partner, child, stepchild, child-in-law, parent or parent-in-law. For family illness, you must have cared for that person and been unable to integrate because of the care.

For illness, collect the patient’s medical file. Add a stamped pharmacy medicine list if they used medication. Ask any other treating doctor for a medical statement. A medical specialist’s letter is optional. Send copies through the SecureTransfer (secure document transfer) link in the form and keep the originals.

If records are unavailable, DUO can request them with the patient’s authorisation. For an ill relative, complete the authorisation form together and follow its patient or legal-representative signature instructions. DUO can take up to 3 extra months to process a request when it must obtain records.

For childbirth (External site, opens in a new tab), DUO also gives instructions if the pregnancy ended without a live birth. Send the gemeente’s akte van geboorte (levensloos) (certificate of a birth without signs of life).

For a late municipal offer (External site, opens in a new tab), you must be an asylum-status holder under Wi2021 and have a PIP. The gemeente offered your course at least 3 months after setting your PIP. For the onderwijsroute, the condition is that you could not start education within 6 months after your PIP. Ask for a gemeente statement.

For school problems, you must have been unable to attend lessons for at least 3 months because of the school. Examples include a waiting list, no teacher or loss of the school’s Blik op Werk-keurmerk (integration-school quality mark). Attach your school contract. If you have no contract, ask the school for evidence explaining why lessons were unavailable.

For BIO, use the questionnaire on DUO’s other-reasons page (External site, opens in a new tab). This route needs evidence and an explanation of how your situation prevented you from integrating.

Wi2021 also has a separate route for combined circumstances. At least 2 circumstances from DUO’s overview must each have lasted less than 3 months. You must be unable to qualify for extra time for each circumstance separately. Together they must have prevented integration for at least 3 consecutive months. Your term must have started at least 2.5 years ago.

For that combined-circumstances route, post a letter with evidence. Include your burgerservicenummer (BSN) (citizen service number), name, address, birth date, signature and reason. Use the address on DUO’s other-reasons page.

An A1 alfabetiseringscursus (literacy course) must be attended in a classroom to qualify. Literacy-course rules (External site, opens in a new tab) differ by law:

Under Wi2021, you must follow the B1-route (integration route towards B1 Dutch) or onderwijsroute and have attended at least 3 consecutive months. Your term must have started at least 2.5 years ago. Your school must have appeared on zoekinburgerschool.nl (External site, opens in a new tab) when you started, or be a recognised taalschakeltraject (language preparation programme) institution. If you meet these conditions, apply yourself. You may receive between 3 and 6 months of extra time.

Under Wi2013, DUO usually sends a letter after your literacy course, giving up to 2 years of extra time. If no letter arrives within 8 weeks, apply yourself, including when the school is not listed on zoekinburgerschool.nl.

For either application, ask your school to complete and sign the Bewijs van inschrijving (proof of enrolment) included in DUO’s literacy extension form (PDF) (External site, opens in a new tab). Send it with your application. The school records your course dates and total hours attended.

Dutch-education rules (External site, opens in a new tab) also differ by law. Both require your term to have started at least 2.5 years ago:

Under Wi2021, any one of these programme types can qualify:

• Praktijkonderwijs (practical education).
• Voortgezet speciaal onderwijs (VSO) (special secondary education) with an arbeidsmarktgericht (labour-market) or dagbesteding (day-activities) exit profile.
• Entreeopleiding (entry-level vocational course), mbo (secondary vocational education) level 1.
• Internationale schakelklas (ISK) (international transition class) with the practical-education profile or those VSO profiles.

Apply with proof of enrolment.

Under Wi2013, the programme must be in the Netherlands, taught in Dutch, and lead to a diploma that gives a full exemption. Extra time is automatic for voortgezet onderwijs (secondary education), mbo level 2 or higher, or vavo (adult general secondary education). For another qualifying programme, apply with proof of enrolment.

DUO adds 6 months automatically (External site, opens in a new tab) when you meet every effort-extension condition for your group. This applies only to the B1-route, including when your PIP now sets one or more language exams at A2. You do not apply.

Both asylum-status holders and family migrants must meet all these shared conditions:

• Your term started at least 2.5 years ago.
• You passed at least 2 of the 4 language exams at your PIP level or higher.
• You passed Kennis van de Nederlandse Maatschappij (KNM) (Knowledge of Dutch Society).
• You completed PVT and Module Arbeidsmarkt en Participatie (MAP) (Labour Market and Participation Module).

You must also meet the course-hours condition for your group:

• Asylum-status holders: you followed all KNM course hours and all language lessons specified in your PIP.
• Family migrants: you followed at least 450 combined hours of language lessons and KNM courses at a school with the Blik op Werk-keurmerk.

Under Wi2013, you apply yourself with the Aanvraag verlenging inburgeringstermijn. The DUO effort-extension page (External site, opens in a new tab) and form set these conditions. You must meet all that apply:

• Your term started at least 2.5 years ago.
• You attended at least 300 classroom hours of an A2, B1 or B2 integration course at a school with the Blik op Werk-keurmerk, or qualifying education listed below.
• If Oriëntatie op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt (ONA) (Dutch Labour Market Orientation) is one of your exams, you attempted it at least once. One attempt means an approved portfolio plus a completed eindgesprek (final interview).
• You attempted every other exam at least twice, except exams you passed. Staatsexamen NT2 (State Exam in Dutch as a Second Language) B1 or B2 attempts count too.

Integration-course hours must be during your term and while the school held the quality mark. Online hours do not count.

Three education types can count towards the 300 hours: VSO with the labour-market or day-activities exit profile, praktijkonderwijs, or ISK. Those education hours must fall within the 2 years before you apply.

Check course hours and DUO exam attempts in Mijn Inburgering. Staatsexamen NT2 attempts do not appear there. Ask your school to correct missing hours. If it cannot, attach its Verklaring deelname cursus (course attendance declaration). If the school closed, send evidence such as contracts, attendance records or invoices.

Upload the form and supporting documents in Mijn Inburgering, or post them as the form explains. DUO decides within 8 weeks and can give up to 2 years of extra time. Follow the form’s document checklist.

DUO can take 6 weeks to mark your portfolio and another 6 weeks to mark a corrected version. After approval, you register for the eindgesprek. The interview takes place within 6 weeks of registration.

Those published periods total 12 weeks for one approved portfolio and interview, or 18 weeks with one correction. That is about 3 months or more than 4 months, before adding your own preparation, correction and registration time. If you plan to apply at 2.5 years, submit the portfolio more than 4 months before then and allow time for those tasks.

The ONA condition applies only when ONA is one of your exams. DUO’s knowledge-exams page (External site, opens in a new tab) lists who has no ONA exam. This includes people whose duty started before 1 January 2015, people with a Dutch-language entreeopleiding diploma, and people with a DUO ONA exemption.

For the effort extension, a returned portfolio does not count as an attempt. An approved portfolio awaiting its eindgesprek does not count either. The attempt must be complete when you apply. Our ONA guide explains the portfolio and interview; our ONA exemption guide explains who can skip ONA.

If your term is close to ending while you await a Spreken (speaking) A2 or Schrijven (writing) A2 result, DUO automatically adds 6 months. You do not apply. DUO sends a letter if it extends your term. DUO published this measure in its 31 July 2026 notice about delayed results (External site, opens in a new tab).

For shortages of A2 exam places, you must be an asylum-status holder, family migrant or other migrant. Only A2 speaking, A2 writing or both must remain, and your term must be close to ending. DUO sends a letter stating whether you get extra time and how much. The measure also covers people with only B1 speaking left and a term close to ending. Use the extra time stated in your letter when planning. DUO’s 18 May 2026 notice about exam-place shortages (External site, opens in a new tab) sets these conditions.

Send copies of the required evidence. Keep originals unless DUO asks for an original.

For an extension you must request yourself, follow this order:

1. Check your exact dates in Mijn Inburgering.
2. Match your reason to the DUO category.
3. Read that category’s application instructions.
4. Write a timeline showing when you could not study or take exams.
5. Collect the required evidence from your doctor, school, gemeente or shelter.
6. Keep copies of everything you will send.
7. Send the request and evidence by the route DUO gives for that category.

Many category pages state that DUO decides within 8 weeks. If DUO needs more information from you, the decision can take longer. DUO will tell you by letter if it needs more time. See DUO’s guidance on late decisions (External site, opens in a new tab). If DUO needs to obtain medical records for you, processing can take longer. Check the rule for your category and follow the deadline stated in any DUO letter.

Your integration duty continues after the deadline. DUO’s late-completion rules (External site, opens in a new tab) state that asylum-status holders under Wi2013 and Wi2021 receive no late-completion fine. If that is your status, continue with your remaining requirements and read any personal letter from DUO.

For other migrants under Wi2021, DUO sends a letter with its records 2 months before the deadline. After the deadline, it sends a Vooraankondiging termijnoverschrijding (advance notice of exceeding the deadline). Other migrants under Wi2013 receive this notice after the deadline. Read the letter and send missing course hours, exam records or evidence of personal circumstances as instructed.

If you already have a fine, use our inburgering fines guide to check the decision and your options. A fine leaves your integration duty in place. Continue with your remaining parts while you deal with the decision.

If your extension is automatic, check DUO’s letter and your current end date in Mijn Inburgering. If you must apply, collect evidence early and send the request when you meet the category’s timing condition. Keep your timeline, documents and copies of what you send together.

If your deadline has passed, respond to the DUO letter using the deadline it gives. Keep working on your remaining requirements. Plan around the end date DUO has confirmed while it considers any request for extra time.

• A2 exam registration in Mijn Inburgering — for booking an A2 exam you still need.
• Inburgering fines guide — for a fine decision or warning letter.
• Free and subsidised legal help in the Netherlands — for help with a disputed decision.