Your integration duty decides which law applies
Check your letter from DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, the Dutch education service) (External site, opens in a new tab) or Mijn Inburgering (My Integration portal) (External site, opens in a new tab). If your inburgeringsplicht (civic integration duty) began from 1 January 2013 through 31 December 2021, the 2013 rules continue to apply. For a duty beginning on or after 1 January 2022, Wet inburgering (Civic Integration Act) 2021 applies. Your arrival date alone does not decide your law.
This comparison covers Dutch integration duties beginning in 2013 or later. If your duty began earlier, ask your gemeente (municipality) about the 2007 rules.
Who guides you under each law?
Under the 2013 law, you choose your course and plan your exams. DUO is your main official contact for loans, exams and deadlines. Your gemeente may also offer help.
Under the 2021 law, the gemeente guides you. It invites you for a brede intake (broad intake assessment) and makes your persoonlijk plan inburgering en participatie (PIP, personal integration and participation plan). Your PIP states your route and required exams.
The three routes are the B1-route (B1 learning route), onderwijsroute (education route) and zelfredzaamheidsroute (Z-route, self-reliance route). For the wider requirements, read what civic integration in the Netherlands involves.
Which date decides your law and deadline?
Your integration duty decides your law. Your inburgeringstermijn (integration term) sets the time you have to finish. Under the 2021 law, the three-year term starts the day after the gemeente sets your PIP. DUO then sends a letter with your term start date. That later date does not decide which law applies.
For example, arriving in the Netherlands in December 2021 does not by itself show that the 2013 law applies. Check when your duty began in your DUO file.
To check your own law and tasks, follow these steps:
- Log in to Mijn Inburgering (External site, opens in a new tab).
- Save your latest DUO letters.
- Note your law, term start date, deadline and remaining tasks.
- If you follow the 2021 law, compare the tasks with your PIP.
For help setting up your login, use the DigiD (Dutch digital identity) setup and login guide.
If a school, gemeente or helpdesk gives conflicting advice, ask DUO or the gemeente to confirm the answer in writing. Keep the reply with your letters.
Which exams and costs differ?
Your law and route determine your language level and participation tasks. These are the terms used in the comparison:
- Kennis van de Nederlandse Maatschappij (KNM, knowledge of Dutch society).
- Oriëntatie op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt (ONA, Dutch labour market orientation).
- Module Arbeidsmarkt en Participatie (MAP, labour market and participation module).
- Participatieverklaringstraject (PVT, participation declaration process).
The table compares the rules. DUO’s required-exam lists (External site, opens in a new tab) show the standard requirements; exemptions can reduce them. Your PIP and Mijn Inburgering show what you must complete.
You can scroll wide tables sideways.
| Topic | 2013 law | 2021 law |
|---|---|---|
| Language level | A2 or higher. | B1-route: B1. A2 is possible after at least 600 lesson hours if B1 remains too difficult and the gemeente agrees. Onderwijsroute: B1 or B2. Z-route: A1 learning, with optional A2 exams. |
| Knowledge of society | KNM, unless an exemption applies. | KNM exam in the B1-route and onderwijsroute; learning about society within the Z-route. |
| Work tasks | ONA if your duty began on or after 1 January 2015, unless exempt. | MAP in the B1-route and Z-route, unless exempt; no MAP in the onderwijsroute. |
| Participation declaration | PVT if your duty began on or after 1 October 2017 and you are registered with the gemeente. | PVT through the gemeente. |
| Course choice and payment | You choose the course and arrange payment. A DUO loan may be available. | The gemeente chooses and pays for courses for asylum-status holders. Family and other migrants choose and pay for their course. |
Under the 2013 law, a duty beginning before 2015 has a further exception. Passing the Staatsexamen Nt2 (Dutch as a second language state exam) at B1 or B2 can complete your integration without KNM. Check DUO’s course guidance (External site, opens in a new tab) and your file before choosing that option.
If your file requires PVT under the 2013 law, you have one year. This starts once you have an integration duty and are registered with the gemeente.
If you hold a verblijfsvergunning asiel voor bepaalde tijd (temporary asylum residence permit), the relevant registration is in your housing gemeente. This is the gemeente that provides your housing under the legal scheme for asylum-status holders.
Under the 2021 law, finish PVT within your PIP-based three-year integration term. If you need more time for PVT, ask your gemeente about an extension.
Loan eligibility, free exam attempts and payment rules also depend on your law and migration category. Use the costs, loans and exam fees guide before paying for a course or exam.
What if your language level is too difficult?
If B1 is too difficult in the B1-route, talk to your gemeente about changing your PIP, level or route. DUO’s guidance (External site, opens in a new tab) allows you to ask about A2 after at least 600 hours of language lessons if B1 exams are still too difficult. The gemeente must agree to the change before you rely on A2.
Under the 2013 law, check DUO’s rules for extra time, exemptions or a waiver based on course hours and exam attempts. Check your recorded hours and attempts before applying.
What if you cannot find an ONA course?
If you take the ONA exam under the 2013 law, first submit a portfolio (completed assignments and evidence). After DUO approves your portfolio (External site, opens in a new tab), you can finish ONA with a 64-hour course or an eindgesprek (final interview) with DUO. You can choose the interview without taking an ONA course.
DUO reports that fewer schools offer ONA courses (External site, opens in a new tab). If you cannot find one, you can choose the interview. You can also ask your gemeente whether you can follow MAP instead.
After you finish MAP, the gemeente sends DUO the date of your MAP final interview. DUO checks whether you get an ONA exemption. If you do, DUO sends the exemption letter within eight weeks. You then no longer need the ONA exam. The ONA exemption guide explains this option and other exemptions.
Which mistakes should you avoid?
Use your own DUO file and PIP when choosing a course or exam. These choices can lead you to the wrong requirements:
- Choosing the 2021 law because a current website describes it.
- Booking ONA when your 2021-law PIP requires MAP.
- Waiting for MAP when your 2013-law file requires ONA and the gemeente has not agreed to offer MAP.
- Using a friend’s fine, loan or free-attempt rules without checking their law and migration category.
- Starting a course based on an advertisement or old forum post before checking the school, route and payment rules against your file.
What should you check before booking?
If your file says the 2021 law applies, follow your PIP and ask the gemeente about any changes. If it says the 2013 law applies, check your remaining exams, recorded course hours, attempts and any loan or exemption with DUO. Use the deadline in your own letter or Mijn Inburgering, and check the separate PVT deadline under the 2013 law. Confirm your requirements before you pay for a course or book ONA.
Use these guides for your next step:
- Author
- By Inburgering.org team
- Reviewer
- Reviewed by Kirill Svavolia
Official Sources
- Rijksoverheid (Dutch government): Wet inburgering 2021 (External site, opens in a new tab) - The 1 January 2022 cutoff, municipal guidance, three learning routes, course funding and the education-route MAP exception.
- Rijksoverheid: Wet inburgering 2013 (External site, opens in a new tab) - The 2013 system for duties beginning from 1 January 2013 through 31 December 2021; municipalities may also help participants.
- DUO: starting civic integration (External site, opens in a new tab) - The three-year term, letters before and after the PIP, learning routes, A2 or higher under the 2013 law and the 600-hour condition for reducing B1 to A2.
- DUO: which exams you must take (External site, opens in a new tab) - Required exams by law, route and duty date; PIP and Mijn Inburgering show your requirements.
- Wet inburgering 2021 (External site, opens in a new tab) - Articles 11, 24 and 54 cover the PIP-based integration term, PVT within that term and the transition between laws; the Act also sets municipal duties and route decisions.
- Wet inburgering 2013 (External site, opens in a new tab) - Historical text valid on 31 December 2021, kept applicable to existing cases by the 2021 Act’s transition rule. Article 7a sets the PVT term and registration conditions.
- DUO: knowledge exams and participation tasks (External site, opens in a new tab) - ONA portfolio plus 64 hours of classes or an interview with two DUO staff; MAP and PVT requirements, the 2013 PVT deadline and the 2021 integration term.
- DUO: MAP instead of ONA (External site, opens in a new tab) - Fewer schools offer ONA classes; ask the gemeente about MAP, after which DUO checks whether you receive an ONA exemption.
- DUO: ONA exemptions (External site, opens in a new tab) - After MAP, the gemeente reports the final-interview date; DUO sends the exemption letter within eight weeks.
- DUO: logging in to Mijn Inburgering (External site, opens in a new tab) - Official portal entry point; DigiD login, required exams and DUO letters.
- DUO: choosing a school (External site, opens in a new tab) - Who chooses the school under each law and which schools can be paid through a DUO loan.
- DUO: choosing a course (External site, opens in a new tab) - Course choice and the pre-2015 exception for people who pass B1 or B2 state exams.
- DUO: paying for civic integration (External site, opens in a new tab) - Course funding and exam-payment rules differ by law and asylum status.
- DUO: borrowing for civic integration (External site, opens in a new tab) - Loan eligibility, approved schools and the asylum-status-holder repayment exception.
- DUO: extra time to integrate (External site, opens in a new tab) - Possible extensions under both laws, including course attendance and exam attempts.
- DUO: fewer or no exams (External site, opens in a new tab) - Exemption and waiver rules depend on the law.
- DUO: waiver after enough course hours and exam attempts (External site, opens in a new tab) - The effort-based waiver applies under the 2013 law; the conditions depend on the course.
- DUO: late-completion fines (External site, opens in a new tab) - Fine rules under both laws and the asylum-status-holder exception.
- Wet inburgering 2007: municipal guidance (PDF, 105 KB) (External site, opens in a new tab) - Guidance hosted by DUO confirms that the 2007 system remains in use alongside the 2013 and 2021 systems and explains the municipality’s role.
- 2012 amendment: transition from the earlier rules (External site, opens in a new tab) - Article X preserves earlier rules for existing integration cases covered by its transition conditions.
- 2017 amendment: PVT term under the 2013 law (External site, opens in a new tab) - Article 7a requires both an integration duty and municipal registration. For temporary asylum-permit holders, the relevant registration is in the municipality providing housing under the statutory scheme.
- Wet inburgering 2021: published Act (External site, opens in a new tab) - Articles 11 and 24 place PVT within the same three-year integration term, starting the day after the date shown on the PIP.