Civic Integration Act 2021 (Wet inburgering 2021): Routes and Requirements

The Civic Integration Act 2021 (Wet inburgering 2021, Wi2021) applies if your integration obligation (inburgeringsplicht) started on or after 1 January 2022. Under this law, your municipality (gemeente) guides the process through a broad intake (brede intake) and a personal integration and participation plan (PIP). The PIP says which route you follow, which exams or modules you must complete, and when your official three-year term starts.

• The start date of your inburgeringsplicht decides whether Wi2021 or the Civic Integration Act 2013 (Wet inburgering 2013, Wi2013) applies. Check the date in Mijn Inburgering (My Civic Integration) or in your Education Executive Agency (DUO) letters.
• Under Wi2021, the municipality invites you for a brede intake and creates your PIP.
• The three routes are the B1-route, the onderwijsroute, and the self-reliance route (zelfredzaamheidsroute), usually called the Z-route.
• The B1-route aims for Dutch at B1. After 600 followed NT2 course hours at a qualifying provider and sufficient effort during the lessons, the municipality may record one or more A2 language components in the PIP.
• The Z-route focuses on self-reliance, participation, and Dutch at the highest reachable level, often around A1.
• Orientation on the Dutch Labour Market (Oriëntatie op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt, ONA) belongs mainly to Wi2013. Under Wi2021, your route may include the Labour Market and Participation Module (Module Arbeidsmarkt en Participatie, MAP) and the participation statement process (Participatieverklaringstraject, PVT). The municipality guides these parts.

The public dividing line is 1 January 2022. If you became inburgeringsplichtig on or after that date, Wi2021 usually applies. If you already had the duty before that date, Wet inburgering 2013 usually remains relevant. Your arrival date alone does not decide which law applies. Check the official start date shown by DUO.

Under Wi2021, DUO first sends a letter after you have a citizen service number (burgerservicenummer, BSN), a residence permit, and municipal registration. The municipality then invites you for the brede intake. After the intake and the leerbaarheidstoets (learning potential test), the municipality sets your PIP. DUO sends another letter with the date from which your term starts.

Your route decides the target level, the exams or modules, and the kind of support you should get. Your PIP and Mijn Inburgering state the route that applies to you. The table summarises each route.

PIP means persoonlijk plan inburgering en participatie. It records your route, your level, the exams or municipal modules you must complete, and the agreements with the municipality. If illness, study, work, pregnancy, or a problem with the school offer changes your situation, ask the municipality how this affects your PIP.

The PIP also matters for money. For example, asylum-status holders under Wi2021 normally have the course arranged by the municipality, while family migrants and other migrants usually choose and pay for their own course, even though the municipality sets the route. Exam attempts, loans and invoices depend on your status, route and level, so check the dedicated cost and free-attempt rules before booking exams.

Both systems use terms such as inburgering, KNM, and exams, but they assign responsibility differently. Under Wi2013, newcomers arrange more of the process directly with DUO. Wi2021 gives the municipality a formal guiding role.

• Log in to Mijn Inburgering and check the law, start date, deadline, route and required exams shown there.
• Read your PIP carefully. If the route, level or support does not match your situation, ask the municipality to explain it in writing.
• If you are in the B1-route and B1 feels unrealistic, ask the municipality to check your qualifying NT2 hours and evidence of effort before deciding whether to record one or more A2 components in your PIP.
• If you are in the Z-route, ask which activities, MAP/PVT steps and final conversation are required before the certificate can be issued.
• Before booking exams, check whether the exam level matches your PIP and whether you pay yourself, use a loan, or have free attempts.

For the wider exam map, read which Dutch exam you need. For route details, continue with the B1-route guide, onderwijsroute guide, or Z-route explainer.