The municipality guides your route and personal plan
Your gemeente (municipality) guides your inburgering (civic integration) under the 2021 law. It sets your persoonlijk plan inburgering en participatie (PIP, personal integration and participation plan) and chooses one of three routes. The law applies if your inburgeringsplicht (civic integration obligation) began on or after 1 January 2022. You normally have 3 years from the day after your first PIP’s date. Later PIP changes keep that start date.
What did the 2021 law change?
The municipality now guides your integration through an intake, a personal plan and one of three routes. It also guides family and other migrants, who arrange and pay for their own course. The Rijksoverheid (Dutch central government): 2021 law overview (External site, opens in a new tab) explains these changes. For the wider system, see what inburgering means in the Netherlands.
Which law applies to you?
The start date of your obligation decides which law applies, even if you arrived in the Netherlands earlier. If your obligation began before 1 January 2022, you remain under Wet inburgering 2013 (Civic Integration Act 2013). Check your law in Mijn Inburgering (My Civic Integration) or your DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs, the Dutch education service) letters.
Under the 2021 law, DUO’s start process (External site, opens in a new tab) follows this order:
- DUO sends a letter saying you must integrate. You receive it only after you have a burgerservicenummer (BSN, citizen service number), a residence permit and municipal registration.
- Your municipality invites you for the brede intake (broad intake). It includes a conversation and a leerbaarheidstoets (learning potential test).
- Your municipality makes a PIP with you. It states your route and required exams.
- After the municipality sets your PIP, DUO sends a second letter with your official start date. Check that date and your deadline in Mijn Inburgering.
Which learning route can you follow?
Your route sets the language goal and the exams or municipal modules you must complete. Your PIP and Mijn Inburgering show your route and required parts.
You learn about Kennis van de Nederlandse Maatschappij (KNM, knowledge of Dutch society) in every route. The table shows which routes require its exam.
The municipality also handles the participatieverklaringstraject (PVT, participation declaration process) and the Module Arbeidsmarkt en Participatie (MAP, labour market and participation module). The table shows which routes include MAP.
You can scroll wide tables sideways.
| Route | Goal | Usual parts |
|---|---|---|
| B1-route (language and work route) | Dutch at B1 for paid work or volunteering. | B1 language exams, KNM, PVT and MAP. A2 language components need municipal approval under the conditions below. |
| onderwijsroute (education route) | Preparation for mbo (secondary vocational education), hbo (higher professional education) or university. | A taalschakeltraject (language transition programme), B1 or B2 language exams, KNM and PVT. |
| zelfredzaamheidsroute (Z-route, self-reliance route) | Participation and Dutch at the highest level you can reach, aiming for A1. For people for whom the B1-route and onderwijsroute are too difficult. | Dutch and society lessons, participation, PVT, MAP and a final municipal conversation. A2 language exams are optional. You receive an inburgeringscertificaat (civic integration certificate) after completing the route. |
For the full requirements of your route, see the B1-route guide, onderwijsroute guide or Z-route guide.
When can you take A2 exams in the B1-route?
Your municipality may approve one or more A2 language components if B1 is beyond your reach within your integration term. All of these conditions apply:
- You have followed at least 600 qualifying hours of Nederlands als tweede taal (NT2, Dutch as a second language) lessons. Hours count from when your PIP was set. Your municipality may also count qualifying NT2 hours taken during the broad intake.
- The lessons were at a qualifying provider: normally a school with the Blik op Werk keurmerk (quality mark), or an institution offering a recognised language transition programme.
- You made sufficient effort during those lessons.
The municipality must record its decision in your PIP before you book the A2 components. Ask it to check your course hours and evidence of effort. The Besluit inburgering 2021 (Civic Integration Decree), Articles 5.3 and 5.5 (External site, opens in a new tab) sets the hours, timing, provider and effort conditions.
What does your PIP record?
Your PIP records your route, language level, required exams or municipal modules, and 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.
Your residence status decides who chooses and pays for your course. Under the DUO course-choice rules (External site, opens in a new tab), the two cases are:
- If you are an asylum-status holder, the municipality chooses and pays for your course.
- If you are a family migrant or other migrant, you choose and pay for your course yourself. The municipality sets your route. You may be able to use a DUO loan.
Exam attempts, loans and invoices depend on your status, route and exam level. Before booking, check the costs and loan rules and free exam-attempt rules under the 2021 law. DUO’s payment rules (External site, opens in a new tab) explain who pays.
How do the 2013 and 2021 laws differ?
Under the 2013 law, you arrange your integration yourself, though a municipality may offer help. Under the 2021 law, the municipality has a formal guiding role. The table compares the responsibilities and requirements:
You can scroll wide tables sideways.
| Topic | Wet inburgering 2013 | Wet inburgering 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Guidance | You arrange most practical choices yourself, with DUO as your main official contact. | The municipality guides your intake, PIP and route decisions. |
| Language goal | A2 or higher. | B1 in the B1-route; B1 or B2 in the onderwijsroute; a reachable level in the Z-route, aiming for A1. |
| Work module | Oriëntatie op de Nederlandse Arbeidsmarkt (ONA, Dutch labour market orientation) for people whose obligation began on or after 1 January 2015, unless exempt. | MAP in the B1-route and Z-route. |
| PVT | Required if your obligation began on or after 1 October 2017 and you are registered with a municipality, unless exempt. | The municipality handles PVT as part of your route. |
| Course choice | You choose your own course. | The municipality chooses the course for asylum-status holders. Family and other migrants choose their course and follow the route set by the municipality. |
DUO’s knowledge-exam requirements (External site, opens in a new tab) explain the ONA and PVT conditions. For the full law comparison, see Wet inburgering 2013 or 2021: which law applies?.
What should you check before booking exams?
Start with your law and deadline in Mijn Inburgering. If the 2021 law applies, check your PIP before choosing an exam level. Ask the municipality to explain your route, level or support in writing if you think it does not fit your situation.
If you follow the B1-route and B1 is beyond your reach, ask the municipality to check the A2 conditions and update your PIP before booking. If you follow the Z-route, ask which activities, MAP and PVT steps, and final conversation remain before you receive your inburgeringscertificaat. In either case, check who pays before you book.
Official Sources
- Rijksoverheid - Wet inburgering 2021 (External site, opens in a new tab) - Government overview of the 2021 system, municipality guidance, PIP, learning routes, MAP and PVT.
- Rijksoverheid - Wet inburgering 2013 (External site, opens in a new tab) - Government explanation of the old system for people already required to integrate before 1 January 2022.
- DUO - Start letters, personal plan and routes (External site, opens in a new tab) - The three-year term, DUO letters, broad intake, PIP and the three learning routes under the 2021 law.
- DUO - Which exams you need (External site, opens in a new tab) - DUO guidance that your law, PIP, route and Mijn Inburgering determine which exams you must complete.
- DUO - Choosing a course (External site, opens in a new tab) - Course choice under the 2021 law for asylum-status holders, family migrants and other migrants.
- Wet inburgering 2021 (External site, opens in a new tab) - Legal text defining the inburgeringsplicht, the three routes, the term and the municipality's role.
- Besluit inburgering 2021: Article 5.5 (External site, opens in a new tab) - Legal conditions for recording one or more A2 language components in a B1-route PIP.
- Overheid.nl (Dutch government information portal) - Besluit inburgering 2021, original publication (External site, opens in a new tab) - Articles 5.3 and 5.5 and their explanation: PIP changes, qualifying course hours after the PIP, the broad-intake exception and effort conditions for A2 components within the B1-route.
- DUO - Who pays for civic integration (External site, opens in a new tab) - Who pays for courses and exams under the 2021 law, and how status and PIP level affect free attempts.
- DUO - Society, work and participation requirements (External site, opens in a new tab) - MAP, PVT and ONA requirements, including the PVT municipal-registration condition and old-law start dates.
- Overheid.nl - Wet inburgering 2021, original publication (External site, opens in a new tab) - Articles 11, 15 and 17: the term starts the day after the first PIP date and keeps that start after later PIP changes; the municipality records the plan and decides on A2 components.