Ministerie van Justitie, Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst

Who is exempted from having to take the civil integration test?

Everyone aged between 16 and 65 who wishes to reside in the Netherlands for a prolonged period, and needs to apply for an authorisation for temporary residence, has to take the civil integration test. The following groups are exempted from taking the test:

• persons of American, Australian, Austrian, Belgian, British, Canadian, Cypriot, Czech, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Liechtenstein, Lithuanian, Luxemburg, Maltese, Monegasque, New Zealand, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovakian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Swiss, or Vatican nationality;
• persons of Surinamese nationality who have completed a minimum of primary education in the Dutch language in Surinam or the Netherlands, and can show this by means of written proof (certificate, testimonial) issued and authorised by the Surinamese Ministry of Education and Public Development. Detailed information can be found on www.ind.nl;
• persons who are coming to the Netherlands for a temporary reason, such as study, au pair work, an exchange, or medical treatment;
• persons coming to the Netherlands with a work permit and their family members, the self-employed, and knowledge migrants;
• family members of a person in possession of an asylum-seeker’s residence permit.    

As newcomers these people will, however, usually be required to follow the integration programme once in the Netherlands.

Preparation
In order to prepare for the examination, the candidate will need to familiarise him or herself with Dutch society and the Dutch language. It is up to the foreign national to decide how he or she will prepare for the examination. This is why the government has not issued any regulations, nor organised courses. An education pack has, however, been put together. The pack, costing around €65, can be purchased either from Dutch bookshops or several websites of bookstores. The sponsor in the Netherlands can also buy the pack and send it to the candidate.

The pack consists of: a film about the Netherlands on DVD or video; a booklet with images from the film; a CD with all the questions which may come up during the ‘Knowledge of Dutch society’ part of the examination; and three mock Dutch language tests to practice with at home. A handbook explaining how to use the pack is also included. The foreign national can use this education pack to prepare for the civic integration examination abroad. In addition, there is plenty of teaching material available in the Netherlands, some of which can be used independently. This teaching material can be sent to the foreign national by his or her sponsor in the Netherlands.

More information (about the education pack amongst other topics) can be found at www.naarnederland.nl and www.vrom.nl.

Civic integration examination abroad	NL	EN
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