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. |