Civic integration: deadline, extension, fine, exemption

If you have to complete civic integration (inburgering), you have a fixed amount of time for it: your civic integration period (inburgeringstermijn). This guide explains how long it is, when you get extra time, which fines exist and when you do not have to do (part of) civic integration.

The guide is mainly about the Civic Integration Act 2021 (Wet inburgering 2021). It applies if you came to the Netherlands on or after 1 January 2022 and have to integrate. At the end you will find a short section on the old act (Wi2013).

How long is your period?

You have 3 years to complete civic integration. The period starts on the day after the date of your PIP (personal integration and participation plan). Within those 3 years you complete your learning route (leerroute), the PVT and the MAP. Your PIP and Mijn Inburgering show what you have to do.

When do you get extra time?

DUO extends your period (verlenging) in two situations:

1. It is not your fault that you did not make it in time.
2. You have already made a real effort, and with 6 months of extra time you can make it.

It is not your fault

Situation	How much extra time?
You, your partner, or a parent or child of yours is ill for at least 3 months in a row	As long as the illness lasts
Your partner, a parent or a child of yours dies	3 months
You give birth	16 weeks
You live in a domestic violence shelter (Blijf-van-mijn-lijfhuis) for at least 3 months	As long as you live there
You follow a literacy course for at least 3 months (B1 route or education route)	As long as the course lasts, up to 6 months
You are homeless for at least 3 months	As long as that lasts, up to 2 years
You are an asylum status holder and the municipality did not make you a civic integration offer within 3 months after your PIP	As long as the delay lasts
Your education route did not start within 6 months	6 months
The provider of your programme cannot continue for at least 3 months	As long as that lasts, up to 6 months
You follow an education programme that does not give an exemption (practical education, special secondary education (vso) or an MBO entry-level programme)	As long as the programme lasts (entry-level programme: up to 2 years)
Another special situation that is not your fault, lasting at least 3 months	As long as it lasts, up to 2 years
Several situations together, lasting at least 3 months in total	As long as the delay lasts

You have already done a lot: 6 months extra

This is only possible in the B1 route. You get 6 months extra if you meet all conditions:

• you take the exams at the level in your PIP, but at least at A2;
• you have followed all lessons (asylum status holders), or at least 450 hours of lessons (family migrants and other migrants);
• you have passed at least 2 of the 4 language exams and the KNM exam;
• you have completed the PVT and the MAP.

How to apply

• You apply to DUO for an extension, no earlier than 6 months before the end of your period.
• DUO decides within 8 weeks.
• DUO can also extend your period on its own initiative, sometimes for a whole group at once.

Which fines are there?

Civic Integration Act 2021

What went wrong?	Who gives the fine?	Maximum
You do not attend the broad intake (brede intake) or do not cooperate	Municipality	€250
You do not cooperate with the support, or do not keep to the intensity set by the municipality	Municipality	€800
You do not complete the PVT or the MAP in time	DUO	€340
You do not complete your learning route in time	DUO	€1,000

These are maximum amounts.

What happens after a fine?

After a DUO fine for the PVT or the MAP, you get a new period: 6 months, or 1 year if both are late. If you still have not completed it after that, DUO can fine you again.

Old act (Wi2013)

Under the old act, the fine is never higher than €1,250. For the PVT, the fine is €340.

Asylum status holders: no more fines

• Since July 2025 DUO no longer fines asylum status holders (asielstatushouders). This applies under both the old and the new act. Collecting fines and reclaiming loans had already been on hold since March 2023.
• On 18 February 2026 the Council of State (Raad van State) gave a ruling. Even a fine and a repayment that were already final were not correct. The case concerned an asylum status holder under the old act.

What does this mean for you?

• Old act (Wi2013): the government is reviewing all decisions on fines and loans that were already final. If you have already paid a fine or a loan repayment, you get that money back, with statutory interest. Anything you still had to pay, you no longer have to pay. This concerns about 3,300 people. According to the plan, DUO will start this in autumn 2026. You do not have to do anything: DUO will send you a letter.
• New act (Wi2021): DUO no longer fines you. The government has announced a change in the law to abolish DUO fines for asylum status holders: both for the learning route and for the PVT and the MAP. When this change will take effect is not yet known. According to the government, the municipality can still give a fine, as long as it assesses this carefully and for each person individually.

Are you a family migrant (gezinsmigrant) or another migrant? Then nothing changes. DUO can still fine you. The court rulings do not concern your group.

Exemption and dispensation

With an exemption (vrijstelling) you do not have to do (part of) civic integration, for example because you have a diploma. You get a dispensation (ontheffing) if civic integration is not possible for a medical reason or because of very special circumstances.

Exemption (Wi2021)

You can get an exemption if, for example, you:

• were subject to compulsory education or the qualification requirement (leerplicht or kwalificatieplicht) in the Netherlands for at least 8 years;
• have a diploma that has been designated for this;
• are currently of compulsory school age;
• are following an education programme that leads to such a diploma;
• can show that you are already sufficiently integrated.

Medical dispensation (Wi2021)

• A doctor designated by DUO (not your own doctor) examines you and writes a statement.
• You get a dispensation if you cannot complete civic integration or part of it within 5 years.
• A partial dispensation is possible for up to 3 of the 4 language parts or for KNM, or for the participation part of the Z route. Not for the PVT and the MAP.
• Sometimes you do not get a dispensation, but an adapted exam instead.

Dispensation for special individual circumstances (BIO)

• This is only possible in very exceptional situations that you could not foresee and that are very distressing.
• Advice from the municipality is required. You receive a decision within 8 weeks.
• Please note: a BIO dispensation is not enough to naturalise (become a Dutch citizen).

Lowering to A2 is not a dispensation

B1 not working out? After at least 600 hours of lessons and enough effort, the municipality can decide that you take one or more language parts at A2 (afschalen). That is not a dispensation: you still take those parts, but at A2.

Old act (Wi2013): in brief

Exemption and medical dispensation also exist under the old act. In addition, there is a dispensation if you can show you have done enough (aantoonbare inspanningen). The conditions include:

• your period started at least 2.5 years ago;
• you have followed at least 600 hours of lessons at a school that was listed on zoekinburgerschool.nl at the time. Only hours when you actually went to school count. Online lessons do not count;
• you have tried at least 3 times to pass all exams;
• different rules apply to literacy (including at least 300 hours of lessons and a test).

This dispensation does not exist under the Civic Integration Act 2021.

Not legal advice

This guide explains the rules in brief. It is not legal advice. Every situation is different, and rules can change. Not sure? Ask DUO or your municipality.