As of 15 March 2006, certain categories of aliens seeking to settle in the Netherlands who need an authorisation for temporary stay (MVV) to enter the country will have to take an integration test before coming to the Netherlands. This mainly concerns people who want to marry someone in the Netherlands or join family members. Religious leaders (such as imams or other clergy) coming to work in the Netherlands will also have to take the examination.

What is the civic integration examination?
It is a test that an applicant must take at the Dutch embassy or consulate in his/her country of residence before travelling to the Netherlands. People applying for an MVV must first prove that they have passed the examination. You need an MVV to apply for a residence permit – which is necessary for a stay of over three months in the Netherlands. The civic integration examination is an oral test given in Dutch. Candidates will be tested on their knowledge of Dutch society and their command of the Dutch language. Anyone who prepares properly should be able to pass the examination.

It is not possible to take the examination at honorary consulates, nor are candidates who pass the examination able to submit an MVV application for family reunification/formation at honorary consulates.

Before arranging with the embassy to take the civic integration examination you have to pay the examination fee (€350) into the bank account of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands. To start this procedure, you first need to fill in the application form.   click here for information / application form.

To find out whether you have to take the civic integration examination, go to the Immigration and Naturalstion Service website, http://www.ind.nl/EN/index.asp, and click on  Residence Wizard: planning to stay in the Netherlands’.

If you want to know more about the examination, you can order an information leaflet. Either call 0900 1234561 (€0.10 a minute) or go to http://www.ind.nl/EN/index.asp  and click on  Brochures/forms’

The embassy cannot provide teaching material or preparation material for the examination. If you want to know more about the examination and how to prepare for it, go to http://www.naarnederland.nl.