- \n
- Listening – 10 stories, 25 questions – 18 correct to pass, 50 min, results in 5 days <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Reading – 10 texts, 25 questions – 18 correct to pass, 65 min, results in 5 days<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Writing – 4 prompts – 10 points each – 25 points to pass, points off for each mistake, results in 5-8 weeks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- KNM (Knowledge of Dutch Society) – 40 questions, 28 correct to pass (70%), 45 min (the most challenging part is the time limit), results in 5 days. As of July 1, 2025, the exam content changed, adding new topics including WWII history, women’s rights, and digital safety.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Speaking – 16 fully spoken tasks (as of March 2025, the multiple-choice section was removed entirely), 35 minutes, record your voice to a computer, 10 weeks for results.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Dutch Labor Market Orientation – need to prove you can get a job here.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Canal](\"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-8-740x555.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWhat is the language requirement for the Inburgering Exams:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Your language requirement depends on your arrival date in the Netherlands, not the calendar year. If you arrived before January 2022, your target level is A2. If you arrived from January 2022 onwards, your target level is B1, and your language exams are the NT2 Staatsexamen (administered via CITO) rather than the standard DUO inburgering language exams. Check your Mijn Inburgering account or the IND website<\/a> to confirm which track applies to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the citizenship\/permanent residence process, you can only apply after 5 years in the Netherlands, but you can take the exams before reaching that mark. Note that the government has discussed raising the A2 requirement to B1 for the pre-2022 group too, but as of a February 2026 IND policy document, this change is still under consideration and would require formally amending national legislation \u2014 it is not yet in effect. If this matters to your timeline, confirm the current status directly with DUO or IND before planning around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to pass the Inburgering Exams:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Start with Babbel daily.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Daily practice of any language is so important to learn the basics of Dutch for the exam. Babbel <\/a>subscriptions are very reasonably priced, and it is much better than Duolingo at teaching you the basics of a language. I often found that Duolingo was teaching impractical phrases that would not help you. Spend the 50 euros on Babbel <\/a>for 3 months; it is absolutely worth it. We used Babbel <\/a>every day for 3 months, and we were able to pass the test. It was a crucial part of learning enough Dutch to pass the exams. Use this Babbel <\/a>link for their latest promotion as shown below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Prices](\"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Screenshot-2024-01-18-075419-1024x514.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a>\n\n\n\n
Take an Inburgering Course<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
One thing that really helped us was taking a course specifically designed to pass the Inburgering Course<\/a>. The combination of this course and Babbel daily allowed us to pass all the sections in just 4 months. The course will teach you the key things they will look for in each exam. It will also provide an overview of the Dutch Culture KMN exam, one of the hardest to pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take the free practice exams.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Free practice exams are on the same website<\/a> as the exam registration. The practice exams match the software that will be used in the testing facility, so it was also helpful to get to know the software through the practice exams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It will take 3-6 months of consistent effort and studying to pass all the exams if you do not have any knowledge of the Dutch language to pass the exams at the A2 level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>\n\n\n\n
How to register for the Inburgering Exams<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Register for the exams at this official government website<\/a>. The exams can be challenging to register for due to the limited availability. We took many of the exams in Zwolle since it was the only available place. Look for available spots in other cities. Start with the listening or the reading exams first, as they are the easiest to pass. We scheduled Listening and Reading in the first month and then the other 3 exams in the second month. It takes a while to get the results of Writing (5-8 weeks) and Speaking (10 weeks).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How much do the Inburgering Exams cost?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Each inburgering exam is 50 euros, with a total cost for all the exams of around 250 euros. If you fail any exam, you must pay again to retake the exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are the next steps after passing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
After passing the exams, you will receive a diploma from the IND. The next step is booking your intake appointment at your local Gemeente. In Amsterdam<\/a>, the waiting time for an intake appointment is over 8 months, so call well before your 5-year mark to get the intake appointment scheduled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rest of Settling In<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Inburgering is the formal part. The informal part takes longer: nine things I wish I had known before moving abroad<\/a>, which Dutch sites to order from<\/a>, car sharing instead of car ownership<\/a>, and if you want to build a life here rather than just pass an exam, the gyms that run classes in English<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first step for getting a Dutch\/European Permanent Residence or Dutch passport is passing a series of exams called the Inburgering Exams. I passed all the exams in 2023 without any previous knowledge of the Dutch language. Here are my recommendations for how to pass the Inburgering Exams in just a few months. What are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":14337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1032,1031],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amsterdam_expat_life","category-expat-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15547"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20476,"href":"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15547\/revisions\/20476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justtravelous.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}