Half of refugees who began integration in 2022 met the deadline

Just under half of the refugees granted residency permits in 2022 completed their integration course within the required three years, national statistics office CBS said on Friday.

Meeting the requirement means passing the compulsory exams in Dutch language and society, or completing an equivalent track; it is not a broader measure of how well someone has settled in.

Local councils drew up a personal integration plan for 4,900 approved refugees and 49% met requirement in time. But family members and other new arrivals, who remain largely responsible for arranging their own integration lessons, fared less well. Of the 3,100 who started lessons in 2022, 36% met the requirement within three years.

Newcomers still face a three-year deadline to pass or risk a fine.

Language and work

Amost half (45%) of the approved refugees who had met the requirement by the end of 2025 passed all their language exams at B1 or B2 level – enough to describe experiences and give an opinion in Dutch.

Just over three-quarters (76%) reached at least A2, the level needed for simple everyday conversation, up from the old A2 standard for the whole programme.

Most took the B1 route (62%), which combines language lessons with paid work, while nearly one in three followed the self-reliance route for those not expected to reach B1. A third route, designed to lead into further study, had the highest completion rate, at 60% within three years.

Two years after being housed in a council area, 22% of the 2022 group were in work, rising to 26% among those on the work-focused B1 route.