What inburgering costs: exam fees, free attempts and the DUO loan

€50 per exam, €250 for the five under the 2021 Act, €200 for the Staatsexamen NT2 — plus the course. Who pays what, what asylum status holders get free, how much DUO lends you, and how you pay it back.

Updated November 3, 2026 · 5 min read

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The Binnenhof in The Hague, seat of the Dutch government, across the Hofvijver — Photo: Michielverbeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized.

How you pay for inburgering depends on two things: which Act you integrate under and whether you are an asylum status holder. Mijn Inburgering tells you both (inburgeren.nl). Here are the official amounts as of 3 November 2026.

Exam fees

Exam	2021 Act	2013 Act
Reading	€50	€50
Listening	€50	€50
Writing	€50	€50
Speaking	€50	€50
KNM	€50	€50
ONA (orientation on the labour market)	—	€40
MAP (labour market and participation)	free, with the municipality	—
Participation statement (PVT)	free	€150 (free for asylum status holders)
Total	€250	€290 (+ PVT)

The Staatsexamen NT2 — the B1/B2 language exams — also costs €50 per part, €200 for all four, for programme I and II alike. You pay by iDEAL when you register, or by invoice up to 3 weeks before (Staatsexamens NT2). Cancel at least a week before a DUO exam and you get your money back (registering).

Asylum status holders

Under the 2021 Act the municipality pays your course and your first 2 attempts at each exam — but not an attempt at a lower level than your PIP sets (a higher one is fine).
A third attempt and beyond you pay yourself, and you cannot borrow from DUO for it.
Under the 2013 Act status holders could borrow up to €10,000 and never repay the loan.
Asylum status holders are never fined for missing the deadline, and the Raad van State (the highest administrative court) decided DUO cannot fine status holders or make them repay an integration loan (inburgeren.nl).

Everyone else: pay, or borrow from DUO

If you are not an asylum status holder — you came to live with a family member, for example — you either pay the course and exams yourself or borrow from DUO, but only for a school with the quality mark listed on zoekinburgerschool.nl. Course prices differ between schools, so ask (inburgeren.nl).

The loan	What DUO says
How much	DUO decides from your income of 2 years ago; a loan calculator is on inburgeren.nl. If your income has dropped since, a form lets DUO use the newer figure.
When you repay	from 6 months after you complete your integration
How long	monthly instalments over 10 years, collected from your bank account
Interest	fixed for 5 years once you finish — 2.29% for 2026, 3.28% for 2027
Lower payments	DUO checks whether you can pay a lower monthly amount when repayment starts

Source: how much can you borrow and paying back a loan on inburgeren.nl.

Other costs worth knowing

Childcare benefit. If your children go to childcare while you follow an integration or NT2 course at a listed school — or do the MAP, the PVT or the Z route's participation hours — you may get kinderopvangtoeslag from the Dienst Toeslagen (inburgeren.nl).
Travel. Some municipalities pay travel costs for a course outside your town — ask yours.
A paper diploma is free once; a duplicate costs €72. The digital diploma in Mijn diploma's is free and counts as a certified copy (diploma).
Naturalisation is a separate fee at the IND: €1,139 for one person, €1,454 with a partner (IND fees) — see Dutch for naturalisation.

Spend less on retakes. Every failed part costs another €50 and weeks of waiting for a new date. Test yourself first: our free level test and DUO's free practice exams show whether you are ready.

The money words in Dutch

de lening — loan; lenen — to borrow (lenen)
terugbetalen — to pay back; de termijn — instalment, period; de rente — interest
het inkomen — income; [verdienen](/conjugation/dutch/verdienen) — to earn; [sparen](/conjugation/dutch/sparen) — to save
de rekening, de factuur — bill, invoice; [betalen](/conjugation/dutch/betalen) — to pay; [kosten](/conjugation/dutch/kosten) — to cost
gratis — free; de toeslag — allowance

Pass the first time

16Word drills the words of every inburgering topic, 16 at a time, with audio and a game of Blocks between answers — so a retake fee stays in your pocket. Free to start.

Keep learning

All our Dutch exam guides

Frequently asked questions

How much does the inburgering exam cost?

€50 per exam. Under the 2021 Act you take five — reading, listening, writing, speaking and KNM — so €250; MAP and the participation statement are free. Under the 2013 Act ONA adds €40 (€290 in all).

How much does the Staatsexamen NT2 cost?

€50 per part, €200 for all four, for programme I and II alike.

Are the exams free for refugees?

Under the 2021 Act asylum status holders get their first two attempts at each exam free, and the municipality pays the course. Further attempts are paid, without a DUO loan.

How much can I borrow from DUO for inburgering?

DUO decides from your income of two years earlier; use the loan calculator on inburgeren.nl. You can borrow only for schools with the quality mark listed on zoekinburgerschool.nl.

When do I have to pay back the DUO loan?

From 6 months after you complete your integration, in monthly instalments over 10 years, with interest fixed for 5 years (2.29% for 2026, 3.28% for 2027).