In future, people who want to settle in the Netherlands from another country will have to sign a participation contract. The new resident of the country thus indicates that he endorses Dutch fundamental rights and the rule of law. The rules apply to all people, including people from other EU countries, Turkey and the former Netherlands Antilles.
Integration in the Netherlands for all newcomers
Minister Asscher also requires newcomers from the European Union, Turkey and the former Netherlands Antilles to integrate. Although they do not fall under the Civic Integration Act, the minister believes it is important that they also quickly adopt the values and norms and ways of life of the Netherlands. The municipalities will have to come up with an approach for this.
Integration must be stricter
Asscher also believes that the integration requirements for migrants from outside the EU should be carefully examined and sometimes made stricter. This applies, among other things, to work, but also to the language test. It was previously known that, according to some, the language test is not satisfactory. People can pass the multiple choice questions very well, while their Dutch skills are very poor.
Integration falters
The measures arise from the fact that integration would not be successful from a socio-cultural point of view. For many Dutch people of Turkish or Moroccan descent, Dutch is still not a language they speak or write fluently. The criminality of Moroccans and Antilleans would also play a role, as would the fact that these groups have a major language disadvantage and too small a proportion of them have work.
New integration problems by Eastern Europeans
In addition to the existing groups, new problems arise in 2013 with people from Eastern Europe. According to the minister, these new integration problems will only increase if Romanians and Bulgarians are also allowed to work in the Netherlands in 2014.
What is integration?
The Dutch Integration Act prescribes that immigrants who come to the Netherlands or already live here have the obligation to integrate. To do this, they must follow an integration course and take an integration exam.
The integration exam
Integration means that someone can speak and write the Dutch language and knows how things work in our society. Whether someone has sufficient knowledge of this will be proven during the integration exam. Anyone who has passed that exam is officially integrated. In order to pass, the person in question can first take an integration course, but this is not necessary. The chance of success then increases.
Who all needs to integrate?
People who need to integrate are:
- People who already lived in the Netherlands before January 1, 2007 and who were not newcomers on December 31, 2006 according to the old Newcomers Integration Act.
- People who came to live in the Netherlands on or after January 1, 2007 or who were newcomers on December 31, 2006 were newcomers according to the old Integration Act.
- People who have work related to a religion or a church, such as priests or imams.
People who do not yet have to integrate in 2013
People who do not yet have to integrate in 2013 are:
- Persons with a Dutch passport
- People from the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland;
- Persons under 18
- People who are 65 years or older
- People who lived in the Netherlands for 8 years or more when they were required to attend school
- People who come to the Netherlands temporarily for study or work
Exemption from the integration obligation
There are also people who receive an exemption from the integration obligation. These are people who:
- Have a psychological or physical disability and therefore cannot pass the exam
- If the municipality realizes that someone cannot pass the integration exam, despite the fact that the person in question has done enough
- People who can demonstrate that they are already sufficiently integrated can ask the municipality to grant an exemption
- The exemption is granted by the mayor and aldermen in the municipality in which a person lives.
Voluntary integration
Some people do not have to, but still want to integrate. They can sometimes receive an integration facility from their municipality, whereby the municipality then pays for the integration course and/or the exam in full or in part.