From January 1, 2022, Turkish citizens who move to the Netherlands for permanent residence are required to integrate. Prior to that (from May 1, 2020), only Turkish citizens who came to the Netherlands seeking asylum and their family members were required to take naturalization exams.
Until 2020, neither refugees nor immigrants from Turkey took exams in Dutch language, social studies and orientation in the Dutch labor market. They were in a special position and were in no hurry to learn the Dutch language and laws, like immigrants from other countries (integration exams were introduced in 2007). Since 2022, Turkey has been excluded from the privileged list (for reasons below).
Who is it now? Exceptions apply to those who have citizenship:
- One of the EU countries;
- Liechtenstein;
- Norway
- Iceland;
- Switzerland.
Also persons are not required to integrate:
- under the age of 18;
- over retirement age;
- have lived in the Netherlands for 8 years or longer between the ages of 5 and 16;
- with national diplomas, certificates or certificates of completion of a specific study program in Dutch;
- temporarily arrived in the country for study or work.
Turkey is not a member of the EU - why were the Turks obliged to integrate only now?
The possibility of Turkey's entry into the EU has been discussed for several years.
In 1963, the country signed an Association Agreement between the EEC (European Economic Community) and Turkey, and in 1964 it became an “associate member” of the European Union and its predecessors.
Turkey has been a candidate for EU membership since 1999. The process of negotiations on Turkey's accession to the EU started in 2005, but is still far from complete. Opponents of accession are confident that Turkey does not respect the key principles of democracy. Reasons: Article 301 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits "insulting Turkish identity", and the large role of the army in the country's politics.
In 2016, there was an attempted coup d'état in Turkey. The government suppressed the putsch. Soon, “purges” began in the country among civil servants, journalists, judges, the military and in the field of education, and refugees from Turkey poured into Europe. A large part of them fell to the share of the Netherlands. This caused new controversy regarding the integration exams. Lack of knowledge of the language and laws of the Netherlands has become a problem for a large number of refugees.
As a result, the D66 and CDA parties said they had found a legal solution that allows imposing an integration obligation on Turkish citizens, despite the fact that Turkey is an “associate member” of the European Union.
Publication Date: 13.12.2021
