Information request (ad-hoc query)* on integration requirements for migrants from non-EU/EFTA countries (third countries)** prior to their arrival in one of the EU Member States or EMN Observer Countries.
EMN NL ad-hoc query | Integration
Information request: ‘Integration requirement prior to admission of third-country nationals for the purpose of residence’
24 October 2024
Study period -June–July 2024
Participating EU Member States - Austria (AT), Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Croatia (HR), Cyprus (CY), Czechia (CZ), Estonia (EE), Finland (FI), France (FR), Germany (DE), Greece (GR), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), the Netherlands (NL), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Slovakia (SK), Slovenia (SI), Spain (ES), Sweden (SE)
Participating EMN Observer Countries - Serbia (RS)
Background and scope
- To apply for family reunification in the Netherlands, family members from non-EU/EFTA countries require a provisional residence permit (MVV, also known as a Schengen D visa). Anyone subject to the MVV requirement and aged between 18 and 65 must pass the ‘civic integration examination abroad’ before travelling to the Netherlands.
- Certain nationalities are exempt from the MVV requirement and the additional examination requirement (the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Monaco, Vatican City).
- At the time of writing, legal proceedings concerning this exemption are pending before the Council of State. According to an earlier court ruling (16 April 2024), exempting certain nationalities from the civic integration examination is discriminatory (including Article 2 of the ICERD and Article 14 of the ECHR).
- At the request of the Dutch government, EMN Netherlands issued an information request to map:
- whether other EU Member States and/or EMN Observer Countries apply integration requirements to migrants from outside the EU/EFTA prior to their arrival;
- what these requirements entail and for which residence purposes they apply;
- whether certain nationalities are exempt.
EMN publication
- EMN compilation containing the full responses of EU Member States: ‘Integration requirement prior to admission of third-country nationals for the purpose of residence (pdf)’
EMN Netherlands publications
- Summary of EU Member States’ responses: ‘Integration requirement prior to admission of third-country nationals for the purpose of residence (pdf)’
- News item 'The Netherlands the only EU Member State with an examination requirement abroad for family members from outside the EU/EFTA', 24 October 2024
*An information request (ad-hoc query) is an EMN instrument used to collect information on migration and asylum policy in EU Member States and EMN Observer Countries.
**EFTA: European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Countries: Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland.
