Do you have an asylum residence permit? If so, you will not be charged a penalty for your civic integration loan, nor will you be required to repay the loan
Share on social media:
Do you have an asylum residence permit and are you covered by the 2013 Dutch Civic Integration Act? If so, you will no longer have to pay a fine if you have not completed your civic integration on time. Nor will you have to repay your civic integration loan. In this article, you can find out what this means for you.
Who does this apply to?
This concerns people with an asylum residence permit who are covered by the 2013 Dutch Civic Integration Act. These are people who were required to start their civic integration programme before 1 January 2022.
Under this Act, people with a residence permit could borrow money to cover the cost of their civic integration course and exams. This is known as the civic integration loan.
Find out more about
No fine if you have not completed your civic integration on time
On 18 February 2026, the Council of State ruled that this judgement also applies to earlier decisions taken under the 2013 Dutch Civic Integration Act. This means that DUO must refund some of the fines that have been paid. Any outstanding fines will be written off.
Most people are now completing their civic integration programme under the 2021 Dutch Civic Integration Act. Under this Act, DUO no longer imposes fines on people with an asylum residence permit if they are late in completing their civic integration programme. However, municipalities may still impose a fine in exceptional circumstances. This may be the case, for example, if someone refuses to cooperate with the civic integration programme at all. The municipality must always take the individual’s personal circumstances into account.
You do not have to repay the civic integration loan
Under the 2013 Dutch Civic Integration Act, people with an asylum residence permit could take out a loan to pay for their civic integration programme. This loan is written off if the person completes the civic integration programme on time. If you completed the civic integration programme late, you were required to repay (part of) the loan. The Council of State has also ruled that DUO may no longer reclaim the civic integration loan from these asylum seekers. Compulsory civic integration for people with an asylum residence permit must be free of charge.
DUO is therefore launching a reimbursement scheme. This scheme applies to people with residence status under the 2013 Civic Integration Act who have paid a fine to DUO, have already started repaying their loan, or have paid both a fine and (part) of the loan.
What if you have already paid a fine or received a letter from DUO?
If you have paid a fine because you did not complete your civic integration programme on time, DUO will refund this fine.
Have you received a letter from DUO regarding a fine or the repayment of your civic integration loan? If so, you no longer need to pay anything.
In the autumn of 2026, you will receive a personal letter from DUO. This letter will explain what is going to happen and what you need to do. You do not need to do anything yourself at this stage.
DUO expects to begin the reimbursement scheme in the autumn of 2026. Around 3,300 people with asylum seeker status may be due a refund.
You must continue with your civic integration programme
If you are still undergoing the civic integration programme, you must continue with your course, exams and other parts of the programme. Civic integration is still compulsory. If you have an asylum residence permit, DUO will no longer impose a fine if you complete the civic integration programme late, and if you have a loan from DUO, you will not have to repay it if you complete the civic integration programme late.
Would you like to read more about civic integration?