Background:

In the Netherlands, third-country nationals wishing to apply for family reunification need a provisional residence permit (mvv) and/or a residence permit. The mvv is a Schengen D visa for stays longer than three months in the Netherlands. Some countries are exempt from the mvv: US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Monaco, Vatican City, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.

To apply for a provisional residence permit (Schengen D visa) for family reunification, the third-country family member must pass an integration exam. This exam includes basic questions on Dutch society and a language test at A2 level. An applicant with the nationality of a country exempt from the mvv is also exempt from the requirement to pass the integration exam abroad. If the main person (the family member residing in the Netherlands) has a residence permit for a temporary purpose of stay such as study or employment, the applicant is also exempt from this requirement.

At this moment there is a case against this exam before the highest administrative court; the complaint is that the civic integration exam abroad is discriminatory by making a non-justified difference between nationalities. In order to inform the court, the Netherlands is looking for information from other Member States, which could have a civic integration exam abroad or other integration requirements prior to admission for the purpose of residence.

Respondents:

24 EMN Member Countries (including BE) provided a public answer to this ad hoc query.

Findings:

A preliminary analysis of the results of the ad hoc query shows that:

• Of the 24 responding countries, only 4 (AT, CY, DE and NL) report imposing integration requirements prior to entry (i.e., before admitting third-country nationals to stay). BE has no such requirement.
   
• In countries where these requirements exist, they consist of proof of language knowledge (AT, CY and DE). Only in NL do the requirements also include knowledge of Dutch society in addition to language knowledge.
   
• These requirements usually apply only for certain purposes of stay (work, family reunification, higher education).
   
• In CY, DE and NL, some nationalities are exempted from this integration requirement. In CY, the exemption applies to third-country nationals whose mother tongue is English, as the language requirement is Greek or English.

For further information, please read the summary attached above. For more details, please read the compilation of answers also attached above.