Integration test for immigrants starts before leaving home country

THE HAGUE - People from non-EU countries who want to settle in the Netherlands will need to complete integration tests. Starting in March, the tests will be conducted at a Dutch embassy or consulate in their home countries. The tests are a prerequisite and cover knowledge of the Dutch language and about Dutch society. The ‘examinations’ themselves will be reviewed as well since there still is controversy over the role of speech-recognition computers in the testing. The Dutch government is one of the first in the world to require a certain level of knowledge of prospective immigrants, especially since many who settled in the Netherlands in the past few years - mostly as family of people already living in the country – have great difficulty meeting integration requirements.