All you need to know about the basic civic integration examination 'machtiging van voorlopig verblijf' or MVV test.

1. What is the MVV test?

If you come from a country outside of the EU and you want to join a partner or spouse in the Netherlands, you have to apply for an MVV with the Dutch consulate or embassy in your home country. Once you have successfully passed the MVV test, and the related documentation is approved, you are granted permission to enter the Netherlands with your partner or spouse and begin the official civic integration and examiation process, as described from article 1 in this series.
If you do not have a Dutch representative body in your home country, you can arrange to complete the process in a neighbouring country or region that has a resident body. 

2. The exam consist of three parts:

Part 1: Reading and word recognition

The exam is done on a computer, consists of 2 types of exercises and you are given 35 minutes to complete it in.

The 2 types of exercises:
In the first type you will be shown a word, phrase or sentence in text and have to match it with one of 3 or 4 audio options played back to you.
or
An audio word, phrase or sentense will be played to you while and you have to select the matching text from 3 or 4 options provided.
Both options can be combined as part of the test.
In the second section, you will be given six texts to read based on employment, education or daily life. Once you have read this its time to complete an electronic multiple choice questionaire with 3 to 4 options per answer based on the text.

Part 2: speaking

You will be given 12 questions which you have to answer verbally, as well as 12 sentences that you need to verbally complete, all withing 30 minutes. Your answers are recorded by the computer for evaluation by an examinator.

Kind of questions you can expect :
Where do you live?
What do you eat for breakfast?
With whom are you going to stay in the Netherlands?
Examples of sentences you have to complete :
I go to work every day, I find that .....
Before I go to bed, I put my ring ....
For breakfast I eat ....

Part 3: 'Kennis van de Nederlandse maatschappij', 'KNM' or Knowledge of the Dutch society.

The KNM section is about your knowledge of the Netherlands. In the test you will receive questions about life in the Netherlands, how people interact and what their habits are. You will also get questions about other things that are good to know if you are moving to the Netherlands.
This test is also done on a computer, has 30 questions with an allocated time of 30 minutes to complete. In each question you are shown a photo on screen with an audio question played back about the photo and you answer the questions on an electronic mutliple choice questionaire.

3. The results

The reading comprehension exam and the KNS components get automatically assessed with your results given to you upon completion. The pass rate is 50% on each individual section. The verbal exam is assessed by an official or examinator who evaluates the recordings and feedback times can vary depending on the body you are working through.

4. How can you prepare for this exam?

The Dutch government offers a self study package that can be found here. This package will help in your preparations for the basic integration exam.

Here you can find some example exams here to test your progress.

You can also contact us for online Dutch lessons and our native trainers can not only teach you the language, but assist with answering questions and even suggest some programs that you may find interesting. To sign up click here...