News item | 27-01-2022 | 17:19
Since January 1, 2022, about 500 people have received a letter from DUO that they are obliged to integrate under the Civic Integration Act 2021. For some of these people this was wrong. According to the law, they must integrate under the law from 2013. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) and partners in the implementation are working to restore this. DUO has temporarily halted the process of determining the integration obligation. This is what Minister Karien van Gennip (SZW) writes in a letter to the House of Representatives.
In 2019, the SZW concluded that for a certain group of people subject to an integration obligation, the date of notification by DUO is decisive for the start of the integration obligation. This conclusion was later incorrectly broadened to include the entire group of those subject to an integration obligation. As a result, some of the integrators have incorrectly received notifications for integration under the Civic Integration Act 2021 since 1 January last.
This group received a residence permit before 1 January 2022 and must therefore, according to the law, integrate under the Civic Integration Act 2013. This matters, because newcomers who integrate under the Civic Integration Act 2021 receive guidance from the municipality in the integration process. Under the old Civic Integration Act 2013, newcomers must arrange their own integration.
At the request of Minister Van Gennip, DUO has temporarily halted the process of imposing the integration obligation. The service is currently working on a change in the processes in order to be able to restart the integration correctly. DUO and SZW are also working with partners on a solution for people who have been wrongly placed under the 2021 Act.