If it is up to Flemish Minister of Integration Gwendolyn Rutten, passing the integration exam should become a condition for a certain category of newcomers to obtain a residence permit. That authority does lie federally, but the Open VLD politician advocates introducing that prior condition in the future. She answered this in the Flemish Parliament to a question from Vlaams Belang MP Sam Van Rooy.
The Flemish government recently decided to organize language and integration courses for newcomers in countries of origin. The intention is that newcomers learn Dutch and follow an integration program before they travel to Flanders. In this way, the Flemish government wants to accelerate integration. “No time to waste,” is the philosophy, according to Minister Rutten. According to her, an initial pilot project is aimed at non-EU citizens, who are required to integrate and “whom we are sure will come here”.
Furthermore, according to the minister, the intention is not only to expand the pilot project, Rutten himself would like to go one step further. Even though the authority for granting residence permits lies at the federal level, Rutten himself would make passing the integration test a prior condition for obtaining a residence permit.
“There is a lot to be said for not only allowing a certain category of newcomers to take the course, but also making passing the integration exam a condition before you can enter our country and receive a valid residence permit,” says Rutten.
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