General Frequently Asked Questions
When your application is complete, you will receive an email from us. From that moment on, an application takes 6 working weeks.
The costs of a credential evaluation depend on your situation. Are you a refugee and do you need to integrate into Dutch society (inburgering)? You can apply for 1 free credential evaluation. Please read more on the page Inburgering.
Do you want to work or study in the Netherlands? An application for a credential evaluation costs €148,83. This includes VAT. Please read more on the page To work or To study.
Which documents you need depends on your situation, the country where you graduated, and the reason of application.
Do you need to integrate into Dutch society (inburgering)? The page Inburgering explains which documents are required to apply for a credential evaluation.
Do you want to work in the Netherlands? The page To work explains which documents are required to apply for a credential evaluation.
Do you want to study in the Netherlands? The page To study explains which documents are required to apply for a credential evaluation.
Send an email with your questions to info@idw.nl within 6 weeks of the date stated on the credential evaluation.
Upload all documents you have of your education, such as a diploma or a list of subjects. Do you have other documents about your occupation? In that case upload these as well. After uploading these documents, please contact us. Please visit our contact page.
Depending on the documents you uploaded you will receive a Diplomawaardering, an Opleidingswaardering (EducationEvaluation), a Bericht geen waardering or an Indicatie Onderwijsniveau.
You can reset your password for My IDW. Please read here how you reset the password.
How you apply and which documents you need you can read on this page information for refugees from Ukraine.
Your credential evaluation remains available for 3 years. After 3 years, your personal data will be deleted by IDW and you will no longer be able to receive the previously issued credential evaluation.
Did you receive a credential evaluation more than 3 years ago?
Your credential evaluation is no longer available. Submit a new application for a credential evaluation.
Did you receive your credential evaluation less than 3 years ago?
Download the credential evaluation via your Mijn IDW account. A digital credential evaluation remains available for download for 3 years.
Frequently asked questions: Inburgering
When your application is complete, you will receive an email from us. From that moment on, an application takes 6 working weeks.
Do you apply due to inburgering, MAP or ONA? In that situation you do not need to upload any translations. Do you already have translations? Feel free to upload your translations.
Applying for a credential evaluation is completely free if:
- you are inburgeringsplichtig on or after 1 January 2015 and received the letter (Kennisgeving) Inburgeringsplicht Wet 2021 from DUO. If the citizen service number (BSN) is missing on the letter ‘Kennisgeving inburgeringsplicht’, you must send a scan of an official document containing the BSN. For example, a Dutch driver's license or an extract from the municipal register. The BSN usually also appears on the Dutch health insurance card;
- you are becoming a Dutch citizen (naturalisation);
- you have applied for a permanent residence permit.
Do these situations not apply to you? You can start a paid application. Do you want to work in the Netherlands? Then take a look at the page To work. Do you want to study in the Netherlands? Then take a look at the page To study.
Upload all documents you have of your education, such as a diploma or a list of subjects. Do you have other documents about your occupation? In that case upload these as well. After uploading these documents, please contact us. Please visit out contact page.
Depending on the documents you uploaded you will receive a Diplomawaardering, an Opleidingswaardering (EducationEvaluation), a Bericht geen waardering or an Indicatie Onderwijsniveau (ION).
Send an e-mail to info@idw.nl and tell us in which language you want to receive your explanation: Arabic, Farsi and/or French.
Frequently asked questions: To work
When your application is complete, you will receive an email from us. From that moment on, an application takes 6 working weeks.
Per application for a credential evaluation, one diploma is evaluated. An application for a credential evaluation costs € 148.83. This includes VAT. We do not know in advance whether Nuffic or SBB will issue the credential evaluation. If SBB issues the evaluation, we will return the VAT by transferring it to your bank account within 4 weeks of you receiving the evaluation.
A sworn translation of the required documents are necessary, if these are not issued in Dutch, English, German or French. Translations are not necessary if you are applying for inburgering. You can find sworn translators in the Register of Sworn Interpreters and Translators.
You can also upload a sworn translation from another country. Did you receive an English version of the documents from your educational institution? Then you do not need to submit a sworn translation. A copy of the documents in the original language and a copy of the English version are sufficient.
You are required to obtain a credential evaluation in order to be eligible for one of the following legal arrangements:
Do you not want to be eligible for one of these legal arrangements? In that case it is not mandatory to apply for a credential evaluation. Also, it is not always necessary.
Before applying for a credential evaluation, check whether your profession is regulated (protected) in the Netherlands, for example (para)medic, nurse or teacher. You can find out by checking the database of the European Commission.
Is your profession on the list? Then first contact the competent authority associated with that profession. They will tell you about the procedure you have to follow.
Is your profession missing from the list? Then yours is not a protected profession and you can apply for a credential evaluation directly.
You will not receive an invoice. You will receive a confirmation of receipt and a confirmation of payment in your name after you have submitted the application and paid the fee. If you receive a credential evaluation from Nuffic, you may request an invoice with their VAT number.
If your application is incomplete, even after we have requested the missing documents, we will close your application. The fee you paid will then be refunded, minus € 53 for administration charges. If you request to close the application , the fee you paid will also be refunded, minus the administration charges. You will not be refunded any amounts if you receive a Bericht geen waardering (Notification no evaluation).
Frequently asked questions: To study
When your application is complete, you will receive an email from us. From that moment on, an application takes 6 working weeks.
Per application for a credential evaluation, one diploma is evaluated. An application for a credential evaluation costs € 148.83. This includes VAT. We do not know in advance whether Nuffic or SBB will issue the credential evaluation. If SBB issues the evaluation, we will return the VAT by transferring it to your bank account within 4 weeks of you receiving the evaluation.
A sworn translation of the required documents are necessary, if these are not issued in Dutch, English, German or French. Translations are not necessary if you are applying for inburgering. You can find sworn translators in the Register of Sworn Interpreters and Translators.
You can also upload a sworn translation from another country. Did you receive an English version of the documents from your educational institution? Then you do not need to submit a sworn translation. A copy of the documents in the original language and a copy of the English version are sufficient.
It is not mandatory to apply for a credential evaluation. Also, it is not always necessary. What you should do depends on your situation.
Do you already know what you want to study in the Netherlands?
Please contact the Dutch educational institution. Ask whether you can be admitted to the program with your diploma and what you have to do for this. Most Dutch educational institutions receive free advice about the level of your diploma. You will then not receive a credential evaluation yourself.
A credential evaluation does not guarantee your right to admission or exemptions. This has to be decided by the educational institution. The institution may set additional requirements, such as a language test.
Not sure what you want to study in the Netherlands?
Not sure yet, but would you like to know the level of your diploma? Then you can request a credential evaluation. That's not free.
You will not receive an invoice. You will receive a confirmation of receipt and a confirmation of payment in your name after you have submitted the application and paid the fee. If you receive a credential evaluation from Nuffic, you may request an invoice with their VAT number.
If your application is incomplete, even after we have requested the missing documents, we will close your application. The fee you paid will then be refunded, minus € 53 for administration charges. If you request to close the application , the fee you paid will also be refunded, minus the administration charges. You will not be refunded any amounts if you receive a Bericht geen waardering (Notification no evaluation).