When can you apply for a free credential evaluation?
You can apply for one free credential evaluation if one of these situations applies to you:
- you have to go through inburgering on or after 1 January 2015 and received the letter from DUO. This letter should have one of the following names: Kennisgeving Inburgeringsplicht, Kennisgeving Inburgeringsplicht Wet 2021, Inburgeringsplicht Wet 2021 of Overzicht Inburgeringsgegevens Wet 2021;
- you are becoming a Dutch citizen (naturalisation);
- you have applied for a permanent residence permit.
If you are becoming a Dutch citizen or you have applied for a permanent residence permit DUO decides if you can request a Diplomawaardering for free. We will check this with DUO after you have submitted your application.
If you already received your inburgeringsdiploma, you cannot request a free credential evaluation anymore. You can apply for a credential evaluation, but you need to pay. Do you want to study in the Netherlands? Please continue on our page ‘To study’. Do you want to work in the Netherlands? Please continue on our page ‘To work’.
Required documents
Which documents are required to depends on your situation. To apply for a credential evaluation you at least need to following documents:
Colour copy of your documents: |
'Inburgering' |
Naturalisation |
Permanent residence permit |
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Copy of your residence permit (front and back), which must be valid for at least 3 more months |
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Copy of the letter from DUO with one of the following names: Kennisgeving Inburgeringsplicht, Kennisgeving Inburgeringsplicht Wet 2021, Inburgeringsplicht Wet 2021 of Overzicht Inburgeringsgegevens Wet 2021 |
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Copy of an official document which states your Citizen Service Number (BSN)
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Only if the Citizen Service Number (BSN) is missing on the letter from DUO |
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Copy of the credential you want evaluated |
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Copy of the list of subjects in the year you took the examination (for secondary school certificate or vocational training) |
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Copies of the lists of subjects in each year of study (for a university degree) |
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Sometimes you have to upload extra documents, for example:
- for many countries there are extra documents you need to upload. On this page you can read which extra documents you need to upload in My IDW per country.
- a copy of your bachelor diploma and a list of marks or grades if you request a credential evaluation for a Master's;
- a copy of the documents from your previous education if you have received credit transfer for the education for which you are requesting a diploma evaluation;
- upload also a proof of change of name if your name on your passport, resident permit or id-card is not the same as on your diploma. This is for example a marriage certificate.
Do you have (or have you held) the refugee status and are you missing required documents?
Are you unable to safely request missing documents from the country where you studied because of your refugee situation? You can still apply for a credential evaluation.We will assess whether we can provide a credential evaluation based on the documents you do have.
Do you have (or have you held) the refugee status and no longer have any documents?
If you no longer have any documents from your education and cannot safely request them because of your refugee situation, please indicate this in your application. We will then assess whether we can provide you with an Indication of Educational Level.
Indication of Educational Level (Indicatie Onderwijsniveau)
An Indication of Educational Level is an estimate of the Dutch education level to which your education is comparable. Unlike a credential evaluation, this estimate is not based on documents from your education. An employer or educational institution decides whether an Indication of Educational Level is sufficient for the purpose for which you intend to use it.
How to apply for a credential evaluation when you need to integrate in the Netherlands?
1.
Submitting an application
2.
Check of your documents
3.
Following your application
4.
Receiving your credential evaluation
5.
Questions or complaint?
1. Submitting an application
Submit your application via the website Mijn IDW.nl. After activating your account, you can start the application. Fill in all the information and upload the required documents. There is no need to send in (original/certified/notarised) documents by post or email.
On this page you find the step-by-step instructions for My IDW.
2. Check of your documents
We check whether your application is complete or not within 5 working days. You receive an e-mail from us if we need more documents. To see which documents are missing you log in in your account in Mijn IDW.
When your application has been completed, it will be sent to our expertise centre. We will send you an email at this point.
3. Following your application
You can follow the status of your application in your account.
It may be that the credential evaluator has to request information from other countries, or original documents or other extra documentation from you. You will receive a message if that is necessary.
4. Receiving your credential evaluation
When your credential evaluation is ready, you will receive an email from us. From that time you will be able to download your credential evaluation from your account. You can download it in your My IDW account by clicking on the PDF-file in My IDW.
The digital signature is not visible in the browser, but it is visible when you download and open the document in Adobe.
You can download the credential evaluation more than once; it remains available in your My IDW account for 3 years.
5. Questions or complaint?
Do you have a question about your credential evaluation? Submit your request on Mijn IDW.
Is there an error in your credential evaluation, such as a spelling error in your name or the wrong date of birth? Submit your request on Mijn IDW. You will receive a corrected evaluation.
Do you disagree with your credential evaluation? Within 6 working weeks after the date mentioned on the credential evaluation, you can submit a complaint. Submit your request on Mijn IDW. The handling time for a complaint is 10 working weeks.
Start an application in My IDW
Explanation in a video
Watch the animation video about a free credential evaluation with inburgering
Video with explanation in English
Video with explanation in Arabic