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УКРReporting participation hours to the Dutch government: how it works for municipalities
Dutch municipalities do not report participation hours to one national desk: the Z-route completion goes to DUO through the Portal Inburgering after the final interview, and trajectory data goes to Statistics Netherlands (CBS) each quarter. A reliable system records hours at the source and feeds both without retyping.
What the national government wants to know
Under the Wet inburgering 2021, the municipality guides every person who is required to integrate: from the broad intake to the personal Plan Inburgering en Participatie (PIP) and the choice of a learning route. The aim of the law is that newcomers take part in Dutch society as quickly as possible. The national government wants to know whether that works, and for that it needs data from municipalities.
A heavy registration duty sits in the Z-route. According to DUO's conditions, that route consists of at least 800 hours of Dutch language and Knowledge of Dutch Society (KNM) lessons, at least 800 hours of participation including the participation statement track (PVT), and a final interview with the municipality. In its guide on participation in civic integration, Divosa writes that municipalities are obliged to keep an accurate record of those participation hours, because they have to show that the newcomer meets the requirements.
Two desks: DUO and CBS
A municipality delivers integration data to two national organizations: DUO for the execution per person, and CBS for the statistics across all trajectories. The table shows which data goes where, and when.
| Data flow | What | When | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| DUO, Portal Inburgering | PIP, learning route and level, attended language and KNM lesson hours, PVT signature, MAP completion, Z-route completion after the final interview | PIP within ten working days of adoption; changes as they occur | Manually in the portal (Plateau 1) |
| CBS, Statistiek Wet Inburgering | Person and trajectory data: intake, PIP date, learning route, start and end dates, PVT, MAP, fines | Every quarter, within four weeks of quarter end | XML file through the secure CBS data portal |
| Own accountability | Participation hours per participant, activity and partner organization, approved by the municipality | Continuously; at the final interview and for the annual accounts | Own registration and case management system |
| Policy information | Lead times, hours per month, dropout, share per route and per partner | Quarterly or yearly, for the executive board and the council | Reports from the own registration |
DUO: execution per newcomer
In the Portal Inburgering the municipality reports, per person, what DUO needs to follow the integration obligation. According to DUO's manual for the Portal Inburgering (June 2026 version), the PIP must be reported within ten working days of adoption, followed by the learning route, the attended language and KNM hours, the signing of the PVT and the completion of the MAP. For the Z-route, the municipality reports to DUO after the final interview, as Divosa writes in its guide on learning routes; the date of that interview becomes final after two weeks and ends the integration obligation. When a deadline is exceeded, DUO assesses the number of attended hours against the number of estimated hours.
What DUO receives are dates and totals. The substantiation, which participant made hours on which day at which organization and who approved them, is not in the portal. It stays with the municipality, and that is where every question from DUO, the auditor or the council ends up. That is why the municipality's own hour registration is not a side issue but the foundation under the report to DUO.
CBS: statistics across all trajectories
Every municipality delivers data each quarter to CBS for the Statistiek Wet Inburgering (SWI), which the Ministry of Social Affairs uses to monitor and evaluate the law. The SWI guidelines 2026 cite article 39 of the Wet inburgering 2021 as the legal basis and describe 38 variables, among them the PIP date, the learning route, the start and end date of the route, the PVT signature, the MAP final interview and any fines imposed. The delivery window opens right after the quarter and lasts at most four weeks. The file is an XML that is uploaded only through the secure CBS data portal.
The list of variables has no separate variable for participation hours; only the language and KNM hours from the intake phase are asked for. The statistics follow the steps of the trajectory, not the hours behind them. Anyone who wants to answer a question from the council or the auditor about hours made therefore needs their own source that is correct per participant and per activity.
Plateau 2: from manual to automated
Today the exchange with DUO still runs manually through the portal. That is changing. The VNG is working with DUO and COA on Realisatie Plateau 2 (RP2): automated, standardized message exchange between municipality, DUO and COA. The national project is in a pilot phase; the broader implementation is expected to start in the first half of 2027, after which municipalities can connect.
Municipalities receive budget through the December circular for connecting in 2027 and preparing in 2026.
For your choice of systems this means two things. The case management system that talks to DUO will need to handle the machine link. And every system in which participation hours originate, at the municipality or at a partner organization, must be able to deliver those hours cleanly to that case management system. A separate spreadsheet per partner cannot do that.
Five requirements for a participation-hours system
A system reports reliably when the hours that come out of it hold up without rework at DUO, CBS, the auditor and the participant. That takes five things.
- Registration at the source. The participant checks in at the time and place of the activity, for example with a QR code. Hours filled in from memory a week later cannot be justified.
- Approval with a trail. The municipality, or the organization it has mandated, approves hours. The system keeps who approved or corrected what, and when.
- Link to the target. Per participant, the hours registered are shown against the target in the PIP, so you see who is on track before the final interview approaches.
- Roles and GDPR. A partner organization sees only its own activities and participants; the citizen service number stays with the municipality. A data processing agreement and a DPIA belong to the setup, not to the aftercare. How to arrange that is in monitoring participation hours GDPR-proof.
- Interoperable. Totals per participant, per quarter and per partner organization must land in the municipality's case management system without manual work, and from there in the report to DUO and the quarterly delivery to CBS. More selection criteria are in eight criteria for municipalities.
From accountability to policy data
The same hours you keep in order for DUO and CBS tell the executive board and the council how the integration policy is working. Mind the word, though: social participation of newcomers is not the same as citizen participation. Tools for consultations and resident panels do not help here; you need the registration of participation hours.
The interim evaluation of the Wet inburgering (January 2026) names long waiting times before a trajectory starts, difficulty finding suitable participation places and a sluggish step into paid work. With your own registration you can show per municipality where that plays out: the time between the PIP and the first participation hour, the number of hours per participant per month, which partner organizations deliver hours, and where trajectories stall. Those are the indicators you steer a participation program with, and the ones the national government cannot yet pull from the statistics.
Where Taaly fits
Taaly is the digital integration assistant for newcomers, with hour registration for municipalities. Participants register participation hours with a QR code at the activity; the municipality or the partner organization it has designated approves the hours, and municipalities and partner organizations see the status in real time instead of afterwards. A missed check-in can be added by the participant in the app or by the case manager in the Taaly dashboard. If a participant with municipal access deletes their account, the registered hours stay available to the municipality for three years for accountability.
Taaly does not report anything to DUO or CBS itself; that remains the municipality's task from its own case management system. What Taaly does is keep the source in order. 12 municipalities register hours via Taaly, and in the first municipal pilot the hour-registration module delivered 80% less administration. Because language practice, activities through Taaly Meedoen and hour registration live in the same app, the participant sees for themselves how the hours grow toward the target.
See how hour registration works and request a demo for your municipality.
Frequently asked questions
Which systems report participation hours reliably to the Dutch national government?
No system reports participation hours directly to the national government. The municipality reports data per newcomer to DUO through the Portal Inburgering and delivers trajectory data to CBS every quarter. A reliable system records hours at the source, keeps who approved them and delivers totals per participant and per quarter to the municipality's case management system.
Does a municipality have to report participation hours to DUO?
Yes. Through the Portal Inburgering the municipality reports the PIP, the learning route, the attended language and KNM lesson hours, the PVT signature and the MAP completion, and it reports to DUO after the Z-route final interview. The substantiation of the 800 participation hours, per activity and per day, is not in the portal; the municipality must keep that record itself to show that the requirements were met.
What does a municipality deliver to CBS for the Statistiek Wet Inburgering?
Every quarter an XML file with person and trajectory data: among others the PIP date, the learning route, the start and end dates, the PVT, the MAP and any fines imposed. The delivery window lasts at most four weeks after the end of the quarter and runs only through the secure CBS data portal. The number of participation hours is not a variable in the statistics.
Can hour registration for participation obligations be automated?
Yes, for the most part. Check-in with a QR code at the activity, approval by the municipality or the mandated organization, and automatic totals per participant against the target replace retyping lists. The report to DUO stays manual until Plateau 2 is introduced; its broader implementation is expected in the first half of 2027.
How do you use participation data for municipal policy?
Take from your own registration the time between the PIP and the first participation hour, the number of hours per participant per month, the hours per partner organization and the point where trajectories stall. Those indicators show where the participation program falters and are usable for the executive board and the council. Citizen participation tools are not meant for this; this is about social participation of newcomers.