I have been an expat for some 10 years now, following interesting life and work opportunities around the world. In the course of that decade, I've had the dubious pleasure of dealing with immigration authorities of several countries, both as a native and as a guest. This has made the study of immigration procedures into somewhat of a hobby of mine.
One of the most important takeaways is that living and working abroad is great life experience. Meeting new people and facing new cultural challenges always gave me an adrenaline rush, so I enjoy it to the fullest.
A close second is that it helps a lot to stay on top of what the local laws and customs expect you to do when you are an immigrant. I am fairly certain to have assembled enough material about it to write at least a lengthy brochure if not a whole book. While this may happen one day, provided I muster up the determination needed to do so, and that I actually remember and stay relevant with what I know, here are some useful bits that can be readily used.
To indulge the impatient, and cater to the curious, the links are given first. The explanation of what this is follows afterwards.
It is an optional step in the Dutch naturalisation process. It can be used as proof of the integration into Dutch society. It can therefore be used to invoke one's right to apply for the Dutch citizenship, provided some other conditions are fulfilled, too. This test waives the one who passes it from the obligation to do the full-fledged Dutch naturalisation exam (inburgeringsexamen). Which, in turn, is just one out of many steps one has to go through in order to be granted Dutch citizenship.
In 2006, I took the immigration waiver test. Turns out that once I went out of the testing room, I remembered a lot of the questions from that test and decided to write my experiences up for the world to read. It has come to my attention that people have found it very useful in the test preparation, so it was prepared to live on, on the Internet.
So I decided to put my experiences up for everyone to read, since the test is very under-represented on the Internet. And, given that barring some exceptional situations you can only take it once1, it makes sense to prepare for it well. Not much has been written officially about how to prepare for the the short waiver test. If you look for it on the Internet, your search won't turn up much2. In contrast, there's lot of material that explains what the test is; unfortunately that doesn't help you to prepare for it.
Most of the time the search hits about the test have to do with people inquiring about the test on various expat forums. The answers they get sometimes aren't exactly stellar, as they lack the precision and detail. Or they mix fact with fiction, so it's not easy to figure out what's a joke and what not. The example practice tests you may come across are, frankly, not the least bit illustrative of the whole test. There are some fairly detailed test expositions, though so it's only fair to mention them too.
As the regular immigration tests take way more time and money to prepare for and pass, the short waiver test is a nice option that one has to shorten and cheapen the whole process.
But there is a catch. You can only take the test once. If you pass, you are in the clear, and can use the certificate thus obtained as proof of your integration in the Dutch society. If you fail, however, you can not retake it, and have to think of another way to offer proof of societal integration.
There is another catch, which to my mind is more significant. The test contains questions about many aspects of living in the Netherlands, including ones that your lifestyle may have nothing to do with. If, for example, you are a single student who spends most of the free time socializing or traveling, you may find questions about raising a family, or getting kids into school, or getting financing for kids' studies outside of your experience. This is, in fact, a piece of very specific knowledge that even my native Dutch friends weren't so sure about. I see no other way to prepare for answering this sort of questions but to look them up explicitly.
There are other ways. The short waiver test is not the only way one can simplify the naturalization process. The certificate of the state language exam, known as NT2 (Staatsexamen NT2), can also be used in lieu of the naturalisation test. But, the NT2 is covered way better on the Internet than the short test is, and there is an abundance of information and testing material around. You can even go and buy some in your nearest bookstore. So I won't go into detail about it. Unless, of course, someone asks me to do it.
Important. I am not a lawyer. The information presented here isn't by any account legal advice. It is neither intended to be presented, nor understood as legal advice. If you consider entering the naturalization process, you will do yourself a favor to talk to a good immigration lawyer.
1. Reportedly, a person that goes under the alias ev3nthorizon actually got allowed to try for the test twice, due to problems in the test setup, after having complained to the Ministry of Education and receiving a permit to retake the exam.
2. This has been true many times that I checked, up to the time of this writing. The situation has seemingly improved, as I've been able to find some worthwhile reads on the topic.