So I received my residence permit last January, and expected to be starting Inburgering shortly after. I went to the office which runs Inburgering here in Rotterdam with my Dutch partner that week to arrange my start, they took my information, and said they would sent me an invitation in the mail for an appointment. 1 month later, I got an invitation, for 1 March. So we went in together on that date, it was with my contact person, all he did was asked a few questions and then explained that I would receive an invitation in the mail in 3 weeks, it would be for my orientation where for 6 weeks I would come in once per week, they would test my learning aptitude and my current level of Dutch, and then after that I would be able to start the course. He did not say if the course has continuous starts, or only a few per year. I arrived in Holland last August, and at the rate things are going it looks like I could easily be in Holland for over a year before starting any language classes.
It has now been 6 weeks since my meeting with the contact person, and still no sign. My partner called him 2 weeks ago to find out what is happening, he said that I'm "in the system" and we would hear back by the end of last week, we haven't heard back. My partner is calling again today, but we're both very irritated, as I need to know things such as how long they think it will take for me to get to Staatsexam level and what hours I will be in class, so that I can do some career planning so that my partner isn't stuck supporting me for longer than he has to. Ideally I'd like to be able to at least work a part-time retail job in the near future, so that we're not a one-income family. And it hit my partner the other day too that there may be no language classes in July/August because of summer holidays, and I really hope this isn't the case!
If we weren't so tight on money right now, it would be tempting to say stuff it and enroll at Volksuniversiteit or similar. I have been spending the last 6 months doing self-study while my partner is at work, as well as practicing wherever I can, so I think I might actually have myself up to an A2 or B1 level now, but still, it's not enough for me to work. But then again, if I can test into at least Volksuniversiteit level 3, then it's very tempting to pay extra and just go for that, especially as once I've finished level 3 then that's Staatsexam Level 1, which is enough for a menial job, with level 5 being enough for Staatsexam Level 2, which is enough for a job that uses my degree. I really don't know.
I don't know anyone else who has had to do Inburgering, so just very curious about how normal or abnormal my experience so far is. I don't want this to be a negative thread at all, as besides this my experience with Holland has been the best experience of my life, but then again, nothing is perfect and this is the biggest imperfection that I've found.
Just needed to vent, and I'm curious what others have experienced, especially those who dealt with Rotterdam Gemeente. Dank je wel, en succes met leren iedereen! :-)
