What to do if you receive an integration fine letter

Identify what the letter is asking you to do

Read the decision date, response deadline, integration law, and unfinished requirement. A warning or advance notice gives you a chance to check the records before a final decision; a final fine letter sets out the decision and how to challenge it. These notices are not interchangeable, so follow the instructions for the letter you actually received.

Compare official records with your own evidence

Check exam attempts, results, course hours, participation activities, and any approved extension against your letters, portal, school records, and municipal messages. If course attendance is missing, ask the school to complete the participation declaration supplied with the notice and send it to DUO before it decides. Keep proof of submission.

Fine rules differ between the 2013 and 2021 laws and between migrant categories. DUO may consider the recorded progress and qualifying course hours when calculating a late-completion fine. Asylum status holders do not receive DUO late-completion fines under the described exception, but some municipal duties continue. Check your own case rather than applying another person’s outcome.

Ask for an extension or object within the stated time

If illness or another accepted circumstance affected your progress, check the extension rules and send the evidence through the route in your letter. If the final decision is wrong, first contact DUO to explain the discrepancy. If it is not resolved, use the formal objection instructions. The objection period is limited, so use the date and deadline printed in the decision and do not wait for an informal conversation to finish.

Keep a complete record while you continue

Save the notice, course attendance evidence, results, extension decisions, and copies of every message or form you submit. A fine does not usually remove the requirement to finish the outstanding parts; the decision may set a new period for doing so. Ask the issuing authority what remains due and which dates apply after the decision.