DAFT Visa: Dutch Residence for US Entrepreneurs

No to both. The EUR 4,500 is the minimum invested capital for a sole proprietorship or a BV, and an NV needs at least EUR 11,250. It is invested in the business, not lodged. Borrowed capital does not count, and the IND withdraws the permit if the capital falls below the floor for your form.

The IND publishes no approval rate for treaty permits on the pages we read, so we quote none. What the IND checks is known: your treaty situation, capital at or above the floor and evidenced for your form, the refusal patterns in the Aliens Circular, and every licence your business needs.

The Aliens Circular refuses an applicant who is on the payroll but lives outside the Netherlands, or who invests money in a company without carrying on business activities. The treaty permit is for running your own business here. Whether salaried work on the side is allowed is not settled on the official pages we read.

The IND has a statutory 90 days to decide, extendable to at most six months; an incomplete file gets two weeks to complete, which extends the period by two weeks. Before filing, the business is registered and, on the sole-proprietorship route, a bank account opened, which often takes 2 to 8 weeks. No official total exists.

Either form can carry a treaty permit; the form decides the floor and the evidence. A sole proprietorship needs at least EUR 4,500 shown on the business bank statement with an opening balance; a BV needs at least 25 percent of its paid-up capital, at least EUR 4,500, shown in the deed. One sole proprietorship per person.

DAFT is the market's name for the residence permit the IND grants to US nationals under art. 3.30 Vb, on the basis of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation signed at The Hague on 27 March 1956. The treaty has been in force since 5 December 1957, and the consolidated text sets no end date.

You need US nationality and one of the treaty situations: trade between the two countries, or developing and directing an enterprise with substantial capital. The capital must be your own and at or above the floor for your legal form, and your business must hold every licence it needs before the IND decides.

The IND accepts trade between the Netherlands and the United States, an enterprise with substantial capital, representing a US company here in a key position, and a liberal profession unless it involves a public task, healthcare or public safety. A limited partner of a CV is outside the treaty, and a regulated business needs its licences first.

The invested capital starts at EUR 4,500 (an NV at least EUR 11,250). State fees in 2026: EUR 423.00 per IND application and EUR 85.15 for KVK registration. A BV adds the notary, which the KVK estimates at EUR 500 to 1,500. Family members pay their own IND fees. Our own fee is quoted on request.

No. The United States is on the list of nationalities exempt from the MVV, the provisional residence permit (Aliens Regulation, Annex 2), so there is no consulate procedure before you travel. A US national is also not refused for lacking a TB examination (art. 3.79 Vb).

Yes. The spouse and unmarried minor children of a treaty permit holder, whatever their nationality, are not refused for want of income. Each files their own application: in 2026 the IND fee is EUR 254.00 for a partner and EUR 85.00 for a child under 18. We prepare their files alongside yours.

The first grant runs for at most two years, and each renewal for at most five (art. 3.58 Vb). A renewal costs EUR 423.00 in 2026 and has the same 90-day decision period. Renew before the permit runs out, and keep the capital above the floor for your form throughout.

The treaty permit has a non-temporary purpose, so after five years of lawful residence you can apply for permanent residence; it can be refused if you have not met the civic-integration requirement. The 2026 fee is EUR 254.00 and the decision period six months. Starting a business gives no Dutch citizenship.

Set up the vehicle first: register the sole proprietorship at a KVK appointment, or have a notary execute the BV deed. Then assemble the capital evidence and a KVK extract describing your activities, and file the application with the IND, paying EUR 423.00 per applicant. Family applications go in alongside yours.