Online Company Registration in the Netherlands by Electronic Deed

No. Founders of a BV by electronic notarial deed must be nationals of an EU member state (art. 2:175a lid 1 BW), and the government's reply to parliament treats the EU-recognised eID as a separate condition, not a substitute. The route open to you is the paper deed in Dutch, signed by an attorney under your written power of attorney.

Online, only if every founder is a national of an EU member state (art. 2:175a lid 1 BW); three founders means three EU nationals. Without travelling, yes, whatever your nationality: the paper deed in Dutch is executed before a notary in the Netherlands and signed by an attorney under a written power of attorney (art. 2:176 lid 1 BW).

No. Online incorporation is the electronic notarial deed you sign yourself over a secure video link with a qualified signature (art. 2:175a BW). Remote formation usually means the paper deed, signed in the Netherlands by an attorney under your written power of attorney (art. 2:176 lid 1 BW). The language of the deed and the contributions allowed differ too.

The statute sets ceilings, not a promise: the notary completes the incorporation within five working days when only natural persons found on the model deed, and within ten in other cases, counted from the later of a complete file and payment on the shares (art. 2:175a lid 3 BW). The KVK registration falls outside that clock.

No. A BV needs a notarial deed, and the KVK charges a one-off registration fee of EUR 85.15 in 2026 (art. 5 Financiële regeling handelsregister 2019). Notary fees are not regulated; the KVK indicates EUR 500 to EUR 1,500 for an incorporation, depending on the notary. Our own fee is quoted on request.

Yes. A company founds through its authorised director, who is identified by eID and signs electronically, as the explanatory memorandum describes, and the English model deed provides for it. The ten-working-day ceiling applies because the founders are not solely natural persons (art. 2:175a lid 3 BW). We check the company's register extract and signatory first.

No. On the electronic route only cash contributions may be agreed (art. 2:191a lid 4 BW). A contribution in kind, such as forming a holding company by contributing the shares of an existing company, needs the paper deed in Dutch (art. 2:176 lid 1 BW), which an attorney can sign for you under a written power of attorney.

Only a person working under the executing notary's responsibility, under an electronic power of attorney you grant in the notarial system (art. 53f lid 1 Wna); that power meets the written-form rule (art. 2:176 lid 3 BW). A formation agent, including us, cannot be your attorney on the online route. On the paper route an attorney can sign for you.

Yes, on the electronic route (art. 2:176 lid 2 BW), using the optional model deed or a deed the notary drafts. A BV incorporated by English electronic deed may later amend its articles in English as well (art. 2:234 lid 4 BW). The paper deed of incorporation is executed in Dutch (art. 2:176 lid 1 BW).

An eID at eIDAS assurance level high with a qualified electronic signature (in practice ItsMe, the only Dutch means at that level), a chip-readable passport or ID card, the ReadID Ready app, a phone with a camera and equipment that keeps you visible and audible. Without a suitable eID, the notary explains the other ways to incorporate a BV.

Yes. The notary may require your physical presence on suspicion of identity fraud, or where there is doubt about your legal capacity or your authority to represent a company (art. 53g leden 2 and 3 Wna). The notary's duty to refuse services also applies unchanged to an online incorporation (art. 21 lid 2 Wna).

No bank statement is required: art. 2:203a BW, which asked for one, was repealed on 1 October 2012. The statute sets no minimum capital (art. 2:178 BW), payment on shares may be deferred (art. 2:191 lid 1 BW), and the English model deed issues shares with nothing paid up. The bank account follows registration.

A BV is incorporated by notarial deed before a Dutch notary, who then files it with the KVK Business Register and registers its UBOs within one week of the deed (art. 20 lid 1 Hrw 2007). The deed can be signed online only when every founder is an EU national; otherwise the paper route applies.

As a founder, yes: business.gov.nl confirms you can start a business in the Netherlands while you live abroad. The BV itself is different: its seat must be in the Netherlands (art. 2:177 lid 3 BW), and it needs a postal address, because the KVK sends the BV's KVK number there by letter.

Yes. A residence permit is needed only if you move to the Netherlands, not to start a business there from abroad. Online incorporation by electronic deed is open to EU nationals; every other founder uses the paper deed by written power of attorney. The KVK appointment on official checklists belongs to self-registered forms, not to a BV.