Dutch American Friendship Treaty (DAFT) Visa
In this post I share some information on the DAFT Visa and how you can apply for it, leaving the United States behind.
I used the Dutch American Friendship Treaty (DAFT) to obtain a visa for my entire family to live in the Netherlands. You can do it too. Here’s how.
In February 2024, my family and I were desperately searching for a way out of Oregon and the United States. I saw a monumental shift happening and could no longer trust that the US was a safe place for my family. I longed for a day where we didn’t have to look (and remember) where the exits were in a new building, worried about a potential active shooter. I wanted to drive down the road in a place where no one cared that I had a pride sticker (or any other sticker) on the back on my car. And most important, I wanted my LGBTQ kids to know that they lived in a safe place where their rights weren’t at risk.
After a short, but intensive search, we decided the Netherlands would be our next home. I had never been to the land of tulips and windmills, but I knew it was absolutely the best option for my family. I could have, maybe, looked for and applied for jobs that would sponsor a visa for me, but the reality was that most of my work experience was in hospitality and sales. Not exactly highly skilled migrant (HSM) visa territory. In addition, we were in a hurry and wanted and needed to leave quickly. My wife discovered the DAFT visa and I knew the moment she described it that this was our ticket out of the declining United States.
The visa is quite simple, really. There are some necessary requirements:
Be a United States citizen and have a valid US passport.
No criminal record. We were fingerprinted, but I’m unsure if a background check was completed.
Start a business in the Netherlands and reside in the Netherlands. This involves registering your business with the KvK (Chamber of Commerce)
Make a substantial investment in your business (€4500) and maintain that investment as long as you are in the Netherlands on the DAFT visa.
Bring necessary documents to register in your city (Gemeente)
Proof of sufficient income to support yourself (this is primarily for renewal)
Seems straightforward enough, right? It is. Mostly. I’ll share some more details of each item below, but first a little history on the treaty.
In 1956, the United States and the Netherlands set up a treaty that allowed entrepreneurs an opportunity to establish businesses and be eligible for residence based on one of two ways. The first is a trade business with the other country. So, someone from the Netherlands could go to the United States (or reverse) and start a business based on the trading of goods between the countries. The second is a little more blurry in the wording, saying that an individual could establish a business for the purpose of “developing and directing the operations of an enterprise” so long as a “substantial amount of capital” is invested. In theory, both of these paths to a residence card and visa would require investment, but they clearly felt the need to separate these two things and put a specific amount on the second one. When the treaty was signed, the Dutch currency was guilders. The amount required for a substantial investment was 10,000 guilders, which is equivalent to about 4500 Euros. The Dutch investment requirement has never been adjusted!
We know how trade is currently going with the United States and the rampage of 10, 30 and 200 percent tariff threats from Trump that have recently tanked the stock market. So, I’ll focus on the second way to obtain the visa. It’s also very likely the most relevant to anyone reading this.
The first point is quite simple. To move to the Netherlands on this visa, you must be a United States citizen and have a valid passport. Generally, it needs to have an expiration date further out than six months. That’s pretty typical of any international travel though. Once in the Netherlands, you can renew your US passport by mail or through the consulate.
The second item is that you can’t have a criminal record. I think this is also pretty straight forward, but they do not clearly define what a criminal record is. I have heard of people not having issues with minor criminal records, but I imagine if you have a felony in the US, this probably won’t work for you.
Third, start a business. Seems easy enough, right? They do actually make it quite easy. You make an appointment with one of the KvK (Chamber of Commerce) offices. There are 16 offices throughout the country, so you can find one that is close to you. Or, in my case I picked one that had the soonest available appointment. We were new to the country and I didn’t want to navigate trains and be worried that one would be late, so I rented a car for the day and drove to my appointment about two hours from Den Haag where we were staying.
At your appointment they will input your information into their computer and ask what type of business you are starting. There are codes associated with all kinds of trades and they help you find one that matches your business. At the appointment you pay a nominal fee (I think it was about €80) and they provide you a printout with your new business information, your KvK number and just like that your business is registered! The KvK website is very helpful and I recommend reviewing it before your appointment. My business was actually registered under the incorrect code. The person helping us was new and I don’t think they knew exactly what I was describing when I was explaining my tour company. Once registered you can change or add new codes online, as necessary. For instance, even though I have a tour company, I started doing some consulting so I added the consulting code to my business.
The fourth point is an extremely important one - the investment of substantial capital. The requirements state that you need to deposit €4500 into a Dutch bank account. Here’s the problem - you can’t actually obtain a Dutch bank account until you have a residence permit. And guess what? You can’t get your residence permit until you have the €4500 deposited into your account. Sounds like cyclical reasoning, right? Oh, and don’t even get me started on trying to obtain a Dutch phone number when you don’t have a residence permit!
This is where a good accountant can help. My accountant recommended we start a N26 account in Germany. You can do this with a US address (if you still have one) or your temporary or permanent address if you are living in the Netherlands. The IND (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst, the branch of the Dutch government in charge of immigration) will accept this if you are having difficulty obtaining a Dutch bank account. Apparently ING (who I bank with now), allows you to open an account as long as you provide your residence permit, BSN (social security number) and Dutch phone number within 90 days. However, we attempted to open an account with them upon arrival and our branch couldn’t help.
Once you have your €4500 investment deposited into an accepted bank account, you provide an accountant with a statement and they certify that you have met this requirement. I do recommend that you deposit at least a few hundred above the required amount, especially if you are going to use that same account for daily operations of your business. Mine is currently sitting in a savings account attached to my daily operations account and that is fully acceptable.
Now the important part - maintain your investment. This can get complicated and there is a ton of mis-information about this on the internet. This does not mean that your balance can’t fall below €4500. Although, I would still recommend that you keep the balance above that level at all times. There are two main ways this “investment” can be impacted.
The first is if you purchase something for the company, especially high ticket items like a computer or a vehicle. If they are under the company name, they are now considered assets. If you purchased them with money other than your investment, you now have a larger investment than your €4500. For instance, if you bought a €2000 computer and maintained your investment of €4500, your investment would now be €6500. However, that computer is a depreciating asset and will eventually be worth essentially nothing. In theory, you could use some of the €4500 to purchase the computer, but you run the risk of falling below your “maintained” investment as your new asset depreciates.
The second way your balance can be impacted is if you have outstanding liabilities at the end of the year. So, if someone owes you €1000 on December 31st, that counts against the overall value and balance sheet of your company. If your balance was right at €4500 in this situation, your investment would fall to €3500 and you have no longer maintained your investment in the eyes of the Dutch government, which let’s be honest are the only eyes that matter.
The conclusion I came to from this information is that I need to be extra diligent about my balances, assets and liabilities, especially in December. I truly believe that if you are transacting often, having a great accountant to take care of all these things for you is worth the cost. I have run many successful businesses for other people, but this is the first time I am running one for myself. As a result, I’m spending some money in places where I think it’s necessary (like an accountant and a lawyer) to ensure that my family and I can continue to live here. There are lots of people that say you can do all these things, including your quarterly VAT (tax) filings on your own. I’m sure you can and I’m sure I could. However, when the safety of my family is reliant on living in the Netherlands on a visa that requires specific items, I’m not taking any chances.
The next item is also (mostly) simple. You will need to bring with you some documents to your first appointment with the IND. This is called the biometrics appointment. They will review your passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate (if applicable) and take your fingerprints. You will also need divorce certificates (is that what they are called?) if you have been through one, especially if you have kids from a previous marriage. Birth, marriage and divorce certificates need to be apostilled within six months of arrival. This is a process where you send your certificate to the issuing state government and they essentially attached a piece of paper on top saying that it is an official document and accurate. Do not skip this step!
The last thing I’ll mention is the proof of sufficient income. This was actually removed as a requirement for the initial application because who has proof of sufficient income when you are starting a new business? Almost no one. I say almost because there is a percentage of people who take existing businesses and essentially transfer them to the Netherlands. This is perfectly acceptable and honestly one of the fastest ways to make this move viable. Unfortunately, I did not have this and am building my business from zero.
Proof of sufficient income is technically required each time the visa is renewed. I say technically because I’m hearing of many recent renewals where they did not have the minimum income requirement, but the visa was still renewed. The current salary requirements, according to the IND, are €1534 for a single person and €2191 for a family. This is essentially the minimum income to live sustainably in the Netherlands. Now, we all know from US experience that these numbers are typically much lower than what is required to actually live and I believe the same for the numbers here. However, this is what they will be looking at to see if you are maintaining a level of income that creates a viable life here. They do provide you seven months to achieve these numbers. The first seven months can be zero as the government is understanding that it takes some time to build a business. I have personally led some teams that have built new businesses and I can tell you it generally take a lot longer than seven months to see some significant revenue.
But here’s the thing that isn’t mentioned in any of the detailed requirements. Assuming you don’t have an existing business, you have to create a business that offers something (a product or service) that the people of the Netherlands actually need or want. I think this is a point that a lot of Americans on DAFT struggle with. Just because you think the residents of the Netherlands might need or want something doesn’t mean that you will show up, open your doors (or your computer) and business will just come pouring in. In fact, you may have to completely change what you thought your business might look like based on what actual needs are vs. what you perceived as a need.
My business is a good example of this. I started a tour company in the dead of winter. Do you know who wants to take tours when it’s zero-degrees out and there’s only eight hours of cloudy daylight per day? Absolutely no one. Not a soul. So, instead of just waiting for spring to come when I knew tourism would increase, I started taking people to the airport or helping with their moving and providing concierge arrival services. I needed to make some cash and I saw some holes in the services available. Most people don’t have cars here and if they do, they are small. If you want to pick up some things at IKEA, you either have to rent a van or know someone with a big car.
The bottom line is that you have to be flexible and think like an immigrant. Most Americans are lazy. I’m not afraid to take that criticism. I’ve been there before too. I’ve had my “easier” jobs at times and have been thankful for that. But when you go to a new country, especially one that doesn’t transact in your native language, you need to be scrappy. You need to figure out how to be resourceful and come up with creative ways to grow your business and make some money. And this, I believe, is where most people fail on the DAFT visa. The two years comes around for the initial renewal and their business haven’t been successful.
I’m not making that mistake. I refuse to get to the end of two years and not have my visa renewed for an additional five years. I will be successful, one way or another. The safety of my family requires this to be a sustainable business and that, my friends, is incredible motivation.
So, I suppose I should wrap this up. I hope this information is helpful to you and either inspires you to give it a try, if you are looking for a way out of the United States or maybe it could be helpful to someone you know. In reality, there are many ways to exit the US, but few require a low investment like the DAFT visa. Not to mention that the Netherlands is a beautiful country with friendly people and delicious snacks! It’s definitely worth being on your short list of escape countries.
Oh…one last thing. I keep mentioning that my entire family is on the visa. Spouses and children are allowed to also be sponsored by the DAFT visa holder (me). There is one important thing with this - children can only be sponsored if they are under 18 years old. We rushed to get here and arrived two weeks before my oldest turned 18th to ensure they could sponsored on my visa. At renewal, children that turned 18 during the initial period are allowed to be renewed with some conditions. They must be living with you, financially dependent (they can have jobs, but still need to prove they need your money) and can not have gotten married. If you can meet those requirements, the “child” can stay on your visa indefinitely.
Thank you for reading. I look forward to sharing more about my daily life in the next post.
I also have a YouTube video where I talk about the 7 easy steps to obtain your DAFT visa.