Self-Employed Visa Netherlands for Non-EU Founders

The first three are market names for one permit: the residence permit for work as a self-employed person under art. 3.30 of the Aliens Decree, assessed on a points test. DAFT is different. US and Japanese nationals apply under their treaty instead, with no points test and no means test.

RVO scores three parts to 100 points each for the Minister of Economic Affairs: personal experience, the business plan and added value for the Dutch economy. You pass with at least 30 points in each part, or with at least 45 for experience and 45 for the plan, in which case added value is set at 30.

Added value weighs jobs and investments at 40 points each and innovation at 20; by the table's arithmetic, a one-person business rarely reaches 30 there. The second route exists for that case: with at least 45 points for experience and 45 for the plan, added value is set at 30. A Dutch bank's financing earns all 50 financing points.

Yes. The IND treats a director-shareholder as self-employed at 25 percent or more, carrying entrepreneurial risk and able to influence their own salary. The deed of incorporation and the share register are part of the evidence. A non-EU national uses the Dutch notarial deed, which can be signed by written power of attorney, not the English online deed.

No. The Aliens Circular refuses an applicant who is on the payroll but lives outside the Netherlands, and one who invests money without carrying on the business themselves. Owning a Dutch company from abroad needs no permit at all, and the residence ground for wealthy foreign nationals was abolished from 17 April 2024.

The IND's required amount for a self-employed applicant is a gross profit of EUR 1,766.77 per month with holiday allowance, valid from 1 July to 31 December 2026. A first application is exempt from the 1.5-year income history. In the points test, a larger balance sheet and higher solvency score more financing points.

The IND charges EUR 423.00 per applicant, EUR 254.00 for a partner and EUR 85.00 for a child under 18. KVK registration costs EUR 85.15. The KVK estimates a notary's charge for incorporating a BV at EUR 500 to 1,500, an estimate rather than a tariff. Our own fee is quoted on request.

The statutory decision period is 90 days, and the IND can extend it by several weeks to at most 6 months. If your file is incomplete, you get 2 weeks to complete it and the period is extended by 2 weeks. Licences, the deed and the evidence file come first and have no official duration.

No IND, RVO or government page publishes one, so we quote none. What decides an application is known: written evidence for every point you claim, which scores more than its absence, and the three conditions of art. 3.30 of the Aliens Decree: an essential Dutch interest, durable means and the required authorisations.

Yes, through this permit: it needs no employer, because you carry on your own business. A client who hires a self-employed permit holder needs no work permit for them. If the relationship is in fact employment, though, the client is treated as an employer and the self-employed person as an employee.

A US citizen who will run their own business has a separate route under the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty: no points test and no means test, and for a BV a capital floor of EUR 4,500. The IND fee is the same EUR 423.00 in 2026. The route is set out on our DAFT visa page.

The self-employed permit is granted for at most two years at first, then for up to five years per extension. The one-year permit is the start-up permit, held with a facilitator; after it, a founder can switch to this permit, with the facilitator's declaration worth 30 points in each part.

For residence purposes one rule matters most: where a relationship with a client is in fact employment, the client is treated as an employer and the freelancer as an employee. Paid employment on a self-employed permit needs a work permit (TWV). We make no promise that you may work for clients while your application is pending.

Self-employed work is a non-temporary purpose of stay, so the years count towards permanent residence. After five years you may apply, for EUR 254.00 in 2026, with a 6-month decision period; refusal grounds include not meeting the civic-integration requirement. After five years of work in the Netherlands you also no longer need a TWV (work permit).

Your spouse or partner and minor children may join you; each files their own application, at EUR 254.00 for a partner and EUR 85.00 for a child under 18 in 2026. Paid employment on the side needs a work permit (TWV) until you have worked in the Netherlands for five years.