Tucked inside a decades-old trade agreement between the Netherlands and the United States is a clause that quietly reshapes what's possible for entrepreneurs from the United States. It's called DAFT (the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty), and it does something most immigration routes don't: it lets you earn the right to live in the Netherlands not through a job offer, a family tie, or a lottery, but by building something of your own.

That said, DAFT rewards substance, not paperwork. It isn't a residence permit you can buy. You need to put real capital into a real business, and then you need to actually run it. The legal basis is Article II of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United States, a document from 1956 that still shapes decisions made at the IND today.

Why this route feels different

Most self-employed residence permits in the Netherlands are judged against a points-based system: your qualifications, your business plan's economic value, your relevance to the Dutch economy. DAFT sidesteps all of that. Because you're relying on treaty rights rather than the ordinary route, the usual “substantial Dutch interest” test doesn't apply to you. What matters instead is whether you've genuinely invested in, and are actively operating, a business.

It's a narrower test in some ways, and a more forgiving one in others. You don't need to convince an official that your idea is good for the Dutch economy. You need to show that your money and your time are actually in it.

Choosing how your business will be structured

DAFT doesn't lock you into one legal form. You can build under:

1.     A sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak)

2.     A general partnership (vof)

3.     A private limited company (BV)

4.     A public limited company (NV)

Each carries different implications for liability, tax, and how easily you can bring in investors or co-founders later. It's a decision that's far easier to get right at the outset than to unwind after registration with the Dutch Commercial Register (KVK).

What “substantial capital” actually means

The number attached to the DAFT minimum investment requirement is smaller than people often expect. This isn't a route reserved for the deep-pocketed.

Business structure: Minimum investment

Sole proprietorship: €4,500

General partnership (vof): €4,500

Private limited company (BV): At least 25% of paid-up capital, minimum €4,500

Public limited company (NV): At least 25% of paid-up capital, minimum €11,250

Two details tend to catch people out. First, borrowed money doesn't count. The capital has to genuinely be yours. Second, it isn't a one-off hurdle: the investment must stay at or above the threshold for as long as you hold the permit. Let it slip, and the IND can withdraw the permit altogether.

What the permit lets you do (and what it doesn't)

A DAFT permit ties you to the business you built it around. It authorises the self-employed work connected to that enterprise, but it isn't a general-purpose work permit. If you later wanted to take up a salaried role elsewhere, your employer would typically need to secure its own work permit for you.

The two-year clock

DAFT permits are issued for a maximum of two years at a time. Extensions are possible, but they aren't automatic. You'll need to show that the conditions you first met still hold true: capital still invested, business still active, evidence still current.

Building a file that actually holds up

An IND caseworker isn't just checking boxes; they're forming a judgement about whether your business is real. What that means in practice is:

1.     Proof of US nationality

2.     A qualifying Dutch business, registered with the KVK

3.     Evidence of your capital (its source, its transfer, and that it's still there)

4.     Demonstrable, ongoing management of the enterprise

5.     Any licences your line of work requires

6.     A business plan that reads as credible rather than aspirational

The exact paperwork shifts with your structure. A sole proprietorship typically needs a Commercial Register extract and a bank statement showing the invested amount and opening balance. A vof adds the partnership deed and each partner's financial contribution. A BV or NV requires the deed of incorporation. All of it is reviewed by an authorised independent expert before it reaches the IND.

Beyond the documents, your business plan should tell a coherent story (who you are, what you're building, who it's for, and how the numbers work), backed by things that are hard to fake: client agreements, invoices, letters of intent, evidence of marketing activity, business assets already in place. The underlying test is simple to state and harder to fudge: money invested without genuine entrepreneurial activity doesn't count.

How long does it actually take?

The IND has 90 days to decide on a residence application, extendable to six months in cases needing further advice or investigation. Extension applications are best filed no earlier than three months before your permit expires. Filing within four weeks after expiry is generally not held against you, though conditions apply.

A well-prepared file won't guarantee a fast decision, but a poorly prepared one will almost certainly guarantee a slow one. In the end, speed follows substance: the question the IND is answering is always whether you meet the requirements, not how quickly your file can be processed.

Where Bucare fits in

DAFT sits at the intersection of corporate and contract law, tax, and Dutch immigration, with intellectual property and privacy & data protection often close behind. Few applicants have all of that expertise on hand, which is usually where the process starts to feel heavier than it needs to.

We start differently: with a free video call with one of our specialists, simply to assess whether DAFT is genuinely the right fit for your situation. No commitment, no paperwork. Just an honest read on your eligibility before anything else moves forward.

If you decide to go ahead, we stay with you for the whole journey, from that first assessment through business establishment, capital documentation, and the application itself, right up to the moment your residence permit and papers are in hand. Rather than juggling separate providers for immigration, business establishment, tax, bookkeeping, contracts, and compliance, you work with one coordinated process, in clear language, so you always know what's been done and what comes next.