The three routes in one view
DAFT — for US citizens running their own business: €4,500 of own capital, a genuine enterprise, two years then five-year extensions, and full freedom over what the business does. Highly skilled migrant — for employees: a recognised Dutch employer sponsors the permit and pays at least the salary threshold for the category; the permit follows the job. Startup visa — for founders with a novel, scalable idea: one year, guided by a recognised facilitator, designed as a runway toward the standard self-employment route.
Why DAFT usually wins for Americans
The treaty removes the two hardest parts of the standard self-employment test — the points assessment and the innovation argument — and replaces them with a capital requirement most founders clear on day one. Freedom is the quiet advantage: a DAFT business can be consulting this year and a product company next year, with the permit intact. Employees with a Dutch job offer take the highly skilled route instead; founders wanting incubator structure take the startup visa and often move to DAFT afterwards.
The company underneath
Whichever route wins, the business itself usually lands in a Dutch private limited company (BV (besloten vennootschap, the Dutch private limited company)): the incorporation route is on DAFT and the Dutch BV, the entity itself on setting up a Dutch BV, and the wealth mechanics on the holding structure.
The long term, and the alternatives
- Renewal after two years: what the IND looks at
- From DAFT to permanent residence and citizenship
- DAFT or the highly skilled migrant route
- DAFT or the Dutch startup visa
- DAFT questions answered: what Americans ask us most
- The DAFT route explained: what the treaty gives, and what it asks
- The requirements checklist: every condition and document
All twenty-one guides sit together on the DAFT hub, grouped the way the route itself runs.