The general route, for context

A business owner from outside Europe is normally assessed by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency on three areas: personal experience, business plan, and value added to the country. Each area is scored, and the threshold has to be met. That test is the thing all three treaties push aside.

The American and Japanese route

Both rest on trade and friendship treaties and carry the same conditions. You trade between the two countries, or you develop and lead a business here. That second option is met by representing a business from your home country in a key position, by practising an independent profession, or by investing substantial capital, with a minimum of €4,500 for most legal forms.

Since April 2024 a first-time applicant registers the business and makes the investment within six months after receiving the permit. At renewal, annual accounts show that the company was active and that the capital stayed inside.

The Turkish route

This one rests on the 1963 agreement between the European Union and Turkey, and it works differently. Instead of replacing the test with a shorter one, it sets the scoring system aside altogether, along with several other requirements: lower fees, a lower age requirement for a partner application, and the approved-employer rule falling away for Turkish staff. After three years of work here, a work permit for you becomes unnecessary.

Where the three differ

  • Capital. The American and Japanese routes name an amount and check that it stays inside the business. The Turkish route asks for a solid plan with financial backing, rather than a fixed sum.
  • Employment. The Turkish agreement also touches hiring: staff with Turkish citizenship may join an employer that stays outside the approval system.
  • Duration. All three lead to a permit valid for a maximum of two years, renewable, with permanent residence available after five years.

What all three share

The general requirements stay in place, the business registers with the Chamber of Commerce, and the structure underneath still has to make sense on its own terms. The permit decides whether you may live here; the company decides what you keep. Both sit in company first or permit first.

Where this advice stops

Holdwise builds the company structure: the entity, the salary, the tax position. The residence application itself belongs with an immigration lawyer, who follows the case law and the forms week by week. Arrange both in the same conversation and the two sides fit together; arrange them separately and one usually has to be redone.