POSTERN

Netherlands

Residence permit for self-employed persons (zelfstandig ondernemer). For non-Americans: a Dutch business residence permit that survives a points test on the applicant's experience, the business plan, and its value to the Dutch economy.

Free · The law behind every answer · Checked Sep 27, 2026

Residence permit for self-employed persons (zelfstandig ondernemer)

A 2-year residence permit to run the business, renewable if the business remains viable.

Who qualifies

  • The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) scores the application on a points system across personal experience, the business plan, and added value to the Netherlands (innovation, investment, job creation); a minimum score across the categories is required before the IND will grant the permit.
    IND: residence permit for self-employed persons
  • Sufficient and sustainable income from the business to support the applicant (and any dependants) without relying on Dutch public funds.
    IND: residence permit for self-employed persons

You keep your U.S. citizenship.

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It could fit.

For non-Americans: a Dutch business residence permit that survives a points test on the applicant's experience, the business plan, and its value to the Dutch economy.

Every door that fits your family

Not legal advice.

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What it takes.

Time
3–4 months for the RVO assessment and IND decision.
Cost
About $400: the €350 IND application fee, plus costs of preparing a competitive business plan.
The hard part
Clearing the RVO's points bar, which favours innovative, investment-heavy, or job-creating businesses over simple freelancing; unlike DAFT, there is no treaty shortcut.
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Citizens by 2033.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

  1. 2027
    First residence permit

    2 years, renewable for 5 years at a time.

  2. 2029
    Renew the permit

    Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 5 years.

  3. 2032
    Permanent residence

    5 unbroken years with a valid residence permit and the Netherlands as your main home, a current permit for a non-temporary purpose, and the civic integration exam at A2. Years on a study permit count half; an orientation year does not count.

  4. 2032
    Apply for citizenship

    With a language test and a civics test.

  5. 2033
    Citizenship

    The decision usually takes 12–12 months.

Language
Dutch at A2: the civic integration exam's reading, listening, writing and speaking parts.
Civics
Part of the civic integration exam: Knowledge of Dutch Society, a 45-minute computer test.
Time away
5 consecutive years living in the Netherlands with a valid residence permit, which must be for a non-temporary purpose when you apply. Spending more than 6 months in a row abroad in a year, or more than 4 months in a row three years running, can cost you your main residence.
Two passports
Usually not: new citizens are asked to give up their other citizenship.
  • The first permit runs at most 2 years; renewals are assumed to run up to 5 years.
  • You must normally give up your other citizenship. Exceptions include being married to or the registered partner of a Dutch citizen, being born in the Kingdom and living there, and cases where giving it up would cause serious financial loss.
  • The cabinet proposed in September 2025 to raise the naturalisation clock from 5 to 10 years, and plans to raise the language level to B1. Neither is law on the IND's pages as of September 2026.
  • 12 months is the IND's legal decision period; the ceremony comes after it.
  • This country asks new citizens to give up their other citizenship.
The law behind these dates
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Living there.

Time you must spend there
The program sets no minimum number of days. Renewal still expects it to be your home.
Tax
Living in the Netherlands on this permit makes you Dutch tax resident, with worldwide income taxable and no special regime for self-employed permit holders.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

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Start today.

  1. Read the IND's self-employed residence permit page.Open ind.nl ↗
  2. Round up the papers.
    • The business plan, and the endorsement or approval it needs
    • Request your FBI Identity History Summary
    • Health cover for the move
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Or let us run it.

$900for your first year as a founding member. Then $399 a year, automatically.Standard first year: $1,200. Everyone renews at $399.One membership, the whole family. Accounts and activation included.

19 steps, from the first paper to the passport. You do 4 of them: send what we ask for, sign, and show up. We run the rest, and keep every permit renewed on time. Accounts and activation are included, whether you move now or keep the plan ready. Accounts depend on provider availability. Government, record and approved third-party charges are extra.

Run it for my family →
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ISSUED TO

YOUR FAMILY

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