DAFT Visa

The DAFT visa (Dutch American Friendship Treaty) is a residence permit that lets US citizens settle in the Netherlands as self-employed entrepreneurs, based on the 1956 friendship treaty between the Netherlands and the United States. Its official name is the 'residence permit for self-employed persons under the DAFT treaty' — in practice it's simply called the DAFT visa. It lets you live and work in the Netherlands as the owner of a sole proprietorship or a BV. Beware of a common misconception: the DAFT visa does not give you access to the 30% ruling. That ruling is a wage-tax facility for employees recruited from abroad, and a sole proprietorship has no employer and no payroll. If you are employed by your own BV the ruling is conceivable in principle, but the ordinary conditions still apply in full — including being recruited from abroad and meeting the salary threshold. Have this assessed in advance rather than counting on it.

US passport holders don't need an MVV (entry visa for stays longer than 90 days) for this application: US citizens are also exempt from the Schengen short-stay visa requirement, so you enter the Netherlands visa-free and submit the application directly to the IND from within the country. The order of the steps depends on your situation, and this is where most of the confusion sits. If you do not yet hold a Dutch residence permit and this is your first application under a treaty, the IND states that you register with the Chamber of Commerce and make the investment within six months after the permit has been granted. If you already hold a permit and are changing your residence purpose, or if this is a renewal, different steps and different documents apply. Which route applies to you, and what has to be supplied when, is checked case by case against the current IND page and the relevant form. The first permit is valid for two years; it can then be renewed for five years, which opens the way to permanent residency.

The IND sets precise requirements for your bookkeeping: an opening balance sheet is needed showing the deposit of at least €4,500, substantiated with bank statements. The IND requires financial evidence to have been checked by a competent independent external expert. A bookkeeper or tax advisor who draws up and signs the balance sheet fills that role. Dutch Tax House is registered with the Dutch Tax Authority under a BECON number — a registration number for tax service providers, not a quality mark — and is identifiable as such. Drawing up and signing the opening balance sheet is part of the service.

At renewal after two years, your bookkeeping and annual accounts need to show that the business's equity never dropped below €4,500. To avoid this only coming to light once the year-end figures are drawn up, your equity position is checked in on during the year to see whether it's on track — leaving room to adjust course in time instead of facing a surprise afterwards.

Not covered by the DAFT treaty, but still need to provide a bookkeeper's declaration to the IND — for example for family reunification, the Dutch-Japanese Trade Treaty, the Turkish Association Agreement, or the standard self-employed residence permit? Check out the IND Immigration Declarations service.

From the first application through to renewal: guidance in setting up the bookkeeping, preparing the opening balance sheet and annual accounts, and signing the declarations the IND asks for — with one fixed point of contact for questions.