DAFT: freelancing in the Netherlands as an American under the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty

The Dutch-American Friendship Treaty gives US citizens the most accessible route into self-employed work in the Netherlands: no points system, but a Chamber of Commerce registration and capital in your own business. What the treaty is, the conditions the IND sets, what it costs, what it does not allow, and the tax side once you are here.

What the treaty is

The Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, 1956) is a trade treaty between the Netherlands and the United States. For Americans its practical effect is large: it gives you your own route to a residence permit for work as a self-employed person, with its own conditions. Everyone calls that route DAFT. Japan holds a comparable position through the Dutch-Japanese Trade Treaty.

Why that matters: the ordinary self-employed permit is judged on "essential Dutch interest". The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) scores your personal experience, your business plan and your added value for the Netherlands, and that bar is high. For the treaty route the IND lists a different set of conditions: your nationality, what you are going to do here, and capital in your business. No business plan being scored.

This article is an orientation, not an application manual. The IND page is what counts, including where it differs from what you read here.

Who it is for

• You are a US citizen. It is about citizenship, not a green card: living in the US on another passport does not qualify you.
• You are going to work for yourself here. A sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak), a partnership or a bv, registered in the KVK trade register.
• You fall under one of the treaty grounds. The IND lists: trading between the Netherlands and the US, leading business operations in the Netherlands in a key position on behalf of a US business, practising an independent profession (excluding government and healthcare work), or investing substantial capital in your business.

For most freelancers it is that last one: you start your own business and put capital into it.

The core condition: capital in your business

The IND asks for a minimum of € 4,500 of invested capital for a sole proprietorship, a vof, a cv or a bv. For an nv the requirement is € 11,250. Check the current amount before you transfer anything, because the IND can change it.

Three things that are often misunderstood:

• It is not a fee. The amount is not a payment to the government but your own business capital. It stays yours.
• It has to stay in the business. At extension the IND asks for annual accounts with a balance sheet or profit and loss statement, to see that the business was active and that the invested capital remained in the business. Transferring it in just before the application and pulling it out again afterwards is not an option.
• In practice you need a separate business account. For a sole proprietorship that is not legally required, but without a separate account it is hard to show that the capital sits in the business. See the business bank account.

Duration, renewal and costs

At extension the IND looks at whether your business is still running and whether the capital is still in it. Your annual figures are evidence rather than a formality, which is a good reason to keep clean records from day one.

After five years of lawful residence you can apply for a permanent residence permit. And once you have worked in the Netherlands for five years you get free access to the labour market, so paid employment no longer needs a work permit.

What it does not allow

The permit is for work as a self-employed person. Paid employment with a Dutch employer as your main activity is not part of it: that needs a work permit (tewerkstellingsvergunning), which your employer has to apply for, and which is not a given alongside this residence permit. Anyone arriving with a plan of "DAFT first, then look for a job" has the wrong permit.

Two more things to watch:

• The "independent profession" ground excludes government and healthcare work. In a regulated profession, have your situation checked before you apply.
• False self-employment is a risk here too. One client, fixed hours and working under their direction looks like employment to the tax office, and that collides with the permit you are here on. See false self-employment and the DBA Act.

Step by step

1. Check your starting position. US citizenship, a real plan to work for yourself, and enough money to live on as well as to leave € 4,500 sitting in your business.
2. Choose your legal form. For nearly every freelancer that is the eenmanszaak. See sole trader or bv if you are unsure.
3. Sort out your arrival. US citizens are exempt from the MVV requirement (the long-stay entry visa), so you can travel to the Netherlands and apply here. Check your own situation with the IND.
4. Register with your municipality. That gets you your BSN, and nothing else works without one. See becoming a freelancer in the Netherlands as an international.
5. Register with the KVK and open a business account. Registration costs a one-off € 85.15 (2026); what to decide beforehand is in registering with the KVK.
6. Put the capital in and make sure it is visible in your bank statements and your records.
7. File the application with the IND and pay the fee. Expect a decision period, and do not plan your first assignments tightly around it.
8. Collect your residence document and check the labour market note printed on it.

Other nationalities and other routes (orientation year, partner permit, highly skilled migrant) are in visas and residence permits for freelancers.

The tax side, once you are here

A residence permit does not by itself make you a taxpayer with working records. What comes immediately after your registration:

• Your btw-id. After your KVK registration the tax office posts you your VAT identification number, usually within two weeks. That number belongs on your invoices. How it differs from your other numbers is in btw-id, KVK number and ob-nummer.
• Quarterly VAT returns. Even with only American clients you file, with your revenue in the right box. See filing your VAT return.
• Invoicing the US. Services to an American business client usually fall outside Dutch VAT. What the invoice needs is in invoicing clients abroad; invoicing in dollars is allowed as long as you follow the exchange rate rules.
• Health insurance. Mandatory within four months of settling here, even if you still hold an American policy. See health insurance for freelancers.
• The M-form. For the year you moved you file the special M-return, and there is often money in it. See the M-form.
• The 30% ruling does not apply to you. It is for employees, not for a sole proprietorship. See the 30% ruling and freelancing.

And mind your American side: as a US citizen you keep filing with the IRS, even while living in the Netherlands and paying tax here. The tax treaty between the Netherlands and the US governs how double taxation is avoided. That is specialist work: have your first year done by an adviser who knows both sides.

How Finq handles it

Finq is fully bilingual, so your records can be in English while your figures fit the Dutch boxes.

• Invoices in English and in dollars. Invoice language is set per client, currency per invoice. The VAT amount is automatically also shown in euros on the invoice, exactly as the law asks.
• A VAT return per box, ready to copy into Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk.
• Reports gives you revenue, costs, depreciation and profit per year, with a PDF export. Those are the figures you or your bookkeeper turn into the annual accounts the IND wants at extension.
• Retention. Your receipts and invoices sit together with their attachments, and they have to be kept for seven years.

See how invoicing works in Finq.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice on your situation. The conditions, amounts and fees come from ind.nl (the "Residence permit self-employed person" page and the fees page, checked on 6 September 2026) and the registration fee from kvk.nl. The IND changes amounts and conditions regularly, usually on 1 January: always check ind.nl before you apply.