Eight ways of moving to the Netherlands from the United States of America

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is undoubtedly one of the most convenient "second home" destinations for many American citizens, not only because it takes only 7 hours to fly across the pond from New York (USA) to Amsterdam (Holland). More importantly, the Dutch Government have very friendly immigration policies towards US citizens. In this article, we’ll explain the eight residence options that an American citizen can consider, should he/she be interested in putting down (some) roots in the Netherlands.

1. The Dutch American Friendship Treaty

First of all, we have the Dutch American Friendship Treaty. Under this Treaty, an American entrepreneur can acquire a Dutch residence permit for a period of two years, when he/she sets up a company in the Netherlands and invests at least 4500 euros (four thousand five hundred euros, not a typo) into the company. The permit can be initially issued for a period of two years. After two years, the permit can be further extended for a period of five years. Under the Treaty, a US citizen can also bring his/her dependent family members (for example, (un)married partner and minor-aged children) to the Netherlands. The family members of an American entrepreneur will be able to obtain a family member permit, with unlimited access to the Dutch labour market. The family members themselves do not need to be American citizens. Thus, the Dutch entrepreneur visa and the dependent family member visa can be interesting for employees of an American company who want to work remotely too. 

As from 1 April 2024, the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Department ("IND") has implemented a new workflow policy. Under this new workflow policy, the IND gives the benefit of the doubt to applicants for the entrepreneur permit under the Dutch American Friendship Treaty. As a corollary, most DAFT applications and the dependent family member visa applications can be approved in a much faster way. 

2. Recent graduates of many American universities

Secondly, recent Master’s and/or PhD graduates of many American universities can qualify for a “search year visa,” enabling them to stay up to 12 months in the Netherlands, with a view to working here and to looking for a job as a highly skilled migrant and/or a European blue card holder. To qualify for a search year visa, the US diploma must be awarded by a US university, faculty or school department that ranks among Top 200 worldwide. For this purpose, the Dutch Government use the rankings published by Times, QS and/or the Shanghai Academy. For example, with a recent degree certificate conferred by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, one will be eligible for a Dutch search year visa. However, on the date of application, the diploma may not be older than three years. Should the graduate manage to find a skilled job within the search year, he/she will be able to convert the search year visa into a highly skilled migrant visa or a European blue card. Should an American graduate fail to find a qualifying job within the search year, he/she can invoke the aforementioned Friendship Treaty and become an entrepreneur. The search year visa holder is allowed to bring his/her dependent family members to the Netherlands. 

3. The Student Visa

Thirdly, Dutch universities offer many degree programmes taught in English at both bachelor’s and master’s level. Although American students will need to pay non-EU fees (which are higher than the domestic fees paid by a Dutch/EU student), the non-EU fees are still (substantially) lower than many of the out-of-state fees charged by the US universities. For the academic year 2025/2026, the University of Amsterdam charges, for example, only 18055 euros for a Master’s degree programme in Business Data Science. The time that an American citizen spends on studying in the Netherlands can be counted towards the status of permanent residence and/or Dutch naturalization. Also, a student visa holder can bring his/her dependent family members to the Netherlands.

4. The Scientific Researcher Visa

A US researcher who wants to conduct a doctoral or postdoctoral research at a Dutch university can obtain a scientific researcher visa. The research programme can be either parttime or fulltime. The programme can be with or without funding. In other words, a researcher can self-fund his/her own research programme. Regardless of the funding type, all the scientific researchers will obtain the same type of visa, with unlimited access to the Dutch labour market. Dependent family members of a researcher can surely qualify for a family member visa too. 

5 and 6. The Highly Skilled Migrant Visa and the European Blue Card

As mentioned above, should a US citizen find a job as a skilled worker in the Netherlands, he/she can qualify for a highly skilled migrant visa or a European blue card. Earlier this year, the Dutch Government lowered the salary threshold for the European blue card. Depending on the age and/or educational background, the salary thresholds can be €2801, €3909, €4265 or €5331  (gross) per month. Please feel free to contact us with regard to the applicable salary threshold. Also, please be aware that the applicable salary thresholds get yearly adjusted due to inflation, per 1 January. 

7. Startup Visa

Furthermore, an American citizen can consider asking for a startup visa, if he/she has an innovative business idea. The startup visa can be issued for a period of 1 year. In order to obtain a startup visa, a startup entrepreneur needs to be endorsed by a recognized startup facilitator. On the following website, one can find a list of startup facilitators recognized by the Dutch Government.

8. Partner Visa

If a US citizen is in a genuine relationship with a Dutch resident, he/she can qualify for a partner visa. The sponsoring Dutch resident can be a Dutch citizen, an EU citizen, another US citizen or a third-country national (eg. a Canadian citizen) who has legal stay in the Netherlands. As one of the first countries where same-sex marriage got legalized, the partner visa can be applied for by a partner of the same or different sex.

Exemption from the Entry Clearance Requirement 

Last but not least, it is worth mentioning that US citizens can be exempted from the so called “MVV” entry clearance requirement, meaning that a US citizen can hop on a plane and fly across the pond to the Netherlands. The Dutch Immigration Department will allow a US citizen to submit an application for residence in the territory of the Kingdom and to wait for the outcome of the application. In other words, a US citizen does not need to queue outside the Dutch Embassy to Washington DC and to have a visa vignette glued in their passport prior to their emigration to the Netherlands.

Contact Mynta Law

Should you want to move to the Netherlands (Europe), please feel free to contact Mynta Law. We are a firm with strong English and American characteristics. We have helped many US clients settle in the Netherlands. If you want, please feel free to book a consultation with one of our lawyers.