The core requirements
- US citizenship. The treaty applies to US nationals; it does not extend to other family members’ nationalities on its own. See Partner and family.
- A registered Dutch business. You register with the KVK, as a sole proprietorship (ZZP) or a private limited company (BV). See ZZP vs. BV for how to choose.
- A minimum capital investment of €4,500, for most business forms, confirmed directly on ind.nl.
- General residence conditions that apply to any Dutch residence permit, such as a valid passport and no public-order concerns. We haven’t pulled the exact list from ind.nl’s general residence-permit page yet.
The KVK registration and 6-month investment window
If you do not already hold a Dutch residence permit, you must register with the KVK and make the €4,500 investment within 6 months of the date on your permit decision letter. Miss that window and the IND can revoke the permit, confirmed directly on ind.nl. This rule has applied since around April 2024. See How to apply and Costs and timeline for what changed and what is still unclear about how long that change will last.
How long the €4,500 must stay in the business
This is the single most-asked, least-precisely-answered question in the whole DAFT process, and it is worth being honest about what we could and couldn’t confirm.
Six independent sources (immigration and tax firms, not the IND itself) agree that the €4,500 must remain invested continuously, for the whole permit period, not just on the day you apply. Several of them add an important nuance: the IND appears to net your business’s liabilities against its assets, so simply keeping €4,500 sitting in a bank account is not automatically enough once the business also owes money. The IND’s own page doesn’t spell out an exact test for this, so treat it as well-sourced but not officially confirmed.
What is not required
Unlike employer-sponsored routes, DAFT does not require a Dutch degree, a job offer, or going through the points-based assessment other skilled-migrant permits use. It’s built around the capital-investment route instead. See DAFT vs. Highly Skilled Migrant for the fuller comparison.
Next steps
Once you know you meet these requirements, read How to apply for the step-by-step process, or jump straight to Opening balance sheet & the €4,500 capital if the capital requirement is your main question. Not sure DAFT is even the right route for your situation? See DAFT vs. Highly Skilled Migrant.