Issue · October 2026 · everything a nomad needs, city by city

Nomadzine

The visa · The Netherlands

The Netherlands

The Netherlands has no digital-nomad visa, so a non-EU remote worker who wants to stay beyond 90 days uses the self-employed residence permit (points-assessed by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency), the far simpler treaty route for United States and Japanese citizens with EUR 4,500 of business capital, the one-year orientation permit for recent graduates, or a Working Holiday permit for nine nationalities aged 18 to 30. Tax residence follows facts and circumstances rather than a day count, and the Expat Scheme tax break is for employees only and drops to 27 per cent for most users from 2027. The one thing to know before applying: the standard self-employed permit is a business-immigration test, not a remote-work permit, and a foreign employer or foreign client list scores poorly on the added-value-to-the-Netherlands criterion.

    Nomad visa · September 2026None as suchRoutes5Bases1

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The routes

Researched 10 September 2026 · rules as of September 2026 · as published, not legal advice

  1. Freelance / self-employed

    Self-employed residence permit (points-based)

    Verblijfsvergunning voor arbeid als zelfstandige / Residence permit self-employed person

    Non-EU freelancers and founders who can show a Dutch-registered business with a credible plan and added value to the Dutch economy; a weak fit for someone whose clients and income are entirely abroad.

    Income floor
    Gross profit of at least EUR 1,766.77 per month including holiday allowance (IND required amount, 1 July to 31 December 2026), to be evident from the business plan; the required amounts are re-indexed every January and July.
    Duration
    Initial permit for a maximum of 2 years (type I, temporary regular residence permit); extension possible before expiry; permanent residence after 5 years of lawful stay.
    Cost
    EUR 423 application fee for applications on or after 1 January 2026 (Turkish nationals EUR 85; different amounts for start-up permit holders).
    Processing
    Statutory decision period 90 days, extendable by up to 6 months while the IND consults the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) or the Ministry of Education.
    Eligibility
    Any nationality; the RVO scores three areas (personal experience, business plan, added value for the Netherlands) and the applicant needs at least 30 points in each area, or 45 points for personal experience plus 45 for the business plan; Turkish nationals, long-term EU residents and certain independent professionals are assessed differently; a provisional residence permit (MVV) is required for most nationalities; no reliance on public funds.
    Work rights
    Self-employed work for the registered business; clients may be Dutch or foreign; employment as an employee requires a separate work permit (TWV) unless the holder has worked 5 years and is free on the labour market.
    Dependants
    Spouse, registered or unmarried partner and minor children can apply for family residence; family members receive a permit stating work allowed on a self-employed basis, free to work, no work permit required.
    Leads to
    Counts toward the permanent residence permit after 5 years; naturalisation is generally possible after 5 years of lawful residence subject to integration requirements.
    Apply
    MVV application at the Dutch embassy or consulate in the country of origin or residence, then the residence application is submitted to the IND within 3 weeks of the embassy registration; nationals exempt from the MVV apply directly to the IND in the Netherlands.

    Documents Application form 9531 (2026/1) or the MVV application at the embassy · Valid passport · Business plan meeting the RVO scoring criteria · Chamber of Commerce (KVK) registration or proof of intent to register · Evidence of professional experience, qualifications and finances · Health insurance and tuberculosis test where required · Foreign official documents legalised and translated into Dutch, English, French or German

    Official page →

  2. Freelance / self-employed

    DAFT permit (Dutch-American Friendship Treaty) and the Dutch-Japanese Trade Treaty route

    Verblijfsvergunning arbeid als zelfstandige op grond van het Nederlands-Amerikaans Vriendschapsverdrag / Residence permit self-employed person under the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty or the Dutch-Japanese Trade Treaty

    United States and Japanese citizens who want to freelance from the Netherlands, including those whose clients are all abroad; the de facto nomad route for Americans.

    Income floor
    No income floor at first application; a minimum investment of EUR 4,500 in the Dutch business (sole proprietorship or company) that must remain in the business; on extension the standard self-employed gross-profit figure applies (EUR 1,766.77 per month including holiday allowance, second half of 2026) according to adviser reporting.
    Duration
    Initial permit for a maximum of 2 years; extension possible before expiry; adviser reporting describes a 5-year extension, which was not confirmed on the IND page opened.
    Cost
    EUR 423 application fee (2026); the fee for family members is EUR 254.
    Processing
    Statutory 90 days; the RVO points test does not apply, so decisions are reported to be faster than the standard self-employed permit, often within a few weeks.
    Eligibility
    US or Japanese nationality; trade between the Netherlands and the treaty country, or a key position developing a business, or practice of an independent profession (not government or healthcare), or investment of substantial capital of at least EUR 4,500; first-time applicants must register with the Chamber of Commerce and make the investment within 6 months of approval; health insurance and no reliance on public funds.
    Work rights
    Self-employed work only, for Dutch or foreign clients; salaried employment needs a separate work permit (TWV) unless the 5-year free-to-work rule has been met.
    Dependants
    Spouse, partner and minor children may join and receive a permit that allows free work on the Dutch labour market.
    Leads to
    Counts toward permanent residence after 5 years and, subject to integration conditions, naturalisation.
    Apply
    US and Japanese citizens are MVV-exempt and apply to the IND in the Netherlands (online, by post or at an IND desk); a Schengen visa-free entry is used to arrive and file.

    Documents Application form 9531 (2026/1) · Valid US or Japanese passport · Chamber of Commerce (KVK) registration extract · Proof of the EUR 4,500 capital in a Dutch business account, usually a balance sheet or bank statement · Short business plan or description of the enterprise · Health insurance

    Official page →

  3. Temporary stay

    Orientation year for highly educated persons (zoekjaar)

    Verblijfsvergunning zoekjaar hoogopgeleiden / Residence permit orientation year highly educated persons

    Non-EU graduates, PhD holders and researchers within 3 years of completing a Dutch degree or a degree from a foreign university in the top 200 of at least two of the major international rankings; used by remote workers as a one-year, work-anything permit while they set up a business or find a sponsor.

    Income floor
    None to prove; the holder must support themselves without public funds.
    Duration
    Maximum 1 year; cannot be extended; the holder must switch to another permit (highly skilled migrant, self-employed or start-up) to stay on.
    Cost
    EUR 254 reported for 2026 by relocation and international-centre guides; this figure was not confirmed on the IND fees page in this research.
    Processing
    IND statutory period 90 days; applications are reported to be decided in a few weeks.
    Eligibility
    Degree, PhD or research completed within the last 3 years; foreign institutions must appear in the top 200 of at least two rankings from different publishers (Times Higher Education, QS, ShanghaiRanking); no reliance on public funds; MVV for nationalities that need one.
    Work rights
    Free on the Dutch labour market for the year: employment without a work permit, self-employment and starting a business are all allowed.
    Dependants
    Family members may apply for residence with the holder; conditions and fees follow the family-member rules (EUR 254 per family application in 2026).
    Leads to
    The year of lawful stay counts toward the 5 years for permanent residence; the reduced highly skilled migrant salary criterion (EUR 3,122 gross per month in 2026) applies to a subsequent sponsor hire.
    Apply
    IND in the Netherlands if already lawfully present or MVV-exempt; otherwise via the Dutch embassy (MVV) first.

    Documents Application form 9571 · Valid passport · Diploma or proof of PhD or research completion with date · Evidence of the institution's ranking where the degree is foreign · Health insurance

    Official page →

  4. Working holiday

    Working Holiday permit

    Verblijfsvergunning Working Holiday Program / Working Holiday Scheme

    Citizens of Argentina, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan and Uruguay aged 18 to 30 who want a one-year cultural-exchange stay with occasional paid work.

    Income floor
    Sufficient funds for the stay plus a return ticket or the money to buy one; no published figure on the IND page opened.
    Duration
    Maximum 1 year; cannot be extended; one participation only.
    Cost
    EUR 85 application fee for applications on or after 1 January 2026.
    Processing
    IND decision within 90 days.
    Eligibility
    Age 18 to 30 at the time of application; annual quotas of 100 for Argentina, Uruguay, Hong Kong and Taiwan and 200 for Japan and South Korea (no quota published for Australia, Canada and New Zealand); never previously held a cultural-exchange residence permit; no reliance on public funds.
    Work rights
    Occasional work to support the stay, without an employer work permit; not a full year with the same employer and not self-employment, because the main purpose must remain cultural exchange; the IND page does not address remote work for a foreign employer.
    Dependants
    The IND page does not provide for family members joining on this permit.
    Leads to
    No; a one-year temporary stay.
    Apply
    Argentina, Uruguay, Hong Kong and Taiwan: Dutch embassy or consulate in the home country; Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea: online, by post or at an IND desk in the Netherlands.

    Documents Application form 9561 (2026/2) · Valid passport · Proof of sufficient funds for the stay · Return ticket or proof of funds to buy one · Health insurance

    Official page →

  5. Long stay

    Highly skilled migrant permit (kennismigrant), including via an employer of record

    Verblijfsvergunning arbeid als kennismigrant / Residence permit highly skilled migrant

    Remote employees whose foreign employer is willing to hire them through a Dutch entity or a recognised-sponsor employer of record at the Dutch salary threshold.

    Income floor
    Gross monthly salary of EUR 5,942 (age 30 and over) or EUR 4,357 (under 30) for 2026; EUR 3,122 for holders of an orientation-year permit; EU Blue Card EUR 5,942 or EUR 4,754 reduced.
    Duration
    Length of the employment contract up to 5 years; renewable.
    Cost
    EUR 423 application fee (2026); recognised-sponsor registration for the employer EUR 5,080, or EUR 2,539 for start-ups and companies with 50 or fewer employees.
    Processing
    IND aims for 2 weeks for recognised sponsors; statutory 90 days.
    Eligibility
    Any nationality; employer must be an IND recognised sponsor; salary must meet the threshold and be market-conforming; MVV via the sponsor for nationalities that need one.
    Work rights
    Employment for the sponsoring employer; side self-employment is allowed alongside the job as long as the salary condition remains met.
    Dependants
    Spouse, partner and minor children may join with free access to the labour market.
    Leads to
    Counts toward permanent residence and naturalisation after 5 years.
    Apply
    The recognised sponsor files with the IND; MVV collected at the Dutch embassy where required.

    Documents Sponsor's application through the IND business portal · Employment contract at or above the threshold · Valid passport · Antecedents certificate · Health insurance after arrival

    Official page →

Without a visa, by passport

The stay you get on arrival, and whether working remotely on it is tolerated

  • EU / EEA / SwitzerlandFree movement; no permit; register in the Personal Records Database (BRP) at the municipality if staying more than 4 monthsRemote and local work fully permitted; registration triggers a citizen service number (BSN) and, for residents, mandatory Dutch health insurance and national insurance contributions.
  • United Kingdom90 days in any 180 across the Schengen area, visa-freeWork is not permitted on a visa-free stay under the Aliens Employment Act; the government publishes no exception for remote work for a foreign employer, so it sits in a grey zone that relocation guides warn against and that is not enforced against ordinary tourists in any reported case.
  • United States90 days in any 180, visa-free; MVV-exempt for residence applicationsSame short-stay work bar as other visa-free nationals; the visa-free entry is routinely used to arrive and file a DAFT application with the IND.
  • Canada90 days in any 180, visa-free; MVV-exemptShort-stay work not permitted as published; Working Holiday permit available for ages 18 to 30, applied for in the Netherlands.
  • Australia90 days in any 180, visa-free; MVV-exemptShort-stay work not permitted as published; Working Holiday permit available for ages 18 to 30, applied for in the Netherlands.
  • Japan90 days in any 180, visa-free; MVV-exemptShort-stay work not permitted as published; the Dutch-Japanese Trade Treaty gives the same EUR 4,500 self-employed route as DAFT.
  • Brazil90 days in any 180, visa-freeShort-stay work not permitted as published; residence routes require an MVV from the Dutch consulate.
  • IndiaSchengen short-stay visa (type C) required, up to 90 days in 180Work not permitted on a type C visa; the same rules on working apply to single-entry and multiple-entry visas.
  • South AfricaSchengen short-stay visa (type C) required, up to 90 days in 180Work not permitted on a short-stay visa; residence routes need an MVV.
  • TurkeySchengen short-stay visa (type C) requiredWork not permitted on a short-stay visa; Turkish nationals pay a reduced EUR 85 fee for the self-employed permit and are not scored under the RVO points system under the EU-Turkey Association rules.

Tax

When the country starts counting you as its taxpayer

Residency trigger
There is no statutory day count. The Tax Administration treats a person as a resident taxpayer if they live in the Netherlands, judged on all facts and circumstances: a lasting personal connection, where social and economic life takes place, where the home, family, children's school and bank accounts are. Registration in the Personal Records Database (BRP), which is mandatory for stays over 4 months, is in practice treated as the start of residence, and relocation guides also cite the 183-day and centre-of-vital-interests tests that treaties use to break ties. Residents are taxed on worldwide income from the first day of residence.
Special regime
The Expat Scheme (30% facility, 30%-regeling) lets an employer pay up to 30 per cent of salary tax-free for a maximum of 5 years. Conditions in 2026: paid employment, recruited from abroad, lived more than 150 km from the Dutch border for more than 16 of the 24 months before starting, taxable salary of at least EUR 48,013 (EUR 36,497 if under 30 with a master's degree), applied for within 4 months of starting; the benefit is capped at a salary of EUR 262,000, giving a maximum tax-free allowance of EUR 78,600 in 2026. From 1 January 2027 the rate becomes a flat 27 per cent for people who started the scheme in 2024 or later, while those who started before 2024 keep 30 per cent; one guide still describes the earlier 30-20-10 phase-out, which parliament reversed in the 2025 Tax Plan. The partial non-resident taxpayer option closed to new users on 1 January 2025 and ends for transitional users after the 2026 return. Self-employed workers and freelancers cannot use the scheme.
Social security
Residents are compulsorily insured under the Dutch national insurance schemes (state pension, survivor, long-term care) and must take out Dutch basic health insurance within 4 months; the self-employed pay income-dependent contributions through the tax return. A remote employee of an EU or EEA employer can stay in the home scheme only with an A1 certificate of coverage, which the employer applies for from the home authority (in the Netherlands the SVB); coverage normally continues only while the work abroad is temporary. Employees of employers outside the EU and treaty countries fall under Dutch national insurance once resident, and the foreign employer may have Dutch payroll and premium obligations.
Treaties
The Netherlands has one of the widest treaty networks in Europe, covering the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, India, Brazil, South Africa, Japan and Turkey among others. Under the wage articles the country where the work is physically performed generally has taxing rights once the employee is resident there, so a remote employee resident in the Netherlands pays Dutch tax on the salary and claims relief at home; a contractor is taxed in the Netherlands on business profits attributable to their Dutch base. Totalisation (social security) agreements exist with the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and others.

Practicalities

Address registration and BSN
Anyone staying more than 4 months must register at the municipality in the Personal Records Database (BRP), which issues the citizen service number (BSN) needed for tax, payroll, health insurance and banking; short stayers can obtain a BSN through the Non-residents Records Database (RNI) at designated municipalities. EU citizens are asked to register within 5 days of arrival at a permanent address.
Tax number
The BSN doubles as the tax number; freelancers additionally receive a VAT (btw) number after registering the business with the Chamber of Commerce (KVK), which charges a one-off registration fee of roughly EUR 50 to 75.
Health insurance
Dutch basic health insurance (Zorgverzekeringswet) is compulsory for residents and must be arranged within 4 months of becoming resident, backdated to the start of insurance; premiums run around EUR 140 to 160 a month in 2026; residence permit applicants must also show cover at application.
Bank account
Dutch payroll and most landlords require a Dutch IBAN; the major banks want a BSN and a registered address, while bunq is reported to open accounts fully online before the BSN arrives; DAFT applicants need a Dutch business account holding the EUR 4,500 capital.
SIM registration
No mandatory identity registration for prepaid SIM cards was found in the official sources opened for this research; postpaid contracts require a Dutch IBAN and address.
Overstay
Exceeding 90 days in 180 without a residence permit or a granted extension is unlawful stay; the IND can impose an entry ban for the Schengen area, and extensions of the visa-free term are granted only in exceptional cases and only where the person is not working in breach of the Aliens Employment Act.

The Netherlands for remote workers: no nomad visa, but a points-based self-employed permit, a US and Japanese treaty shortcut, and short visa-free stays that do not permit work

Where remote workers base and why

Amsterdam remains the default base for English-speaking remote workers because of Schiphol, the coworking density and an employer market where English is the working language, but its housing shortage and rents push many toward Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Hague and Eindhoven, all within an hour by train. The country's appeal for nomads is infrastructure rather than immigration policy: there is no residence permit written for remote work, and every route requires either a Dutch business, a Dutch employer or a recent degree.

For citizens of the United States and Japan the calculation is different. The two trade treaties turn the self-employed permit into a near-formality with EUR 4,500 of capital, no points test and no minimum income at the first application, which is why the Netherlands features on American nomad lists far more than on British, Indian or Brazilian ones. For everyone else the standard self-employed permit is a business-immigration assessment whose added-value criterion favours ventures serving the Dutch market.

What applicants report about the process

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency scoring is the pinch point for the standard self-employed permit. Adviser accounts consistently describe refusals where the business plan shows only foreign clients or no Dutch hiring, and the statutory 90-day period is routinely extended while the agency reviews the plan. DAFT and Japanese-treaty files are decided without that review and are reported to move in weeks rather than months, with the main delays being the Chamber of Commerce registration and opening the business bank account that must hold the capital.

The orientation year is described as the quickest and least scrutinised permit for anyone who qualifies on the degree rule, but it cannot be extended, so applicants plan the switch to a self-employed or sponsor permit within the year. Working Holiday applicants from Argentina, Uruguay, Hong Kong and Taiwan file through the embassy and face the annual quota of 100; Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, Japanese and South Koreans file in the Netherlands after arriving visa-free.

Money, tax and daily admin

Tax residence follows facts and circumstances, and in practice municipal registration marks the start. A resident is taxed on worldwide income, must take Dutch basic health insurance within 4 months and pays national insurance contributions; the self-employed set aside a large share of profit for income tax and contributions and are advised to budget for an accountant. The Expat Scheme is an employee-only break, so a freelancer on the self-employed or treaty permit gets no equivalent concession.

Banking is straightforward once the citizen service number exists; the difficulty is the gap between arrival and registration, which app-based banks are reported to bridge. Landlords and payroll both expect a Dutch IBAN. Disguised-employment rules are enforced more actively since 2025, so a freelancer working exclusively for one foreign client on set hours is reported to face reclassification risk.

What is changing

The Expat Scheme is being trimmed rather than dismantled: the 2024 phase-out was reversed, the rate falls to 27 per cent from January 2027 for users who started in 2024 or later, the salary cap is indexed each year and the partial non-resident option disappears after the 2026 return. IND fees and required amounts move every January and July, and the July 2026 indexation raised the self-employed profit floor to EUR 1,766.77 a month. No Dutch government proposal for a remote-work or nomad permit was found in the sources opened.

Researched from ind.nl · ind.nl · ind.nl · ind.nl · ind.nl · ind.nl · business.gov.nl · government.nl · belastingdienst.nl · belastingdienst.nl · the authority