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What are the requirements for the Dutch startup visa?
The Dutch start-up permit is for a founder from outside the EU with an innovative business and a signed contract with a facilitator, a mentor recognised by RVO. According to the IND, the permit is valid for one year. After that year, the founder can apply for a residence permit as a self-employed person.
The IND, the Dutch immigration service, calls it the residence permit for a start-up. Founders usually call it the startup visa. It is one year of legal residence to turn an idea into a working company, on the condition that an experienced mentor signs up to guide you.
This guide is for a founder whose company is registered outside Europe and who is weighing this route against the others. It follows the rules as the IND and RVO, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, publish them.
Who is the start-up permit for?
It is for an entrepreneur from outside the EU, the EEA or Switzerland who wants to start an innovative business in the Netherlands. On top of the general conditions, the IND asks for three things: a business that is genuinely innovative, an active role in it, and a signed agreement with a facilitator.
The IND accepts a business as innovative in three situations: the product or service is new to the Netherlands, the start-up uses new technology in production, distribution or marketing, or the start-up has a new way of working and organising. You also have to show a step by step plan that takes the idea to a company.
Two conditions are easy to miss. You have to play an active part in the organisation, so being only a shareholder or a financier is not enough. And both you and your facilitator have to be registered in the trade register of the KvK, the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. Setting up the company itself is a separate track, covered in can a foreigner start a business in the Netherlands.
Source: IND, Start-up
What does a facilitator do, and who can be one?
A facilitator is an experienced business mentor. RVO keeps the list of facilitators that qualify, and the IND wants a signed contract with one of them before it looks at anything else. The mentor guides the business through the year and writes the declaration you need at the end of it.
The IND sets conditions on the mentor as well as on the founder. The facilitator has to have experience with mentoring innovative start-ups, has to be financially healthy, with no suspension of payment and no liquidation, and has to have a deputy inside its own organisation. It may not hold a majority interest in your company, and it may not be a relative of yours up to and including the third degree.
A facilitator can also pay for your stay. That is one of the two ways to meet the money test below.
Sources:
IND, Start-up
Business.gov.nl, Residence permit for foreign startups
What money do you have to show?
You show that you can support yourself for the whole stay, either with a statement from a Dutch bank account in your own name or with financing from the facilitator. The IND charges EUR 423 for the application in 2026. Its fees are set per calendar year and change every 1 January.
The table of required amounts on ind.nl does not list a separate figure for the start-up permit. It does list the figure for a self-employed person, which is the permit most founders move to after the year: EUR 1,766.77 gross profit per month, including holiday allowance, for the period 1 July 2026 up to and including 31 December 2026. The IND resets these amounts twice a year, on 1 January and on 1 July.
Sources:
IND, Fees: costs of an application
IND, Required amounts income requirements
How long does the permit last, and what comes after it?
According to the IND, the maximum term of the start-up permit is one year, and the IND has 90 days to decide on the application. The year itself cannot be extended. After it, a founder who wants to stay applies for a residence permit as a self-employed person, which is valid for at most two years.
That second application is a different test. The IND asks RVO to score the business on personal experience, the business plan and the added value for the Dutch economy. You need at least 30 points in each of the three areas, or 45 points for personal experience together with 45 points for the business plan. Coming from the start-up permit, you also enclose a declaration from your facilitator showing that you completed at least three months of guidance. RVO publishes the model for that declaration.
Nationals of the United States and Japan can skip the scoring under a treaty, which is explained in how the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty works. How this route compares with the highly skilled migrant permit and the EU Blue Card is set out in which visa route fits your team.
Sources:
IND, Start-up
IND, Residence permit self-employed person
IND, application form 7524, to work on a self-employed basis
Can you bring your first hires on this route?
Not on the start-up permit itself. The IND has a separate permit for essential start-up personnel. It is meant for an innovative start-up with scalable activities and at most 15 employees, and the employee has to receive a real stake in the company.
That stake is at least 1% of the shares, or a holding worth at least EUR 65,000, in shares, depositary receipts or options. It has to be granted within three years and it cannot be made conditional. The required amount for 2026 is EUR 3,122 gross per month without holiday allowance, which is below the general criterion for a highly skilled migrant described in what qualifies as a highly skilled migrant. The permit is valid for at most three years, the application costs EUR 423, and the IND must decide within 90 days.
Sources:
IND, Residence permit for essential start-up personnel
IND, Required amounts income requirements
Sources
- IND, Start-up, checked 22 September 2026
- IND, Residence permit self-employed person, checked 22 September 2026
- IND, Residence permit for essential start-up personnel, checked 22 September 2026
- IND, Required amounts income requirements, checked 22 September 2026
- IND, Fees: costs of an application, checked 22 September 2026
- Business.gov.nl, Residence permit for foreign startups, checked 22 September 2026
Checked on 22 September 2026. This page is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Rules change: check the official source, or ask an adviser, before you act on it.
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