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Which visa route fits your team: highly skilled migrant, EU Blue Card, startup visa or DAFT?
It depends on who is moving and on what the company already has. The highly skilled migrant route needs the employer to be a recognised sponsor. The European Blue Card does not, but asks for a degree or long experience. The start-up permit is for founders working with a recognised facilitator, and the friendship treaty route is open to US and Japanese nationals.
Most pages about Dutch immigration explain one route at a time. A founder has to choose between them, and they are not interchangeable: two are for employees, two are for the founder. The amounts below are the ones the IND, the Dutch immigration service, publishes for 2026, and they are reset every year.
| Route | Who it is for | What it asks in 2026 | Recognised sponsor | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highly skilled migrant | An employee with an offer from a Dutch employer | Gross salary of EUR 3,122 to EUR 5,942 a month, by age and background | Required | As long as the contract, up to five years |
| European Blue Card | An employee with a higher education degree or long experience | EUR 5,942 a month, or EUR 4,754 for recent graduates, plus a contract of at least six months | Not required | Up to five years |
| Start-up permit | A founder building an innovative company here | A facilitator recognised by RVO, an innovative product or service, a plan, and enough money to live on | Not required | One year |
| Self-employed under a friendship treaty | A founder with US or Japanese nationality | Capital of at least EUR 4,500 in the business, or EUR 11,250 for an NV | Not required | Up to two years |
Sources:
IND, Required amounts income requirements
IND, Enabling an employee to come to the Netherlands, publication 3089
When the highly skilled migrant route fits
This is the default route for hiring, and the only one with a company level step in front of it. The IND has to recognise the employer as a sponsor first: a separate application, a fee of EUR 5,080 for 2026 or EUR 2,539 for a company with no more than 50 people, and a legal decision period of three months.
Once that is done it is the cheapest and most flexible route to run. There is no diploma test, no minimum contract length, and the amounts for people under 30 and recent graduates sit well below the Blue Card level. The permit runs as long as the contract, up to five years, and the employee's own application costs EUR 423 in 2026. See what qualifies as a highly skilled migrant and how a company becomes an IND recognised sponsor.
Sources:
IND, Apply for recognition as sponsor
IND, Fees: costs of an application
When the European Blue Card fits better
The Blue Card answers one problem: a company that is not yet a recognised sponsor and cannot wait three months. The IND states that recognition is not required for a European Blue Card, so a newly registered BV can hire on this route on day one.
It costs something in return. The employee needs a higher education programme of at least three years, or five years of relevant work experience, or three for an IT professional in the seven years before applying. The contract has to run at least six months, and the salary is EUR 5,942 a month for 2026, or EUR 4,754 for recent graduates: above what the national route asks of anyone under 30.
It also carries rights the national route does not: mobility to other EU countries, and years abroad that count towards long term EU residence. See the requirements for an EU Blue Card.
Sources:
IND, European Blue Card residence permit
IND, Required amounts income requirements
When the start-up permit fits
This one is for the founder, not the staff. Business.gov.nl describes a permit valid for one year at most, in which the founder develops an innovative product or service with a facilitator recognised by RVO, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. RVO advises the IND, which aims to decide within 90 days.
The facilitator is the part founders underestimate: a signed agreement with an experienced organisation that cannot hold a majority stake or be a close relative. At the end of the year the founder moves to the self-employed permit, sometimes through a simplified transition. More in the requirements for the Dutch startup visa.
Source: Business.gov.nl, Residence permit for foreign startups
When the friendship treaty route fits
Only for two nationalities, and then it is the shortest path of the four. A founder with US nationality can invoke the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty, and one with Japanese nationality the Dutch-Japanese Trade Agreement, for a self-employed permit valid for up to two years.
The IND asks for evidence of capital invested: at least EUR 4,500 for a sole trader, a general partnership, a limited partnership or a BV, and at least EUR 11,250 for an NV. Its own form lists different supporting documents for this treaty route than for other self-employed applicants: financial documents checked by an independent outside expert, and a business bank statement showing the company name and the capital invested, instead of the scoring system documents. More in how the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty works.
Sources:
IND, Appendix Proof of income, form 7611
IND, Application to work on a self-employed basis, form 7524
The fifth route, which almost nobody compares
One scheme sits outside the table because it is neither a hiring nor a founder route: essential start-up personnel. The IND describes a pilot running from 1 June 2021 to 1 June 2028, for a start-up with at most 15 employees that wants specialists it cannot pay at highly skilled migrant rates.
The trade is shares for salary. The required amount for 2026 is EUR 3,122 gross a month, and within three years of the contract starting the employee has to hold at least a 1% share, or shares worth at least EUR 65,000. It covers five foreign employees at most, the permit runs three years at most, and no recognition is needed.
Sources:
IND, Residence permit for essential start-up personnel
IND, Required amounts income requirements
Which route is fastest?
It depends on where the clock starts. According to the IND, a recognised sponsor gets a decision on a highly skilled migrant application within two weeks in most cases, against a legal period of 90 days. But recognition takes three months of its own, so for a company that has not started, the Blue Card is often the earlier arrival.
The Blue Card has a decision period of 30 days for applications from a recognised sponsor and for long term mobility, 45 days where the applicant already holds certain work permits, and 90 days otherwise. None of these include collecting documents, legalising them, or picking up a travel visa. Where each route sits in a wider landing is on the Route.
Source: IND, Decision periods
Sources
- IND, Required amounts income requirements, checked 22 September 2026
- IND, Fees: costs of an application, checked 22 September 2026
- IND, Decision periods, checked 22 September 2026
- IND, Apply for recognition as sponsor, checked 22 September 2026
- IND, European Blue Card residence permit, checked 22 September 2026
- IND, Residence permit for essential start-up personnel, checked 22 September 2026
- IND, Appendix Proof of income, form 7611 (PDF), checked 22 September 2026
- IND, Application to work on a self-employed basis, form 7524 (PDF), 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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