No dedicated digital nomad visa

Does Netherlands Have a Digital Nomad Visa? (2026)

The Netherlands is one of the most nomad-friendly countries in Europe that has never bothered to create a digital nomad visa — because for one nationality, it never needed to. The Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (DAFT), signed in 1956, lets US citizens obtain a two-year self-employed residence permit with a €4,500 capital investment and a Dutch business registration. No points test, no Dutch clients required, no salary threshold. It is, by a wide margin, the simplest self-employed route in Western Europe, and Amsterdam's canals, Utrecht's livability, and the near-universal fluency in English make the Netherlands an easy place to land. Everyone else faces a steeper climb: the standard self-employed residence permit runs on a points system scoring your personal experience, business plan, and added value to the Dutch economy, and it genuinely favors established freelancers with Dutch clients. The alternative most remote workers actually take is the highly skilled migrant route — employer-sponsored, with a salary bar around €5,700 a month (lower for under-30s). Be honest with yourself about the trade-offs: Dutch bureaucracy is efficient but the housing market, especially in Amsterdam, is brutal, with newcomers routinely spending months finding a rental. Taxes are high, and the famous 30% ruling (a tax break for skilled migrants) applies to employees, not the self-employed. Still, for Americans with a remote income, DAFT plus the Netherlands is arguably the best deal on this entire list — a real residence permit in the EU's most English-friendly country for the price of a business registration.