Netherlands

The Netherlands has no digital nomad visa. Short stays follow Schengen rules, and anyone who wants to live in the country needs a residence permit tied to self-employment, a Dutch employer or study.

• Short stays: visa-exempt nationals and short-stay visa holders can spend up to 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen area, a single allowance shared across all member countries (Schengen Borders Code).
• U.S. founders: the DAFT permit lets U.S. nationals live in the Netherlands and run their own business with an investment of €4,500 and no income test.
• Other entrepreneurs and freelancers: the self-employed residence permit is open to all non-EU nationals but needs a business that passes the RVO points test and a profit of €1,766.77 a month.
• Employees and graduates: the IND also runs the highly skilled migrant permit for people hired by a Dutch employer, a start-up permit for innovative founders working with a facilitator and an orientation year for recent graduates. This site has no pages for them yet.

Border checks: the EU Entry/Exit System has recorded non-EU short-stay travelers' fingerprints and facial images at Schengen borders since Oct. 12, 2025 (EU).

ETIAS, the planned EU travel authorization for visa-exempt visitors: Not yet operating and no official start date. The EU says it will announce the date several months before launch. The earlier official target, the last quarter of 2026, was removed from the official ETIAS website on July 14-17, 2026.

Choosing: a U.S. national with a real business plan has the easiest route in DAFT. Others weighing self-employment should start with the points test, since a plan the RVO scores too low ends the application. Nationals of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK and the United States, among others, can apply in the Netherlands without an MVV entry visa; most others start at a Dutch embassy (IND form 7524).

Rent drives the budget, and Amsterdam is clearly the most expensive city. Numbeo figures for a single person, with rent for a one-bedroom apartment plus other monthly costs (dollar amounts at the Sept. 30, 2026 rate of about $1.13 per euro):

• Amsterdam (Numbeo, August 2026): about €2,270 a month for a central one-bedroom or €1,660 outside the center, plus about €1,130 in other costs. Total: roughly €2,800 to €3,400 ($3,170 to $3,860).
• Utrecht (Numbeo, August 2026): about €1,680 central or €1,330 outside, plus €1,060. Total: roughly €2,380 to €2,730 ($2,700 to $3,100).
• Rotterdam (Numbeo, August 2026): about €1,630 central or €1,350 outside, plus €1,080. Total: roughly €2,430 to €2,710 ($2,760 to $3,070).

Residents must also pay for Dutch standard health insurance, which these totals leave out (Government of the Netherlands). Rental housing is scarce in the big cities, so furnished short lets often cost more than the averages above. Smaller cities such as Groningen tend to be cheaper, but this guide has no checked figures for them.

• Amsterdam: the largest international and startup community and the widest choice of coworking spaces, at the highest rents in the country.
• Rotterdam: modern architecture, a big port economy and lower rents than Amsterdam, with a growing creative and tech scene.
• Utrecht: a compact university city at the center of the rail network, so most of the country is a short train ride away.
• The Hague: home to the government, international courts and many international organizations, with beaches at Scheveningen.
• Eindhoven: a technology and design hub around its high-tech industry, quieter and smaller than the Randstad cities.

Each city page covers neighborhoods, internet and costs in more detail.

Connections are fast and fiber is widespread in the cities. The Speedtest Global Index put the median fixed broadband speed at about 226 Mbps and the median mobile speed at about 158 Mbps in August 2026.

Coworking spaces are easy to find in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Hague and Eindhoven, from international chains to startup hubs with day passes and monthly desks. Prices vary by city and neighborhood. Many cafes offer Wi-Fi for lighter work.

The main mobile networks are KPN, Vodafone and Odido, and prepaid SIM cards and eSIMs are widely sold.

The Netherlands has no 183-day rule for tax residence.

The Belastingdienst test. No fixed day count: residence depends on circumstances such as where a person spends most of their time, where their family lives, where they work and where they have health insurance (Belastingdienst). Someone who moves in, rents a home and brings family is likely resident even before half a year has passed; a short visitor with a home elsewhere usually is not.

• Expat Scheme (30% facility): a tax-free allowance for employees recruited from abroad who earn more than €48,013 a year. Self-employed people, including DAFT holders, cannot use it (Belastingdienst).
• Self-employed: DAFT and self-employed permit holders generally pay Dutch income tax on their business profits under the normal rules; neither permit comes with a tax regime of its own.
• Treaties: whether income from abroad is also taxed in the Netherlands depends on the tax treaty with the other country. U.S. citizens keep filing U.S. returns while abroad (IRS).

What to check before a long stay: where the main home is, where family lives and works, which country's health insurance applies and what the relevant tax treaty says about residence.

• Registration: residents register at the town hall in the Personal Records Database (BRP) and receive a citizen service number (BSN). People in the country only briefly for work or study can register as non-residents and still get a BSN (Government of the Netherlands).
• Health insurance: everyone who lives or works in the Netherlands must take out Dutch standard health insurance (Government of the Netherlands). Short-stay visitors need travel insurance instead. The emergency number is 112.
• Money: debit and credit cards are accepted almost everywhere, and some shops are card-only. A BSN and a Dutch address make opening a local bank account much easier.
• SIM and eSIM: prepaid SIMs and eSIMs from the main networks are sold online and in stores.
• Getting around: trains link the main cities, and cycling is the usual way to get around town.
• Arrival: non-EU travelers on short stays give fingerprints and a facial image at the border under the Entry/Exit System (EU).