Residence permit self-employed person

These requirements apply to you:

• You meet the general requirements that apply to everyone. 
• Your work is of essential interest to the Dutch economy. Do you work want to work as a self-employed artist in the Netherlands? Your work needs to be of essential interest to the Dutch culture.
• You are registered in the Trade Register of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (in Dutch: Kamer van Koophandel). 
• You meet the requirements to practise your profession or to start working as a self-employed person. This means that you have all the necessary permits.
• You meet the income requirements. This must be evident from your business plan.
• If you are a freelancer, you must have one or more commissions in the Netherlands. Working as a freelancer means that you have no boss and accept separate commissions. 
• If you start working on a self-employed basis in the individual healthcare sector, you must be listed in the register of individual healthcare professionals, the BIG-register. For more information, visit www.english.bigregister.nl.  

Essential interest to the Dutch economy

Are you going to work as a self-employed person in the Netherlands? Your product or service needs to be of essential interest for the Dutch economy. The product or services you offer must be new for the Netherlands. To assess this, the IND requests advice from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). The RVO gives advice on behalf of the Minister of Economic Affairs. For more information, visit www.rvo.nl/en.

The RVO assesses the essential interest of the work you want to start as a self-employed person in these 3 areas:

1. Personal experience;
2. Business plan;
3. Added value for the Netherlands. 

Assessment according to scoring system

In its assessment, the RVO gives each area a number of points. Do you have at least 30 points for each area? Or 45 points for your personal experience and 45 points for your business plan? Then your business is of essential interest to the Netherlands. See the legislation on the scoring system and all requirements in Dutch. Or this English translated document:

• Dutch scoring system business of essential interest.pdf (PDF, 116.95 KB)

When the scoring system does not apply

In the following 3 situations the scoring system does not apply when assessing the essential interest:

•    You have the Turkish nationality, or
•    You have the status of long-term EU resident in another EU country, or
•    You practise an independent profession. You are, for example, a medical specialist or artist. In this case the IND assesses the essential interest using advices from outer ministries and implementing organisations.

Essential interest to the Dutch culture

Are you going to work as a self-employed artist in the Netherlands? Your work needs to be of essential interest to the Dutch culture. To assess this, the IND requests advice from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). 

In these situations, there is an essential interest to Dutch culture:

• You get paid directly from a national culture fund (in Dutch: Rijkscultuurfonds).
• You are going to work for a cultural institution in the Netherlands. And this institution is of a such a high quality that its cultural importance is established according to the OCW. Also, the institution must have a genuine need for your activities.
   

Requirements of the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty or Dutch-Japanese Trade Treaty

Do you want to call on the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty or Dutch-Japanese Trade Treaty? These requirements apply:

• You meet the general requirements that apply to everyone.
• You have the nationality of United States of America (US) or Japan. 
• One of these situations applies to you.
  • You trade between the Netherlands and the United States of America or Japan. 
  • You develop and lead the business operations of a business in the Netherlands. This means that one of these situations applies to you.
    • You represent a US or Japanese business and have a key position (very important position) at that business. 
    • You practise an independent profession. This does not apply if you work for or on behalf of the government or in the healthcare sector. 
    • You invest a lot of money (substantial capital) in your business. The level of this sum depends on the form of your business. For most forms, the IND requires a minimum investment of €4,500. See the rules on substantial capital investment (only available in Dutch).

How we process your application per April 2024

Are you making a first-time application based on a treaty? Register with the Chamber of Commerce within 6 months after you received your residence permit. If you do not do this, the IND may revoke your permit.

Are you applying for an extension of your residence permit based on a treaty? The IND requires annual accounts of you and a balance sheet or income statement. This is to check if the company has been active and if the invested capital remained in the business.

TB test

Did you indicate at the time of the application that you will take a TB (tuberculosis) test? Then make an appointment with the public health service (in Dutch: Gemeenschappelijke Gezondheidsdienst or GGD). Do this within 3 months after you have received your residence permit. Take with you to the appointment:

Working with the residence permit

On the back of your residence permit, it says whether you are allowed to work for an employer. Then your residence permit says ‘work allowed on a self-employed basis, work as an employee only allowed with a work permit’ (in Dutch: arbeid als zelfstandige toegestaan, arbeid in loondienst alleen toegestaan met tewerkstellingsvergunning (TWV)). This means that, with this residence permit, you are only allowed to work if your employer has a work permit (TWV) for you.

Your family members or relatives are allowed to work in the Netherlands without a work permit (TWV). It says on their residence permit ‘work allowed on a self-employed basis, free to work, no work permit required’ (in Dutch: arbeid als zelfstandige toegestaan, arbeid vrij toegestaan, TWV niet vereist).

Working without TWV 

Have you worked in the Netherlands for 5 years? Then you no longer need a work permit (TWV) to work in the Netherlands. You will be allowed to work without a TWV as soon as you have received a residence permit with the work status ‘free to work' (in Dutch: arbeid vrij toegestaan). This is how you apply for this indication of work status.

Will your residence permit remain valid for more than 4 months? Then you can replace your residence permit with a residence document with the indication of work status ‘free to work’ (in Dutch: arbeid vrij toegestaan).

Will your residence permit expire within 3 months? Then apply to extend your residence permit. Indicate on the form that you want to have the work status ‘free to work’ (in Dutch: arbeid vrij toegestaan) on your residence document.

Legal obligations

You have an obligation to provide information. This means that you must notify the IND of changes in your situation. Read more about your obligation to provide information.

The IND checks whether you meet your obligations. If you do not, you may get an administrative fine. 

Validity of residence permit

Your residence permit is valid for a maximum of 2 years. 

Type of residence permit

The residence permit is type I, temporary regular residence permit.

Other applications

Replacement of the residence permit

Has your residence permit been damaged, lost or stolen? Visit the web page residence permit damaged or change details or residence permit lost or stolen.

Extend the residence permit

Will your residence permit expire soon? Then you can extend your residence permit.

Permanent residence permit

Have you had a residence permit for 5 years? Then you can apply for a permanent residence permit.

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