Start-up
Residency route facts
Identity
| Official name (local) | verblijfsvergunning start-up (innovatieve onderneming) as of 2026-06-08[5][6] The IND's Dutch page is titled 'start-up'; Vb 2000 art. 3.30(6) describes the holder as a foreign national who founds an 'innovatieve onderneming'. |
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| Official name (English) | Start-up as of 2026-06-08[5] Also published as 'residence permit for foreign start-ups' by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. |
| Legal basis | Vreemdelingenbesluit 2000 art. 3.30, sixth paragraph as of 2026-08-09[6] Art. 3.30(6) derogates from paragraphs 1 and 2: the permit may be granted to a founder of an innovative business who has durable sufficient means and makes it plausible that the conditions of paragraphs 1 and 2 will be met within one year of grant. Further conditions are set by ministerial regulation. |
| Instrument type | residence permit as of 2026-06-08[5] IND records it as a type I temporary regular residence permit. |
Who can apply
| Criminal-record condition | Not established from a qualifying source |
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Permit terms
| Initial duration | up to 1 year as of 2026-06-08[5] Stated as a maximum term of validity of 1 year. |
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| Renewable | No as of 2026-06-08[5] The IND states it is not possible to extend the start-up permit. After one year the holder may apply to change purpose to the self-employed permit, which requires a facilitator declaration evidencing a completed mentoring process of at least 3 months. |
| Maximum total duration | 1 year as of 2026-06-08[5] |
| Work rights | self-employment only as of 2026-06-08[5] The document is endorsed 'arbeid in loondienst alleen toegestaan met TWV': dependent employment only where the employer holds a work permit. Self-employed activity in the start-up is the permit's own purpose. |
Permanent residence and citizenship
| Counts toward permanent residence | Not established from a qualifying source |
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Requirements
| Minimum capital | Not applicable[5][6] No capital threshold. The condition is a means test on the applicant plus an innovative business and a facilitator agreement. |
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| Business plan required | Yes as of 2026-06-08[5] A step-by-step plan from idea to company, assessed by the RVO, covering organisational structure, roles and responsibilities, legal form, personnel, company goals, a description of the innovative product or service, and the planning and activities for setting the company up. |
| Endorsement required | Yes as of 2026-06-08[5] Cooperation with a reliable mentor (facilitator) recorded in a signed contract is a condition; the RVO maintains the list of facilitators and assesses the start-up. A facilitator may not hold a majority interest in the start-up, may not be a relative up to and including the third degree, must be financially healthy and must have a deputy in the organisation. |
| Innovation criterion | Yes as of 2026-06-08[5] The company must be innovative: the product or service is new to the Netherlands, or the start-up uses new technology in production, distribution or marketing, or has a new way of working and organising. The applicant must play an active part in the organisation, not merely be a shareholder or financier. |
| Jobs to be created | Not applicable[5] No job-creation condition is stated among the start-up conditions. |
| Own means requirement | 1 × IND required amount for a single person, gross per month including holiday allowance per month as of 2026-07-13[4][5] The IND applies the same required amount as for the self-employed permit. Proof may be a bank statement on a Dutch personal or business account (or a PO-box account or a Dutch notary's third-party account where no Dutch account can be opened), or the facilitator financing the stay with the money available for the whole stay of at most one year. |
Process
| Where to apply from | either as of 2026-06-12[2][5] TEV/MVV path from abroad; the fee schedule separately prices a change in purpose of stay, and the facilitator can file through the IND Business Portal. |
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| Statutory processing time | 90 days as of 2026-07-06[1] Legal decision period for other applications for a regular temporary residence permit. |
| Fees |
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Physical presence
| maximum consecutive absence | 6 months · to keep the permit as of 2026-07-20[3] Country-wide main-residence rule for regular residence permits: more than 6 continuous months outside the Netherlands (counted per calendar year, separate periods not added together) may be treated as moving main residence, which can cost the permit. |
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| maximum consecutive absence | 4 months · to keep the permit as of 2026-07-20[3] |
Family inclusion
| Family members may be included | Not established from a qualifying source |
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| Eligible relations | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Family may apply at the same time | Not established from a qualifying source |
| Family members' work rights | Not established from a qualifying source |
Your next step
Read the requirements above considering your own situation: the income multiple, the absence limits, who you can bring. Check the country record for the reference figure those amounts are calculated from, and for anything that has changed recently.
The next step is your own case. That assessment is legal work. Create profile for our assistance in this.
Profile benefits
- A 30-minute call with our consultant, who reads your profile first.
- An offer for legal support built around your case, covering the whole process.
Verification
| Sources cited | 6 |
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| of which official (tier 1) | 6 |
| Oldest as-of date | 2026-06-08 |
| Newest as-of date | 2026-08-09 |
| Reviewed on | 2026-08-11 |
| Schema version | 1.1 |
Sources
- [1] Decision periods – statutory decision periods per application type
Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (IND), Ministry of Justice and Security · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2026-07-06 · Accessed 2026-08-09 · Archived copy - [2] Fees: costs of an application (leges)
Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (IND), Ministry of Justice and Security · fee schedule · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-12 · Accessed 2026-08-09 · Archived copy - [3] Main residency – when the IND considers main residence moved abroad
Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (IND), Ministry of Justice and Security · official guidance · Tier 1 · Published 2026-07-20 · Accessed 2026-08-09 · Archived copy - [4] Required amounts income requirements (normbedragen)
Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (IND), Ministry of Justice and Security · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-07-13 · Accessed 2026-08-09 · Archived copy - [5] Start-up – conditions, facilitator requirements and permit terms
Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (IND), Ministry of Justice and Security · official portal · Tier 1 · Published 2026-06-08 · Accessed 2026-08-09 · Archived copy - [6] Vreemdelingenbesluit 2000, artikel 3.30 (consolidated text, valid from 12-06-2026)
Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties / overheid.nl (wetten.overheid.nl) · statute · Tier 1 · Accessed 2026-08-09