The five keys to America: which routes really exist?

Australia has a points system, Europe has free movement, and America has… none of that. There is no form with which you register yourself as a candidate immigrant. You come in through a specific category or you don't come in. That sounds harsh, but it's better to know it now than after a year of searching — and there are more doors than most people think.

1. Your own business: the E-2 (the Dutch route)

Thanks to a treaty from 1957, Dutch citizens can obtain an E-2 visa by investing substantially in an American business they run themselves. No employer needed, no cap, no lottery — and the spouse may work right away. There is no fixed minimum amount; it's about the proportion to what the business costs. The downside: it's a temporary visa that hangs on your business and offers no path to a green card, and the issuance fee for Dutch citizens is steep. For entrepreneurial families this is by far the most realistic route.

2. An American employer: the H-1B

The classic route for specialists: an American employer sponsors you for a position that requires at least a bachelor's degree in that specific field. The employer arranges and pays for the petition. The problem is access: there's an annual cap of 65,000 places plus 20,000 for whoever holds an American master's, and that cap is distributed through a lottery in spring for which structurally far more people register than there are places. Whoever misses the lottery waits a year. Moreover, the rules around this route have changed several times in recent years and part of them is before the courts — don't count on today's conditions still applying in two years.

3. Transfer within your company: the L-1

The calmest route, if you have it. If you've worked at least one continuous year for a group with an American branch, you can be transferred: as a manager (L-1A, up to seven years) or as someone with specialised knowledge (L-1B, up to five years). No cap, no lottery. The spouse of an L-1 holder may work on the basis of the status itself. If you work for an international company, this is the first conversation you have — the route often turns out to be closer than thought.

4. Extraordinary talent: the O-1

For whoever demonstrably belongs to the top of their field — science, arts, education, business or sport. The bar is high (the immigration service speaks of the small percentage that has risen to the very top) and a mandatory advisory opinion from a professional organisation comes with it. No cap, and renewable. For researchers, artists and top athletes often more realistic than it sounds.

5. Family and the lottery: the green-card routes

The routes above all deliver a temporary visa. Permanent residence — the green card — runs through a limited number of roads: immediate family with an American passport, an employer that starts a green-card process (usually with a labour-market test first), or the Diversity Visa lottery that raffles 55,000 permanent visas a year.

Two practical things about that lottery. You get the result exclusively via the status check on the official site — the American government never sends winners a letter or email, so every "you have won" message that asks for money is a scam. And if you win: since May 2024 the consulate in Amsterdam no longer handles immigrant visas, so for Dutch citizens that process runs via Frankfurt.

And what about ESTA?

ESTA isn't a sixth route, and that misunderstanding costs people their access to the US. The Visa Waiver Program admits Dutch citizens for a maximum of ninety days for business or tourism. The embassy explicitly adds that whoever wants to stay longer, or comes as an employee, transferred staff member, investor or student, needs a real visa. Arriving on ESTA and "sorting it out there" doesn't exist — and whoever tries risks being refused at the border and damaging their later visa application.

Which key fits you?

In short: if you have entrepreneurial money and appetite, look at the E-2 — that's the door that stands open specifically for Dutch citizens. If you work for an international group, ask about the L-1. If you're a specialist with an American employer in prospect, the H-1B is the way, with the lottery as the uncertainty. If you're at the top of your field, look into the O-1. And meanwhile enter the lottery every year: it takes little effort and it's the only route where you can win a green card without an employer or investment. What you shouldn't do is plan a move before one of these keys is actually in the lock.