Look inside
The plan for United States, from the inside
These are all 35 steps of the United States journey, exactly as they appear in your personal plan — with the lead time and the costs next to them. Not a brochure: this is the file that feeds the platform. Pick another country below if you're heading elsewhere.
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- Steps
- 35
- Phases
- 5
- Official sources
- 82
- Only for your situation
- 7
Phase 1
6 steps
Orientation
America has no general emigration route. There's no form with which you "sign up" — you need a specific key, and which one decides your whole journey. This phase is about finding that key, before you spend anything.
- 1.1
Understand that there is no general route
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
3 official sources
- 1.2
Know the Dutch door: the friendship treaty
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
3 official sources
- 1.3
Get a picture of what it's going to cost
- Lead time
- 1-2 hours with the calculator
- Costs
- none
- 1.4
Take the decision together
- Lead time
- no fixed one; take your time
- Costs
- none
- 1.5
Is your partner coming along without a job of their own? Read this first
- Lead time
- an evening of reading, together
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 1.6
Choose your target date
- Lead time
- five minutes, below
- Costs
- none
Phase 2
6 steps
Your visa
The route decides everything: who lodges it, what it costs and how long it takes. Choose deliberately, and test your choice hard before you spend money.
- 2.1
Choose your route and test it hard
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks of research
- Costs
- none
4 official sources
- 2.2
The E-2 route: build your business on paper
- Lead time
- 2-3 months of preparation
- Costs
- the investment itself; plus advisory and incorporation costs
2 official sources
- 2.3
Lodge and pay the costs
- Lead time
- count on 12 weeks or more for the file, then the interview
- Costs
- MRV fee $ 315 (E visa) per person; issuance fee for Dutch citizens $ 2,118 per person
3 official sources
- 2.4
Employer routes: let the employer lead
- Lead time
- varies strongly; H-1B has an annual lottery
- Costs
- the employer carries the petition costs; you pay the MRV fee ($ 205)
3 official sources
- 2.5
The lottery as an extra chance, not as a plan
- Lead time
- annual registration round in autumn
- Costs
- see the official site; always check at the source
2 official sources
- 2.6
The L-2 for your partner and children under 21
- Lead time
- runs with the L-1; the consulate usually schedules the family members together
- Costs
- the MRV fee per family member ($ 205)
3 official sources
Only if this applies to you
Phase 3
11 steps
Closing the Netherlands
The familiar closing list, with one hard difference: no treaty route for your healthcare comes along. What you cancel in the Netherlands you have to buy back yourself in America — and you arrange that before you go, not after.
- 3.1
Healthcare: there's no safety net, so build your own bridge
- Lead time
- start 3 months before departure
- Costs
- none in the Netherlands; the American premium starts on arrival
3 official sources
- 3.2
AOW and pension: the treaty does its work
- Lead time
- an afternoon of research; registering is possible up to 1 year after departure
- Costs
- voluntary AOW continuation: 17.9% of your income (min € 569, max € 5,693 a year, 2026)
4 official sources
- 3.3
The tax wind-up: two countries, one treaty
- Lead time
- the return follows after the emigration year; the preparation now
- Costs
- none
4 official sources
- 3.4
Stop child benefit and allowances
- Lead time
- an hour
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 3.5
Deregister with the municipality — with international proof
- Lead time
- 15 minutes at the counter or online
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 3.6
DigiD, banking and your vote
- Lead time
- an evening
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 3.7
Documents: apostille and English translation
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks
- Costs
- apostille € 27 per document; certified translation about € 40-85 per document
2 official sources
- 3.8
Living partly in the Netherlands: two limits, from two countries
- Lead time
- one decision, before you commit to anything else
- Costs
- none
6 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.9
The house: no interest deduction from America, but Dutch tax
- Lead time
- one conversation with the mortgage lender and one with a tax adviser who knows both countries
- Costs
- advisory hours; when renting out possibly an interest surcharge from the bank
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.10
Children staying in the Netherlands: DUO and the house
- Lead time
- an evening, and after that one report a year
- Costs
- none
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
- 3.11
The partner without a job: AOW gap, healthcare and the bank
- Lead time
- an evening together, then a few things to arrange; the SVB application within one year of departure
- Costs
- the voluntary AOW/Anw premium depends on income; without income close to the minimum
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
Phase 4
4 steps
The move
An ocean, a container and one decision that makes a lot of difference in money: the car stays behind. That isn't frugality but the outcome of the American import requirements.
- 4.1
Your household contents: duty-free, with one form
- Lead time
- 3-4 weeks' sailing to the east coast; 6-8 weeks for a part-load
- Costs
- see the cost indication — the import itself is duty-free
3 official sources
- 4.2
The car: sell it here
- Lead time
- count on 4-8 weeks for a good sale
- Costs
- brings in money — but you buy something back in the US almost right away
2 official sources
- 4.3
Pets: chip, papers and a long lead time
- Lead time
- start 3-6 months in advance
- Costs
- see the cost indication
1 official source
- 4.4
The travel day: papers at hand, and your I-94 afterwards
- Lead time
- the travel day itself
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
Phase 5
8 steps
Arrival in America
You start administratively from zero: no number, no insurance, no credit history. The order of this phase decides how fast you can simply live.
- 5.1
Apply for your Social Security Number
- Lead time
- card within 5-10 working days after approval
- Costs
- free
2 official sources
- 5.2
Arrange your health insurance within sixty days
- Lead time
- arrange right away
- Costs
- see the cost indication
2 official sources
- 5.3
Open a bank account and build credit
- Lead time
- account the same day; a usable score after ± 6 months
- Costs
- opening deposit usually $25-100
3 official sources
- 5.4
Renting a home with an empty file
- Lead time
- 2-6 weeks of searching
- Costs
- deposit usually 1-2 months' rent, without credit history often more
2 official sources
- 5.5
Getting a driving licence: taking the test again
- Lead time
- a few weeks to months, depending on the state
- Costs
- differs per state
3 official sources
- 5.6
School for the children
- Lead time
- enrolling is possible all year round
- Costs
- public education is free
2 official sources
- 5.7
Set up your American tax year right
- Lead time
- ongoing; the first return follows in spring
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 5.8
Your partner on the L-2: SSN, insurance and (maybe) working
- Lead time
- the first weeks; the SSN within 5-10 working days of the application
- Costs
- free
3 official sources
Only if this applies to you
7 of these steps aren't always there. They appear only when your answers call them up — a pet, a car, children staying behind. That's the difference between a plan and a checklist in which you have to work out yourself what applies.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the United States journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 1.2 of your plan
Know the Dutch door: the friendship treaty
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
Dutch citizens have a door most nationalities don't have. Since 5 December 1957 a treaty of friendship and commerce with the United States has been in force, and because of that the Netherlands is on the list of treaty countries for the E-2 visa: the visa for whoever invests a substantial amount in a real American business and will run that business themselves. No employer needed, no lottery, no queue.
Two things to get right straight away. There is no fixed minimum amount: the consulate in Amsterdam says literally that there's no amount that counts as "substantial" — it's about the proportion to what the business costs, and the cheaper the enterprise, the higher the share you have to put in yourself. And the business may not be marginal: it has to be able to yield more than just a minimal income for you and your family.
The second: this visa is emphatically temporary. You may renew without limit as long as the business runs, but you have to demonstrably keep the intention to leave when your status ends — the consulate even asks for a signed declaration about that. Whoever expects a green card via this route is looking at the wrong track.
This is step 1.2 of 35. The other 34 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
And what you don't see here
This page shows the content. What a page can't show is the work the platform does for you afterwards:
- The clocks that start running the moment you begin, and a nudge at the moment something is asked of you — not earlier.
- Your documents in one place, with their expiry dates watched, so nothing lapses while you wait for something else.
- The ticking off, together with your partner on the same journey.
- The steps that drop out or appear based on your answers, so your plan holds only what really applies to you.
Ready to start on United States?
All 35 steps, set to your situation and with the deadlines watched. € 399 once, no subscription.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for United States: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in United States really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
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