The E-2 visa: the American door that stands open only for Dutch citizens

America has no general emigration route, but Dutch citizens have something most nationalities don't: a door of their own. Since 5 December 1957 a treaty of friendship and commerce with the United States has been in force, and because of it the Netherlands is on the list of treaty countries for the E-2 treaty investor visa. In Dutch usage that route is often simply called "the DAFT visa", after that treaty.

The core is simple: invest a substantial amount in a real American business, run that business yourself, and you may live in the US with your family. No employer that has to sponsor you, no annual cap, no lottery.

The four requirements, and where it goes wrong

Your money really has to be in the business. The capital must be invested or demonstrably on its way, and it has to be at risk — money in a bank account with the intention of starting something one day doesn't count. You also have to be able to show where it comes from.

The amount has to be substantial — but there's no minimum. This is the most-asked question and the answer is counter-intuitive: the consulate in Amsterdam literally writes that no amount exists that counts as "substantial". It's about the proportion to what the business costs. If you buy an existing business of four hundred thousand, an investment of a hundred thousand is little; if you start a service business that costs fifty thousand, you're expected to put virtually the whole sum into it. The cheaper the business, the higher the percentage has to be.

The business may not be marginal. It has to be able to yield, now or in the near future, more than a minimal income for you and your family — usually demonstrable within five years. A one-person business that yields exactly enough to live on is marginal according to the rules and so not enough. This is where many refusals come from.

You have to run it yourself. You show that you develop and direct, with at least 50% ownership or demonstrable operational control. Passive investment in someone else's business doesn't qualify.

How the application runs

Unlike the employer routes, an E-2 application from the Netherlands doesn't go via a petition to the American immigration service — that road is even expressly closed to people outside the US. You lodge directly with the consulate in Amsterdam: the online form DS-160, plus your complete business file by email. Then follows a personal interview, which is compulsory for all E applicants. The consulate itself allows twelve weeks or more for handling the file before that interview; your passport with visa comes back three to four working days after the interview.

Count on two amounts per person: $315 application costs for the E category, plus the issuance fee the US charges per nationality. For Dutch citizens the reciprocity table puts that at $2,118 — the most expensive single item of the whole America route, and precisely the amount that's missing from the enthusiastic stories about "the Dutch visa". For a family of four that adds up to almost ten thousand dollars in visa costs alone. One caveat: the reciprocity table lists a validity of 36 months with that amount, while the consulate writes on its Q&A page that an E visa for Dutch citizens can be issued for up to five years. Ask at your application which position applies.

What it gives your family

Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 may come along — their nationality doesn't have to be the same as yours. And here's a big advantage other routes don't offer: the spouse of an E-2 holder is authorised to work on the basis of the status itself, without applying for a separate work permit. With an H-1B the spouse has to go through a separate process for that, and that's only possible under conditions. Children may not work but simply go to school.

The hard limit: this is no green card

The E-2 is a nonimmigrant visa, and that's no formality. You have to demonstrably keep the intention to leave once your status ends; the consulate even asks for a signed statement to that effect. Extending is allowed indefinitely — each time by two years, as long as the business keeps meeting the requirements — so in practice people live there on it for decades. But it is and remains a status that hangs on your business. If the business collapses, your right of residence collapses with it. Whoever wants permanent residence has to go through a separate process via an employer, family, extraordinary talent or the lottery.

That doesn't make the E-2 any less valuable — for many Dutch entrepreneurs it's the only realistic route to America. But go into it with the right expectation: what you buy with it is entrepreneurial freedom, not certainty.