Your Dutch start-up residence permit lasts one year at most and cannot be extended. After the Dutch startup visa, the way to stay is the residence permit for a self-employed person, often called the Netherlands self-employed visa. You apply for it from inside the Netherlands before the year ends. For the first year itself, see our Netherlands startup visa guide.
In short, you change your purpose of stay with the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) on form 7524 and pay €423 (€438 from 1 January 2027). Your facilitator’s positive declaration counts as 30 points in each area of the points test that the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) scores for IND. Your business plan has to forecast at least €1,766.77 gross profit a month, including holiday allowance, the norm for July to December 2026. At the first extension, IND tests the profit you actually made; since April 2025, former start-ups also have a second route.
Changing your purpose of stay before the year ends
The switch is a change of residence purpose: you need no new long-stay entry visa (MVV), and you apply in the Netherlands. Apply while your start-up permit is still valid, because a gap in your residence delays permanent residence and Dutch citizenship.
On form 7524, tick the option for a self-employed person after a residence permit for a start-up. Enclose your facilitator’s declaration on RVO’s model and an extract from the Chamber of Commerce (KvK) Trade Register no older than 3 months, or give your KvK number. You can apply by post, or in person at an IND desk by appointment. Do not use extension form 7535: it sends founders who started with a facilitator in the past year to 7524.
The IND fee is €423 in 2026 and €438 from 1 January 2027. IND must decide within 90 days, and it can add up to 6 months when it asks RVO for advice.
Your facilitator’s declaration in the points test
IND asks RVO whether your business is of essential interest to the Netherlands, and RVO scores three areas. IND’s self-employed permit page sets the pass mark: at least 30 points in each, or 45 for personal experience and 45 for the business plan. The grid itself is annex 8a of the Aliens Regulations 2000.
| Area | What RVO scores without a declaration | Pass mark | With the facilitator’s declaration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal experience | Education up to 35 (PhD 35, master’s 30, bachelor’s 20, and 10 for a vocational diploma at Dutch MBO level 4 or equivalent); entrepreneurship up to 35; work experience, income and experience with the Netherlands up to 10 each | 30, or 45 | 30 points |
| Business plan | Market potential up to 25; organisation up to 25; financing up to 50, and 50 can be given without further checks when a Dutch bank has financed the business | 30, or 45 | 30 points |
| Added value for the Dutch economy | Innovation up to 20; jobs filled within 1.5 years up to 40; investments made within 1 year up to 40 | 30; counted as 30 if you score 45 in both other areas | 30 points |
Annex 8a has a start-up row in each area that gives 30 points when your facilitator declares in writing that you successfully completed at least 3 months of mentoring. RVO describes the declaration as equal to at least the minimum score in all three areas. The normal self-employed conditions still apply, and IND makes the decision. Without a declaration, you can still apply by meeting the standard self-employed requirements, which means being scored on the full grid.
The declaration goes on RVO’s model form, which asks for:
- your name, the company, its KvK number and how the shares are split;
- the mentoring period, with dates, covering at least 3 months;
- the milestones reached against the step-by-step plan in your start-up application, and your role in them;
- the company’s innovative value and its value for the Dutch economy;
- the signatures of the facilitator and of you as founder.
If the company has changed since your start-up application, the form asks why. Keep a dated record of each milestone from your first months; the declaration lists them. If you are still choosing a facilitator, keep in mind that the one you pick will sign this declaration: see Dutch startup visa facilitators.
The income figure your business plan must show
Beyond the points, IND requires you to meet its general requirements, be registered in the KvK Trade Register and hold any permit your profession needs. The income requirement applies too, and IND says it “must be evident from your business plan”.
For a self-employed person, IND’s required amounts put the norm at €1,766.77 gross profit a month, including holiday allowance, from 1 July to 31 December 2026. Dutch law normally treats income as sustainable only once you have earned it for at least 1.5 years and it is still available for another year. That rule does not apply when the self-employed permit is first granted, so at the switch your forecast carries the weight. If your partner or child applies with you, IND also takes your expected income from the business plan.
The first extension and the April 2025 rule
IND grants the self-employed permit for up to 2 years. Under the Aliens Decree 2000, each extension can run for up to 5 years. One start-up year plus at most two self-employed years makes three, so you will extend at least once before you reach the five years permanent residence needs.
At extension, IND moves from your forecast to your track record. It looks at the last 18 months, and your income counts as sustainable once you have earned it for that long. It is sufficient if your average monthly profit for tax purposes, in each financial year, reached the required amount with holiday allowance. Its online check compares each financial year with €1,766.77 a month. Form 7535 asks for the appendix “Declaration on income of self-employed person”, which includes a compilation report from an administrator or accountant. Keep your books from day one so an accountant can report from them.
A September 2023 letter to parliament reported that over the previous five years, the great majority of refused extensions had failed on means of support. Some were reversed on objection, and of those that stood, more than half concerned former start-ups.
Since 10 April 2025, Dutch law has given former start-ups a second route at their first extension. When it made the change, the ministry gave the reason: under the 18-month look-back, a founder who had just switched had in effect six months to generate enough income. The route applies when you extend a self-employed permit that directly follows a start-up permit. IND may then also treat your income as sustainable if it judges, on RVO’s advice, that the company’s continuity and solvency are sufficiently assured.
The explanatory note to the change says RVO checks whether the company has enough market potential for the next two years despite low profit or salary. It uses the annual accounts, forecasts and the KvK registration, and the minister usually follows its advice. The route covers the first extension only; every later one uses the normal income test. It is not an automatic pass on income, and form 7535 has no section for it, so have your accounts and forecasts ready when you file.
Permanent residence after five years
Because IND classes self-employment, start-up included, as a non-temporary purpose of residence, your start-up year already counts towards the five years.
| Step | Validity | IND fee | What IND looks at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Change to self-employed (form 7524) | Up to 2 years | €423 in 2026; €438 from 1 January 2027 | Facilitator’s declaration or the full points test; income shown in the business plan. Decision within 90 days, extendable by up to 6 months for RVO’s advice |
| Extension (form 7535) | Up to 5 years per extension in law | €423 in 2026; €438 from 1 January 2027 | Average monthly profit over the last 18 months; or, at the first extension after a start-up permit only, RVO’s advice on the company’s continuity and solvency |
| Permanent residence | No end date; the card is valid for 5 years and renewed | €254 in 2026; €263 from 1 January 2027 | 5 consecutive years, civic integration at A2 or an exemption, income. Decision within 6 months |
For permanent residence, IND asks for at least 5 consecutive years on a valid permit, with the Netherlands as your main residence. You must always have extended on time and met your permit’s conditions, and still meet them. You also need sufficient income, registration in the Personal Records Database (BRP) and the civic integration exam at A2 at least, or an exemption. You can apply from 3 months before your current permit expires and wait for the decision in the Netherlands. Our guide to permanent residence in the Netherlands has more.
Aval Visa works with founders on this switch. We check whether your figures and your facilitator’s declaration fit the self-employed conditions, then list the documents for form 7524 and prepare the file with you. You file the application yourself, and IND makes the decision. To talk your situation through with us, start your assessment.
Common questions
Can I extend the start-up permit instead of switching?
No. A September 2023 letter to parliament announced a plan for a two-year start-up permit, but it has not been implemented: the Aliens Decree still gives one year, not extendable.
Do I need a new MVV to switch to the self-employed permit?
No. A change of residence purpose is made from inside the Netherlands, and IND does not ask for a new MVV.
What happens if my residence card expires while IND decides?
If your card has expired, or expires within 4 weeks, while the change of purpose is pending, book an appointment for a free residence endorsement sticker. You need IND’s receipt letter, and a change of purpose is one of the cases on IND’s sticker page.
Can my partner work once I hold the self-employed permit?
Yes. IND states that family members of a self-employed permit holder may work in the Netherlands without a work permit (TWV). You may work self-employed, but a job as an employee needs the employer to hold a TWV for you.
Can I switch to a job instead of the self-employed permit?
Yes, if you meet the conditions of that permit. Business.gov.nl notes that after the start-up year you may switch to another permit, for example as an employee.
Sources
- IND: Start-up
- IND: Residence permit self-employed person
- IND: Change residence purpose
- IND: Form 7524, application for the purpose of residence “to work on a self-employed basis”
- IND: Form 7535, extension of a residence permit for work-related purposes
- IND: Fees, costs of an application
- IND: Decision periods
- IND: Required amounts, income requirements
- IND: Independent, sustainable and sufficient income
- IND: Dutch scoring system, business of essential interest (English translation)
- IND: Appointment for residence endorsement sticker
- IND: Temporary and non-temporary purposes of residence
- IND: Permanent residence permit
- RVO: Doorstromen naar Zelfstandigenregeling
- RVO: Declaration of the facilitator, self-employed after a start-up permit
- RVO: Residence permit for foreign startups
- Business.gov.nl: Dutch residence permit for foreign startups
- Overheid.nl: Voorschrift Vreemdelingen 2000 (Aliens Regulations 2000)
- Overheid.nl: Voorschrift Vreemdelingen 2000, art. 3.20, change history
- Overheid.nl: Vreemdelingenbesluit 2000 (Aliens Decree 2000)
- Staatscourant 2025, 11576: first-extension rule for former start-ups and its explanatory note
- Staatscourant 2026, 35174: IND fees from 1 January 2027
- Letter to parliament, September 2023 (Kamerstukken 31311, no. 262)
Checked October 2026.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and it describes published official rules rather than any individual case.
