Netherlands Startup Visa Proof of Funds (2026)

Last updated: October 15, 2026 · Aval Visa content team

You have a facilitator in view and a plan taking shape. The Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) also wants to see that you can support yourself in the Netherlands for a year. For the permit as a whole, start with our Netherlands startup visa guide.

In short, proof of funds for the Netherlands startup visa means €21,201.24 for a year: 12 months at €1,766.77, IND’s monthly figure for July to December 2026. If the money comes from Iran, EU rules require a notification or an authorisation before transfers of €10,000 or more. A transfer through an Iranian bank or bureau de change must also fit a permitted category, whatever the amount.

The 2026 amount, monthly and for the year

IND’s start-up page points to its income requirement for self-employed people: €1,766.77 a month, gross, including holiday allowance, valid from 1 July to 31 December 2026. That norm is 70% of the statutory minimum wage under the Aliens Regulations 2000 (VV 2000, article 3.19).

For sufficient means, article 3.20b(5) of the same regulation looks for twelve times that norm in a Dutch account in your name, or in your facilitator’s account. A shorter stay needs less; a full year needs €21,201.24.

The money must be available when IND receives your application or when it decides. It is living money, not a fee (for company set-up costs, see Netherlands company registration cost).

The amount is adjusted every 1 January and 1 July. It was €1,734.57 from January to June 2026, and IND has not yet published the 2027 figure (October 2026). The same monthly figure is the profit test for the self-employed permit after the start-up year.

Proof of funds: every form of evidence IND accepts

To prove sufficient means, IND names two ways: your own money in a Dutch personal or business account, or your facilitator financing your stay. If you cannot open a Dutch account, it offers a postbus rekening (a bank account connected to a PO box in your name) or a Dutch notary’s third-party account. Form 9541 and the Aliens Act Implementation Guidelines (Vc 2000, B6/4.5) add two more forms of proof.

Route	Whose account	What IND says or asks for
Your own Dutch account	Yours or your company’s; a joint account is accepted	A copy of the account showing the available balance
Monthly payments from a foreign bank	Paid into your or your company’s Dutch account	A statement from the foreign bank of the amount it pays into the Dutch account each month
Postbus rekening	Yours, opened by a person you authorise in the Netherlands	An option when you cannot open a Dutch account
Notary’s third-party account	The notary’s	An option when you cannot open a Dutch account
Facilitator finances your stay	The facilitator’s	A contract with your facilitator setting out the financial resources it will provide
Third financier	Pays into your personal Dutch account	A bank or financier statement of the monthly amount, a copy of the financier’s passport and a recent statement of their balance

You and another person or company may also fund the stay jointly, and monthly payments count only if they are assured for the whole stay.

A balance held only abroad is not on the list: IND says “This must be a Dutch personal or business bank account”.

The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) advises on your facilitator, plan and innovation, and leaves the financial means to IND. Still choosing a facilitator? See the facilitators on RVO’s list.

Dutch bank account, postbus account or notary account

An account in your own name is the plainest evidence. Business.gov.nl lists three things a non-EU resident needs for a personal account: a citizen service number (BSN), an extract of the business registration and the very residence permit you are applying for. You get a BSN by registering with your local council in the Personal Records Database (BRP) or, as a non-resident, in the Non-residents Records Database (RNI).

For a business account, the Dutch Banking Association has a Quick Scan for founders from countries outside the euro payments area (SEPA), such as Iran. You may be able to take it if you are registering with the Chamber of Commerce (KvK) and getting your permit with help from the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) or a facilitator. The bank then says whether you can apply for an IBAN business account.

The postbus rekening is still your own account; someone you authorise in the Netherlands opens it for you. A notary’s third-party account (derdenrekening) is different: the money sits in the notary’s name. Dutch notaries hold client money in special accounts governed by article 25 of the Notaries Act, at a bank permitted to operate in the Netherlands. The notary pays out only on the instruction of the person entitled to the money, who can claim their share at any time.

EU rules on transfers linked to Iran

Money sent from Iran also falls under EU sanctions law. Regulation (EU) 2025/1975 brought back articles 30, 30a and 30b of Regulation 267/2012 from 30 September 2025. The Dutch competent authority is the Ministry of Finance, named in the Sanctieregeling Iran 2012 since 6 March 2026.

Article 30 covers transfers with a bank or bureau de change domiciled in Iran, its branches and subsidiaries, or an institution controlled from Iran. They are prohibited unless they fit a permitted category, such as personal remittances. Personal remittances need nothing under €10,000, written notification from €10,000 and prior authorisation from €40,000. Some other categories need authorisation from €10,000. No official text settles whether sending your own savings counts as a personal remittance.
Article 30a covers other transfers to or from an Iranian person, entity or body, in the same three bands. In the Finance Ministry’s Q&A, an Iranian person includes someone who lives or stays in Iran.

If you live in Iran, the rules also cover money you send to your own Dutch account: payer and payee can be the same person. Transfers that appear linked are treated as one (article 30b(2)). When money from Iran arrives in a Dutch account, it is usually the receiving Dutch bank that files the notification or the authorisation request.

After a notification, the payment can go ahead without waiting. After an authorisation request, you pay only once it is granted, and the Ministry decides within 8 weeks at the latest. Notifications and requests go to sancties@minfin.nl on the Ministry’s forms, and you can send your own questions to the same address. The government’s answer page says most payments to and from Iran need a notification. So your first question goes to the Dutch bank that will receive the money: what does it need from you?

Three worked examples: €9,000, €21,201 and €45,000

Amount	Sender lives or stays in Iran; no Iranian bank or bureau de change (article 30a)	An Iranian bank or bureau de change is involved (article 30)
€9,000, one transfer	Nothing required	Allowed only within a permitted category such as personal remittances, and then nothing required; otherwise prohibited
€21,201.24	Written notification before the transfer; the payment can then go ahead without waiting	If it counts as a personal remittance: written notification first. Some other permitted categories: prior authorisation. Otherwise prohibited
€45,000	Prior authorisation; pay only once it is granted. The Ministry decides within 8 weeks at the latest	If it counts as a personal remittance: prior authorisation, decided within 8 weeks at the latest. Some other permitted categories: prior authorisation. Outside the permitted categories: prohibited

A realistic timeline, from the transfer to the visa sticker

Plan the money first. Ideally, have it in an accepted account, with any notification made or authorisation granted, before your embassy appointment. The evidence is due within 3 weeks of it, and an authorisation alone can take up to 8 weeks.
Book the embassy appointment. If you need a long-stay entry visa (MVV), as Iranian citizens do, you apply for it together with the residence permit. You can do this in your home country, or at a Dutch mission in another country where you may stay for more than 3 months. The embassy in Tehran is open, and you book these appointments online. Have your documents legalised before the date.
Send the evidence. Form 9541 and your proof of funds go to IND within 3 weeks of the appointment, with the €423 fee by bank transfer. IND starts assessing only once the full fee arrives, and late documents may lead to a refusal.
Wait for the decision. IND has 90 days from receipt, and it “can extend the decision period by several weeks to a maximum of 6 months”.
Collect the MVV. Book the sticker appointment within 3 months of approval, with a passport valid for 6 more months and 2 empty pages. In Tehran the sticker takes up to 10 working days, and the MVV is valid for 90 days.

Aval Visa works with founders on this part of the file. We check whether your case fits the start-up route and list the evidence for your funding route. We also plan the translation and legalisation of your documents and prepare the file with you. You submit the application yourself, and IND decides. To go through your own figures, start your assessment.

Common questions

Can the money stay in my bank account at home?

Not on its own. IND asks for a Dutch personal or business account. A foreign bank counts only as the source of monthly payments into your Dutch account, shown in that bank’s statement. If that bank is in Iran, those payments fall under article 30, so they are allowed only within a permitted category.

How much do I need if my partner and children come too?

IND publishes no family amount for start-up founders. When your partner or child applies with you, IND looks at the income your business plan expects. On a start-up permit you may add other income to it, for example a grant, money in the bank or financing from a third party (IND income requirements).

Do the Iran transfer rules depend on my nationality?

No. Article 30a looks at where a person lives or stays, not at their passport. If you live outside Iran, your nationality alone does not bring you under it, but if someone in Iran sends you the money, the transfer is covered. Article 30 applies whenever a bank or bureau de change domiciled in Iran is involved, whoever sends the money.