Don’t be Afraid!
Many People who read about the DAFT Visa are concerned about getting work and stable income. Below are work options that you can immediately do without much experience, options with more skillset and how to leverage the DAFT as a springboard to get sponsored as a fulltime employee. Lost? Book a Call, we offer Career Coaching for Expats in the Netherlands
For Freelancing
Immediate Work Easily Accesible: Americans looking to live in the Netherlands, do not nessecarily need to have prior skills or previously been an entrepeneur. Here are some easy options
- Delivery Driving
- Ubereats (You only need a bike or ebike in the Netherlands!)
- Driving
- Uber/Lyft
- Taxi Driving
- Resturant Staff
- Contractor Cook
- Caterer
White Collar Work for those with prior or no experience:
- Bookkeeping
- Social Media Management
- Virtual Assistant
- Customer Support
- English Teacher (Remote or In Person)
- Software Development
- IT Support
Getting Full Time Employment
While a DAFT Visa grants working rights via freelancing or as a corporation, it can be indirectly used to get a full time role. A lot of employers are more likely to sponsor when you take advantage of the benefits of a residency here. There are also other routes via partnership or permenant residency.
– Indirect Ways to increase chances of Full Time Employment via the DAFT Visa/Residency.
- Live in the Netherlands (Employers don’t have to figure out accomodations for you)
- You are able to attend In Person Interviews
- You are able to network in your industry(s) in person
- You can much more easily learn and practice Dutch
- You may start dating someone and then can have full working rights via a partnership visa
-If you are coming as a couple to the Netherlands and both people have American or Japanese citizenships; one of you can opt to be on the DAFT or Japanese equivalant, the other person can have a partnership visa attached to whomever chooses to have the DAFT. The one with the partnership visa will have full working rights.
-Wait it out! People on the DAFT/DJTA Visa can apply for Permenant Residency or even Dutch Citizenship after 5 years of continuous visa stay in the Netherlands. Both of these options allow full working rights.
-Move Your Remote Work to the Netherlands is quite possible but there are some things you must consider. If you wish to do your remote work as a freelancer, you’ll need at least 2 clients, as 1 client can not be more than 70% of your revenue.
Alternatively if you would only have one client and they pay you around €60k/annual or more, you can form a B.V. (Corporation) and pay yourself a full time employment salary, as is required. This method is more viable if the one client is not in the Netherlands, or even the EU. In considering these methods, please speak to an accountant to verify your exact situation and solutions, as this is general information and subject to change.
-Form a Holding Company in order to pay yourself as a regular employee. This option is simply forming a Holding B.V. Its especially useful if you already have businesses you’re running with sufficient revenue. Speak to an accountant or lawyer for details on your unique case if this applies to you.
