What is the DJFT residence permit?
Japanese nationals can live in the Netherlands and run their own business there through a treaty route that skips the points-based test other non-EU founders face. In English it’s often called the DJFT, short for Dutch-Japanese Friendship Treaty or Dutch-Japanese Trade Treaty. In Japanese it’s 日蘭通商航海条約.
The IND (the Dutch immigration service) handles it in the same section as the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (DAFT). Its self-employed page lists one set of conditions for applicants with “the nationality of United States of America (US) or Japan.” In practice the two routes work the same way. For the American route, see our sister site, the DAFT guide.
The treaty behind it
The legal starting point is the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between the Netherlands and Japan, signed in The Hague on July 6, 1912. The official Dutch treaty database lists it as in force from October 9, 1913, which is why some sources call it the 1913 treaty. Both dates refer to the same treaty.
Article 1 gives nationals of each country full liberty, with their families, to enter and reside in the other country to trade (our translation of the French text). The treaty has no clause about investing a fixed amount of capital. That condition comes from Dutch policy, which applies the same investment route to Japanese nationals as to Americans. Our bookkeeping partner and several law firms explain this through the treaty’s most-favoured-nation clause (Article 17), which extends to Japan any trade privilege the Netherlands gives another country.
You can read the treaty on wetten.overheid.nl, in the authentic French text with a Dutch translation.
Who it’s for
You qualify if you have Japanese nationality and one of these links to the Netherlands, as listed by the IND:
- you trade between the Netherlands and Japan
- you hold a key position at a Japanese business
- you practise an independent profession, other than for the government or in healthcare
- you invest a substantial amount of capital in your own Dutch business
Most entrepreneurs use the last one. For most business forms the IND sets the minimum at €4,500.
The whole route in six steps
- Check that you meet the requirements.
- Choose a business structure: a sole proprietorship or a BV.
- Apply to the IND and pay the €423 fee. Japanese nationals don’t need an entry visa (MVV) first.
- Within 6 months of the decision, register with the KVK and invest the €4,500.
- Prove the investment with an opening balance sheet.
- Renew after at most 2 years with your annual accounts. See Extension and renewal.
What this permit lets you do
You may work for your own business. Working as an employee for someone else needs a work permit, held by that employer. Your partner and children can join you and may work freely. See Work rights and Partner and family.
Before you leave Japan
Moving abroad also triggers paperwork in Japan: an overseas residence registration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a tax representative, and choices about your pension. See Moving from Japan.
Where other guides disagree
Online guides quote different fees, decision periods and extension lengths for this permit. We list each disagreement and what the official source says in What DJFT guides disagree on.