Anonymous asked: Hello my name is Casey and I'm currently wanting to move to the Netherlands and I was wondering if the Dutch American friendship treaty would allow me to open a massage bussiness in the country
I don’t know that this would be a problem. I’m not a lawyer or anything. But, a business and a financial plan are necessary aspects of an application. The IND will decide, based on these, if you’ll qualify. You can’t really start the process without first renting a home here so it’s a bit of a risk.
Anonymous asked: Hi Shawn, I have a few questions about getting residency under DAFT. Do you know if there are any upper age restrictions placed on the owner of the business? I am also curious as to whether there are any medical exams required of the business owner's children. There is a minor child in the famiy involved in the potential move with autism and I know this can be a problem. The business has existed for 20+ years as a sole proprietorship making fine musical instruments. Thanks & I love the blog
I really don’t know enough of the law to tell you about these things. I doubt that there’s an age limit. That seems a bit ageist. I brought over 2 kids and they had no medical exams. We just made sure that they were inoculated to standards.
Here’s a flyer for a Dutch reading event.
Here’s a second video, one from the back.
We really got some crazy snow today. Here’s the video from the front of the house.
Onze eerste Nederlandse sneeuw.
Today’s post is about the kid’s show Bassie & Adriaan. It’s apparently an elderly couple consisting of a clown and a trapeze peformer. They do various things. The budget for this show is approximately 12 euros per day.
They seem to be a long running media team in the Netherlands. I have seen reference of them performing as far back as 1975. I don’t really understand the point of their show or what is going on. Or why the hell anyone would want to watch a clown and a dude who dresses crazy driving around in a very old ferrari. But, then again.. I find clowns to be quite unpleasant and there seem to be many Dutch / Belgian shows with clowns.
Overall, the show seems pretty ok. They seem to really love educating people about mundane things (most of the stuff that I forget to teach my kids are mundane). So, watching this show in the morning is a good reminder that despite some of the crazy ass stuff my kids know, they need to be taught lots of regular everyday things as well.
Here’s a segment on some place called “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch”:
I’m going to start posting some information about the children’s shows that are available here. Some are Dutch and some are from Belgium. You may not know but I’m a parent of a 7 year old and an almost 2 year old.
Previously, we’ve never really allowed cable television to be connected at our home. However, we have multiple concerns about living in Holland that made us rethink this policy. For one, we want our children to have as many memories as possible in common with their peers. We feel Knowing the same shows etc will help to integrate them. Probably more importantly is the desire for us all to become fluent in Dutch.
My 7 year old daughter is amazing at Dutch already after only 8 months. She can speak full speed. She doesn’t have a huge vocabulary but her teachers have said that she’s advanced in her language studies further than anyone in her class and that is a source of pride for her. She really enjoys speaking Dutch and learning new Dutch words. She’s also a somewhat reliable source of information for me.
I have finished my A course, and my wife has finished her A and B1 courses. I’m moving onto B1 and my wife onto B2. We’re all making progress. We’re going to try to move Serena into a regular public school as soon as possible (instead of a taal school). She has some needs that aren’t really being met. However, her elective post-school music program is AMAZING. I’m pretty sure she knows more music theory than I do, now.
Anyway, kids shows have turned out to be a great way for us to improve our listening ability. After spending a small amount of time each morning watching kids shows with my near 2 year old I’m now better able to keep up with real-speed conversations in my daily life.
This first post is about Ernst, Bobbie, and de Rest. At the beginning of the video above they’re at a castle that I’ve been to.
A dutch friend of mine mentioned the following, and I hope he doesn’t mind if I anonymously quote him.
I always felt Ernst, Bobbie en de rest was a not-as-good Bassie & Adriaan. It’s useful though. It’s nice because Bobbie consistently “misunderstands” words and expressions, which is sure to teach you some stuff.
Like he thinks “jacht” means “hunting” (because that is also what it means :P) instead of “yacht” (a loanword from Dutch btw).
Another example is Ernst saying “Komt voor de Bakker” and Bobbie asks him “How did you know it was a Baker?” and Ernst explains “It doesn’t mean he’s a baker, it is an expression”. That stuff should be useful.
Anonymous asked: Hello, Assuming your immigration via DAFT was ultimately successful, I would very much appreciate knowing the name of the firm that you used to write your business plan in Dutch. If you were satisfied also with your immigration attorney that could also be a big help. I am on the same path and hoping that the DAFT will be a relatively hassle-free option. Thanks for your post! - Jonathan
I was satisfied with both my attorney and the administrative firm that made my business / financial plans. My attorney was Everaert and the admin firm was Total In Support.
Anonymous asked: Shawn, your blog has been quite helpful; we're in a similar position (own a small web firm, moving to NL w/ small children, going in under the DAFT, etc.). Question, if you don't mind sharing: what were your total upfront costs altogether for getting to the Netherlands, perhaps broken out by legal, accounting, etc.? Estimates I've gotten have varied widely from as low as $13k to as high as $30k. Thanks a ton for any assistance you can provide!
Registering with the IND, paying lawyer costs, paying the administrative firm to have the business / financial plans made all came up to around $4000-$5000. Add that to the capital necessary to have in the bank and you have my costs.
