How to Register Your Business with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK)

Ever wonder how simple (or complex) it is to establish a business in The Netherlands? It entirely depends on which route you're taking with your company, whether it's setting up a sole proprietorship like I did or a broader company involving more personnel and money.

Since I have experience with the Dutch American Friendship Treaty visa and establishing a sole proprietorship, it's the example I'll be using in my explanation.

First we need a BSN, which we've already obtained from meeting with a Dutch Municipality and we also acquired/activated our DigiD app. This prepares us for step 3 of our DAFT visa application process: registering our business with the KVK (the Dutch Chamber of Commerce).

A key component of the DAFT visa is owning an entrepreneurship business in The Netherlands and having a 4,500 Euro (around $5,000) investment in it. Anyone forming a business in the Netherlands is required to register their business with the KVK.

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For your KVK appointment, you will need:

1. Valid proof of identity, like your passport that has the stamp of residence endorsement from the IND.
2. The 51.30 Euro fee for registering your business. Check frequently on their site for fee changes - when I registered it was only 50 Euros, for example.
3. An additional 15.40 Euros for the Trade Register extract you'll request at your appointment. Again, check the site before your appointment due to fee changes - I only paid 15 Euros at the time.
4. The Chamber of Commerce number you receive after you register online.
5. A Dutch debit card or a credit card to pay the fee. At the time of this post they don't accept cash, so you may have to arrange this with someone you know since you won't have a Dutch bank account just yet.

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Scheduling your KVK Appointment:

Unlike the IND and Municipality, scheduling an appointment with the KVK is only possible to do online. It involves completely filling out a registration form for your business before you reach the appointment section. You can always return later and add updated information as you make progress with establishing your business. You're going to need your BSN and DigiD app on hand for this part.

Note: The KVK requires the descriptions to be written in Dutch. If you don't know anyone that can help translate for you, the KVK employee at your appointment can assist you with this.

KVK Eenmanszaak (sole proprietorship) Registration is where you can get started with registering!

When you reach the appointment section, it's similar to previous appointment schedulers with choosing a desk and date. You can use the same trick that was used on the IND online appointment scheduler with checking for closer dates if necessary. The KVK makes it easy to cancel and reschedule appointments in the confirmation email they send to you. Cancelling and rescheduling can only be done online.

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What to Expect at your KVK Appointment:

At the appointment you'll sit down and meet with a KVK employee that will look over your online registration form you submitted. They'll help translate anything into Dutch if that's required and ask general questions about your business. Expect this meeting to last about half an hour.

Important Note: The IND requires you to send them an extract of the official Trade Register document of your business, so don't forget to request one before you pay the fee!

That's it, your business is registered! Over the next few days you'll be getting letters from the Dutch government about your business's tax/VAT numbers and other valuable information since this also registers you with the tax authorities (belastingdienst).

You can read my personal experience with the KVK down below or you can move on to the next DAFT visa step about opening a business bank account in The Netherlands (located on my Vocal page)!

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My personal experience with registering my business with the KVK:

Picking back up where we left off after the Municipality, I used the DigiD app and my BSN to fill out the online registration with the KVK and scheduled my appointment as soon as possible. The earliest date I could choose was October 22nd due to the covid-19 pandemic, which was the deadline My Caseworker had given me. I relentlessly checked the KVK appointment calendar daily for cancellations and luckily was able to snatch a new date for October 15th. It was only a slight relief; that meant I only had one week for the remaining steps!

The day of the KVK meeting rolls around and nothing really went wrong at this meeting compared to my previous meetings. It made me a little suspicious since I had noticed a trend before. Once my freelance business was registered and I had the KVK Trade Register extract the IND required, I was vibrating with tension and optimism. At this point I just wanted to get it done and I was ready to race to the next step. The deadline from the IND loomed over me, and yet I was so certain I could beat it.

I had absolutely no idea I was about to enter the most challenging and stressful part of my immigration.

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Hey there! I appreciate you taking the time to read my article. If you found any of this information/my experience interesting or helpful, please give it a like and share!

Check out my other DAFT How-to's linked in this article and on my Vocal page for more information about immigrating from the US to The Netherlands via the DAFT visa!