There's actually a treaty -- the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (DAFT, yes, really)[1] -- that makes it relatively easy for Americans to go to the Netherlands and start a business, and I believe time spent under the permit counts toward the requirements for permanent residency.
How can I get a software developer job in Netherlands? Or do a startup. I am willing to learn the native language if I must.
Btw, I'm Canadian, can we speed up the process?
never mind, the tax rate is higher. but seems like a great place to work. or be financially poor but live a great quality of life from social benefits.
Finding a job could be difficult, the financial crisis is not showing any signs of going away anytime soon, and there's a decent supply of CS grads for a small number of jobs. This could change in the future, though. No need to learn Dutch, it's a hard language to learn (as in unpronouncable!) and everybody speaks English anyway.
Doing a startup here is challenging, too. The Dutch are pretty risk-adverse, the market is small (16 million) so we don't really have angels or VC money. If you start the startup in the US and then move to The Netherlands after, say, round B, that does sound like a plan. Which is exactly the way I'm planning on doing mine!
Tax rates are pretty high, with the exception of big multinationals. Think U2, Gucci, KPMG. They're officially based in The Netherlands because of the tax breaks.
On a side note: as a Canadian, you probably would like it here. Climate and mentality are pretty similar, and I know several people who made the switch. My elementary school teacher was from Canada.
