Latest news with #DutchAmericanFriendshipTreaty
Business Insider
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
I left the US after being laid off from Amazon. Living in the Netherlands is more affordable, and my small business is thriving.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Denise Segler, 54, who moved from Seattle to Haarlem, a city in North Holland, the Netherlands, in 2024. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. I fell in love with Europe at 18 during a school trip and promised to live abroad someday. I didn't know when or where, but I would make it happen. Later in life, I found myself divorced, with grown children, and recently laid off from my job. I'm a project manager in Information Technology (IT), and I used to work for Amazon. In January 2023, the company laid off my entire team. After that, I asked myself: What do I want to do with my life? I also questioned what was keeping me in the US. A lot of different things were pulling me toward Europe. I wanted to be my own boss and work as a freelancer. But health insurance in the US is incredibly expensive, and that's not the case in much of Europe. I also think Europeans have a better quality of life and work-life balance. In addition, the political climate in the US added a sense of urgency. Europe was calling my name When 2024 came around, I knew it was finally a good time to take a chance abroad. I had earned higher-level project management credentials and started actively promoting my own business as an IT project manager. I had also taken a trip to Ireland. I spent three weeks there — two on my own, and then my 27-year-old joined me for the last week. During that trip, I realized: OK, I can do this. I can go somewhere unfamiliar and be just fine. I researched different European visas and discovered the Dutch American Friendship Treaty (DAFT) visa. It allows Americans to live in the Netherlands as independent business owners. They just need to maintain a minimum of €4,500 ($5,278) in a business bank account. The visa was attractive to me. I also found out that the Netherlands had more affordable health insurance. Then I looked around, and other things were cheaper: cellphone and internet services. I thought, "Why not give that a try?" While you can do it yourself, I used a Dutch legal professional to file my visa paperwork. The legal office submitted my visa application and documents to the Dutch government on my behalf in August 2024 and let me know the visa was approved in September. I landed in Amsterdam on November 5. The Netherlands is the perfect place for me Before I moved to the Netherlands, I had never visited. But I received a lot of advice from people who had. Everyone had wonderful things to say — it was beautiful, and the people were fantastic. I live just south of Haarlem, the capital of North Holland, in a really cute neighborhood with shops, restaurants, and cafés. I feel very lucky, there's a train station just an eight-minute walk away from my apartment, and I'm right near a shopping area with all kinds of grocery stores. In some ways, the area reminds me of parts of Seattle, like the South Lake Union neighborhood. Before moving to the area, I hired a makelaar, a real estate agent, who helped me find a place to live. There's a housing shortage in the Netherlands, so you have to be either very flexible about where you live or be prepared to spend a lot of money. I was very lucky and ended up getting the first apartment I looked at. I had to pay six months' rent in advance because, as someone new to the country, I didn't have any local rental history. My apartment has a bedroom, a bathroom, and a small second room that I use as an office. There's also a combined living and dining area that leads past the kitchen. I spend more on housing but less on everything else I am self-employed, and I am withdrawing from my retirement account for now, which I do not recommend. So budgeting is important. I am paying more for housing in the Netherlands, about €1,735 ($2,041) for my apartment, but all my other bills are significantly cheaper than in the US. I pay €38 ($45) a month for internet and TV, whereas in the US, I paid over $100. My health insurance is also much cheaper here. Legally, you must have health insurance in the Netherlands, and there are a variety of insurance companies to choose from. In the US, I was on COBRA, which cost over $800 a month. Here, I pay €190 ($224) a month. It could be cheaper, but I added dental coverage and extra benefits for chiropractic care. Since I've been here, I've had my teeth cleaned once by a dentist, and that was about €150 ($176). The insurance paid half, and I paid the other half. I worried that food would be more expensive in the Netherlands, but it's not that bad. Produce is pretty cheap. For example, eggs usually come in packs of 10, costing between $3 and $4, depending on the type. The produce here is fantastic. There are farmers markets all over. I go to one every Wednesday, and I have to be careful because I always come back with all kinds of potatoes and cheeses. I think the bread is better here, too; many stores have in-house bakeries. There are pros and cons to living here English isn't an official language of the Netherlands, though most people speak it fluently. French is also commonly spoken, which works well for me. While I wasn't fully immersed in French, I practiced it five days a week for over a decade, starting when I was about nine years old. The locals are generally welcoming. I have seen someone shouting at people speaking a language other than Dutch or English, but only once or twice in the several months that I've been here. No one has been angry with me for speaking English. I think they take me as a tourist and are glad that I have a few words of Dutch. The people here are kind of direct, but I don't mind that much. Once, I went to get my hair cut, and the hairdresser commented, "Oh, you have to color your gray." I said, "No, I like my gray."' It can be hard to make friends, but there are meetup groups and Tinder, if you want to date. I do miss my chosen friends and family, and I have standing phone calls with them every Sunday night. Moving to the Netherlands was the right decision for me My life is more relaxed in the Netherlands because, honestly, I feel safer here. There aren't nearly as many guns, and I'm living in a safer neighborhood than I was in the US. I'm also not worried that a medical emergency is going to bankrupt me. I'm paying significantly less in bills, and the money I am saving every month on health insurance is going toward my savings and my business. My business is also about ready to take off. I joined two networking organizations of business owners, one based in the Netherlands and one based in the UK. I am working with a business coach, and I will be hiring a branding expert next month. My visa expires in July next year. I can request an extension, which I believe would grant me an additional three years. At that point, I would have been here five years, and I can apply for permanent residency, or, after taking Dutch classes, citizenship. I don't know if I want to become a citizen of the Netherlands, but for now, I'm just happy to be here because I can support myself.
Forbes
27-04-2025
- Forbes
Want To Leave The U.S.? This New Company Will Help You Move Abroad
Want to move out of the U.S.? A new company called GTFO Relocation Tours is helping Americans move to the Netherlands and more. Pictured here: overlooking a canal in Amsterdam. For Lalita Coetsee and Nico Garza, their decision to move to the Netherlands wasn't just about seeking a new adventure—it was about survival. Coetsee, who is originally from South Africa, had spent the past decade living in Colorado with her husband, Garza, a Tennessee native. The couple had been working in education, but over time, they found themselves increasingly concerned by the state of affairs in the United States. 'I initially left South Africa because of crime and corruption, and I hoped to create a life in which I would be safe and able to make a difference,' Coetsee told me in an interview. 'However, while the U.S. provided that for a while, the current political climate has me feeling the same way I felt in South Africa: living in constant fear and uncertainty.' Lalita Coetsee and Nico Garza, who recently moved to the Netherlands with the help of the company, GTFO Relocation Tours. The couple started researching different countries, taking into consideration the political climate, the language, the availability of jobs and visa requirements. After discovering a new company called GTFO Relocation Tours—which helps Americans move overseas—the couple decided to relocate to the Netherlands through the Dutch American Friendship Treaty (DAFT) visa. This visa offers Americans an easy pathway to residency in the Netherlands by starting a business. Garza is launching a tutoring business for American Sign Language users and learners called CODA Communications, while Coetsee hopes to find a teaching position. 'We have been here for a week, and we are enjoying the quality of life, including the availability of public transportation, lower cost of food and subscription services, safety and freedom of speech,' says Coetsee. Stories like this are becoming more common—and helping drive the mission behind the Netherlands-based GTFO Relocation Tours. Founded by American expats Bethany Quinn and Jana Sanchez, the company literally helps Americans 'Get The F*ck Out,' Sanchez told me in an interview, by navigating the complex process of moving overseas, from setting up a business to finding housing and building community. Bethany Quinn (left) and Jana Sanchez, founders of the new company, GTFO Relocation Tours, which helps Americans move abroad. And while GTFO is located in the Netherlands—which has one of the easiest and most affordable pathways for U.S. citizens seeking a new start in Europe—the company helps Americans relocate to a wide range of destinations. Spain and Portugal are among the most popular, thanks to their low-income thresholds for digital nomad and passive income visas, affordable living costs and growing American expat communities. Quinn and Sanchez also help clients explore options in France, Mexico, Costa Rica and beyond. Besides consulting on where to go and how to get there, GTFO is leading weeklong scouting tours in the Netherlands that give participants a crash course in day-to-day life. 'Our tours immerse Americans in the culture, history and real life of the main cities and towns where they are likely to live,' says Sanchez. 'We make sure they have all of the information and meet the trusted advisors they will need for visas, business formation, housing, tax and investment planning, finding schools for their children and more.' A pretty canal in Haarlem in the Netherlands. Recognizing that some people need deeper support before they reach the point of taking a tour, GTFO recently expanded to offer personalized relocation coaching under the brand GTFO Services. Through this arm of the company, Quinn provides one-on-one strategy and business relocation coaching for clients who are still in the early stages of planning their moves. 'As a relocation coach, I help my clients find direction and move step-by-step towards a safer, happier and healthier life,' Quinn told me in an interview. For Quinn and Sanchez, starting GTFO was personal. Sanchez—a former Reuters correspondent and a 2018 Democratic nominee for U.S. Congress—had lived abroad for years before returning to Texas. After the 2024 presidential election, she decided it was time to leave again. 'I decided to move back to the Netherlands on November 5th, 2024, fearing that the U.S. would descend into authoritarianism,' she says. Quinn, who has a background in venture capital and startups, moved to Amsterdam in 2022 but had been thinking about it since the 2016 election. 'I just didn't see a future for myself in the U.S. I wasn't sure I could afford to have children and couldn't imagine sending them to school there with gun violence as it is,' she says. 'I went to visit a friend of mine in Amsterdam, and it was so lovely, peaceful and fun here. She told me: 'They have this great visa here for American entrepreneurs,' and so I decided to move here.' Traditional buildings and tulips in Amsterdam. The two women connected over their shared desire to help others—and their understanding that moving abroad takes more than just courage. It requires a plan. Quinn had been helping Americans through coaching and webinars. In November 2024, Sanchez turned her former Facebook campaign page into a resource hub for Americans seeking to leave, offering webinars with experts and real-world advice on visas, second passports and more—and it took off. The idea for GTFO Tours grew naturally from the demand. 'Many Americans were afraid yet didn't believe they could afford to move abroad, didn't know how to do it or had unrealistic expectations about what it's like to be an expat,' says Sanchez. Another American family working with GTFO is Nova (who did not want her last name used for privacy reasons), her partner and their two children. 'My partner and I have always wanted to spend a few years abroad with our children—to expand their world-view, but also we felt like staying in the United States was choosing each year to expose our children to the unending increased risk of gun violence,' Nova told me in an interview. 'And this was before this administration. When we realized that we were going to lose this election, we knew we needed to move for at least four years.' Nine months ago, the family started a mural board called their Emigration Discernment Document, mapping out 'risks if we leave, risks if we stay, places to consider with pros and cons, what we needed to research, etc.' The family also considered Canada but ultimately chose the Netherlands after learning about the DAFT visa and the country's strong protections for LGBTQ+ rights. 'In some ways Bethany was more like a relocation therapist for us,' says Nova. 'She had an outside, already-on-the-other-side perspective that was grounding for us.' As they prepare to move this summer, Nova says they've relied heavily on GTFO's services for both strategic planning and emotional support, calling Quinn 'a real asset as a relocation partner.' GTFO doesn't just guide newcomers—it's building a community. One early partner is Christopher O'Connell. After years of working in the Oregon wine industry, O'Connell and his wife were increasingly worried about raising their LGBTQ children in the United States. In the weeks leading up to the 2024 election, they discovered the DAFT visa. Within 44 days of making the decision, the family had packed up and moved to the Netherlands. There, O'Connell launched O'Connell Tours, a travel company that showcases the country's lesser-known wine regions, castles, windmills and cheese farms. He also started offering airport shuttle services—a side business that quickly took off by word of mouth in expat groups. Christopher O'Connell, founder of O'Connell Tours, a travel company that showcases the Netherland's wine regions, castles, windmills and more. When Sanchez spotted O'Connell's tour business on Facebook, she reached out to collaborate. 'I chuckled at the name GTFO but knew it would be successful,' says O'Connell. 'People are literally looking for a way to GTFO of the United States and they are providing a path to the first steps.' Having navigated the move without any help, O'Connell sees the value that GTFO brings to newcomers. 'I think GTFO Tours is offering a much needed service,' he says. 'GTFO Tours provides an experience that gives you the resources to make your move as easy as possible, allowing you to connect with people before the move.' For many Americans seeking to relocate, the Netherlands checks a lot of boxes: safety, inclusivity, high quality of life—and a visa process that's unusually accessible. The DAFT visa only requires a €4,500 (approximately $5,132) investment—far less than many other countries' residency requirements. Applicants can arrive on a tourist visa and secure residency within weeks. Partners and spouses are eligible to work in the Dutch labor market without employer sponsorship. Beyond the visa, the Netherlands offers a high quality of life that makes it even more attractive. Most locals speak fluent English, the cost of living is low, healthcare is excellent and the country offers unique social benefits like paid burnout leave. The Netherlands also consistently ranks among the top countries for child happiness worldwide. Plus: 'The country is safe and beautiful,' says Sanchez. Both founders emphasize that moving abroad isn't a quick fix—it's a major life change that requires patience, adaptability and careful planning. Above all, they encourage Americans to think bigger. 'I'm driven by the desire to help as many people as I can stay safe. But also, the U.S. is such a bubble, and I really want people to understand that you don't have to stay there,' says Quinn. 'You could fix up a villa in Italy, you could live on a houseboat in Amsterdam, you could move to a beach in Spain. The world really is your oyster, and we work with you to make that dream a reality.'
