Emigration Stories
Real stories from Dutch people who made the move
Wouter (32)
Amsterdam → San Francisco, Californie
Through an H-1B visa I landed at a tech giant in San Francisco. The salary is high, but the bureaucracy and healthcare costs are a world apart.
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Martijn (44)
Rotterdam → New York City, New York
As finance director I was transferred to headquarters in Manhattan. The L-1 visa was fast, but FATCA and double taxation made things financially complex.
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Femke (35)
Utrecht → Austin, Texas
With an E-2 investor visa I started a sustainable fashion brand in Austin. Texas has no income tax, but American business culture required adjustment.
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Bas (38)
Leiden → Boston, Massachusetts
From Leiden University to MIT -- the J-1 visa was just the beginning. The road to tenure and a green card is a marathon, not a sprint.
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Sanne & Pieter (39)
Den Haag → Naperville, Illinois
Moving to the Chicago suburbs with three children was a logistical operation. The American school system, healthcare costs and daily life are worlds apart.
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Nina & Jesse (28)
Eindhoven → Los Angeles, Californie
Through the DAFT treaty we started a creative agency in LA for just $4,500 investment. The Dutch American Friendship Treaty is the best-kept emigration secret for Dutch people.
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Daan (29)
Groningen → Seattle, Washington
From a student room in Groningen to an apartment in Capitol Hill. I won the H-1B lottery only on my third attempt, but the wait was worth it.
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Lotte (34)
Breda → Miami, Florida
I entered the Diversity Visa Lottery for three years and won. A green card without employer, without investment -- pure luck. But the process afterwards was anything but simple.
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Thomas (41)
Haarlem → Denver, Colorado
As an elite speed skating coach I received an O-1 visa for "extraordinary ability in athletics." From Thialf to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs -- a dream that became reality.
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Ingrid & Mark (46)
Tilburg → Raleigh, North Carolina
I met Mark on vacation in Greece. After two years of long-distance, we married in Tilburg and the K-1 vs. CR-1 dilemma began. Immigration bureaucracy tested our marriage more than anything else.
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Jan-Willem (52)
Deventer → Portland, Oregon
After selling my transport company I invested $800,000 through the EB-5 program in a hotel project in Portland. An expensive path to a green card, but it gave my whole family permanent residency.
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Elif (36)
Amsterdam → Minneapolis, Minnesota
As an ICU nurse with a Dutch-Turkish background I emigrated via an EB-3 visa. The VisaScreen certificate and the NCLEX exam were the biggest hurdles. America is desperate for nurses.
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Ruben (27)
Maastricht → Nashville, Tennessee
As a singer-songwriter with a European fanbase I received an O-1B visa for "extraordinary ability in the arts." Nashville is the music capital, but the path there went through piles of evidence at USCIS.
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Sophie (43)
Den Bosch → Scottsdale, Arizona
With the DAFT visa I opened a yoga studio in Scottsdale. The desert sun, wellness culture and low taxes made Arizona perfect. But running a business without a social safety net is nerve-wracking.
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Henk (62)
Zwolle → Bozeman, Montana
After retiring as a cattle farmer in Overijssel I bought a ranch in Montana. With an E-2 visa and a $350,000 investment I'm now living my cowboy dream. The vastness of Montana is overwhelming.
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Maya (31)
Rotterdam → San Diego, Californie
From Erasmus MC to a biotech startup in San Diego. The H-1B lottery, the ITIN application and building a life without credit history -- my story of science and bureaucracy.
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Pieter-Jan (48)
Nijmegen → Atlanta, Georgia
As a supply chain specialist I was transferred via an L-1B visa to the US headquarters in Atlanta. The transition from Nijmegen to the Deep South was culturally the biggest leap of my life.
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Fleur (37)
Amsterdam → Maui, Hawaii
From NIOZ on Texel to the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology on Maui. The J-1 visa was the start, but transitioning to H-1B and island life brought unique challenges.
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Rick & Annelies (55)
Arnhem → Stowe, Vermont
After 25 years in Dutch hospitality we bought a bed & breakfast in Vermont. The E-2 visa, New England charm and the shock of American healthcare -- our story from Arnhem to the Green Mountains.
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Vincent (45)
Den Haag → Cannon Beach, Oregon
As a documentary filmmaker I moved from The Hague to the Oregon coast. The O-1B visa opened Hollywood doors, but creative life on the rugged Pacific coast inspired me the most.
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Marian (50)
Apeldoorn → Burbank, Californie
From visual effects at an Amsterdam post-production company to the film industry in Burbank. The L-1A visa was fast, but Hollywood's work pace and adapting to car culture were a challenge.
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Jeroen (40)
Rotterdam → Salinas Valley, Californie
From greenhouse horticulture in the Westland to precision agriculture in the Salinas Valley. With an H-1B visa I bring Dutch greenhouse technology to the "Salad Bowl of the World."
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Carmen (42)
Utrecht → New York City, New York
From Utrecht University to Columbia University in New York. My H-1B was cap-exempt through the university, allowing me to skip the lottery. But the tenure system and student debt crisis were eye-openers.
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Stijn (22)
Enschede → Austin, Texas
At 22 I grabbed my backpack and flew to Texas with $4,500 and a business plan. The DAFT visa makes it possible -- but entrepreneurship in the US as a twenty-something without a network is an extreme school of life.
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Miriam (75)
Wassenaar → Sarasota, Florida
At 73 I married my American childhood sweetheart whom I found again on Facebook after 50 years. A CR-1 visa, Medicare exclusion and saying goodbye to AOW -- emigrating later in life is a bureaucratic adventure.
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