3 ms·

Yeah, I've read that blog! Very useful. I'm sure NL is wonderful, but I can't quite commit to living there full time. For one, all my friends and family live in

Yeah, I've read that blog! Very useful. I'm sure NL is wonderful, but I can't quite commit to living there full time. For one, all my friends and family live in California. It would be very hard to justify paying rent on an empty apartment for half the year just to keep qualifying, and I would surely get lonely in any case. (I guess I could Airbnb it out if there are services that can do the landlordy bits while I'm away, but it would be hard to ensure that this is possible without actually going through the DAFT process. Even finding a regular, un-Airbnb-able NL apartment without the NL SSN-equivalent is a bit of a Catch-22, since most apartments require the SSN but applying for DAFT is what gets you the SSN in the first place. And you can't apply for DAFT without a mailing address, as far as I'm aware. I think common advice is to stay with friends for a bit, but that doesn't work if you don't know anyone in NL...)

nl 9y ago
Surely if you don't want live there it is easier not to do it? What is the goal here?
- archagon 9y ago
  Well, the goal would be to spend 4-6 months out of the year in NL and work towards an eventual EU citizenship five years down the line. That would be totally fine. It's mostly the logistics and cost of keeping around an empty apartment for half the year that I'm concerned about.
  - selectodude 9y ago
    They don't want people abusing the system to get free EU citizenship. It's about attracting talent to NL.
  - justincormack 9y ago
    I would think the residency requirement is 5 years of actual residency, so at half time it would take ten years.
    - CalRobert 9y ago
      It depends a lot on the country. Sometimes you're resident if you're present for (365/2)+1 days per year, but my understanding is that if you do that you're going to get some really tough questions about your intentions when time comes to naturalize. Tax authorities will likely be somewhat more willing to consider you resident. Of course, you can also just buy your way in if you have cash. Malta sells EU passports. https://www.ft.com/content/6f98892e-fbf3-11e5-b3f6-11d5706b613b https://www.ft.com/content/6f98892e-fbf3-11e5-b3f6-11d5706b6...
  - CalRobert 9y ago
    If you don't want to live in NL it won't fly, I imagine. But then, if you don't want to live in NL why are you doing this? If you want to spend 4-6 months a year there for kicks just go as a tourist; you can spend up to 90 days at a time in Schengen twice a year.

nl 9y ago

Surely if you don't want live there it is easier not to do it? What is the goal here?

archagon 9y ago
Well, the goal would be to spend 4-6 months out of the year in NL and work towards an eventual EU citizenship five years down the line. That would be totally fine. It's mostly the logistics and cost of keeping around an empty apartment for half the year that I'm concerned about.
- selectodude 9y ago
  They don't want people abusing the system to get free EU citizenship. It's about attracting talent to NL.
- justincormack 9y ago
  I would think the residency requirement is 5 years of actual residency, so at half time it would take ten years.
  - CalRobert 9y ago
    It depends a lot on the country. Sometimes you're resident if you're present for (365/2)+1 days per year, but my understanding is that if you do that you're going to get some really tough questions about your intentions when time comes to naturalize. Tax authorities will likely be somewhat more willing to consider you resident. Of course, you can also just buy your way in if you have cash. Malta sells EU passports. https://www.ft.com/content/6f98892e-fbf3-11e5-b3f6-11d5706b613b https://www.ft.com/content/6f98892e-fbf3-11e5-b3f6-11d5706b6...
- CalRobert 9y ago
  If you don't want to live in NL it won't fly, I imagine. But then, if you don't want to live in NL why are you doing this? If you want to spend 4-6 months a year there for kicks just go as a tourist; you can spend up to 90 days at a time in Schengen twice a year.