Moving abroad to The Netherlands through the DAFT Visa - one of the easiest pathways to Europe
- thecoopersgodutch
- Jan 17
- 5 min read
Moving Abroad with Kids as an American Family
By Lindsey | The Coopers Go Dutch
Leaving your home country isn’t something most people do lightly—especially when you have young children. For a long time, the idea of moving abroad to Europe lived quietly in the background of our lives. It showed up in late-night Google searches, "not-serious" conversations, and moments when I’d think, There has to be another way to live.
As tensions in the U.S. started to rise and headlines became more alarming, we started to consider moving abroad more seriously.
At the end of the summer, we sold our house in Kentucky and in October, our family - two adults, two young kids, and our dog - moved from the United States to the Netherlands.
This post isn’t about convincing anyone to leave the US. It’s for Americans who feel uneasy, overstimulated, or burned out and are wondering whether life could feel safer, calmer, and more balanced somewhere else.
Moving Abroad to Europe Wasn’t an Easy Decision
As parents, our biggest fear about moving abroad with kids was how they would adapt.
New country. New routines. New language. New school. New friends. New everything.
It felt like a huge risk.
What we didn’t expect was just how well our children would handle the transition. Watching our 5 year old grow in confidence and our 2.5 year old adjust so quickly has been one of the most reassuring parts of this move. They are both learning Dutch in a school and playgroup setting and have acclimated faster than we could have hoped for.
Kids are incredibly adaptable, especially when they feel safe, and that safety and stability has been easier to find here than we ever expected.
Why Life in the US Started to Feel Unsustainable
There wasn’t one dramatic moment that made us leave the United States. It was a slow buildup. As parents, the reality of gun violence - especially school shootings - was a constant background fear. It shaped how we thought about safety, education, and the future.
We found ourselves asking:
Is the U.S. really the safest and best place to raise our kids?
Is this the childhood we want for our children?
Are there countries where daily life doesn’t feel so anxious?
Is this level of stress just “normal” now?
At the same time, the political instability in the US created a persistent sense of tension. The news cycle felt relentless. Public discourse felt sharper. And the future felt harder to trust. Healthcare continued to get more expensive and harder to pay for. Cost of living was only going up. And late stage capitalism was overtaking every part of our daily life. The "rat race" in the United States just didn't feel sustainable or interesting to us anymore. We wanted a slower pace of life - to feel like we were really living again.
What We Were Looking for in the Netherlands
When we began seriously considering moving abroad, we weren’t chasing perfection -nowhere is perfect - we were chasing culture, travel, sustainability, and calm.
We wanted:
A safer environment where school shootings weren’t part of daily fear
Affordable healthcare that wouldn't bankrupt us
Better food standards with fewer additives and chemicals
Affordable childcare and higher education
A slower pace of life with real work–life balance
The ability to travel and expose our kids to other cultures and languages
The opportunity for our children to grow up bilingual
Again and again, the Netherlands stood out to us.
Moving to the Netherlands was a pathway to Europe
The main draw to the Netherlands was the ease of the DAFT Visa because it is specifically for Americans who want to live in the Netherlands. Living in a European country also offered something we deeply needed: safety and stability. Europeans just tend to have a different way of life altogether - in the best of ways.
Here, cities are designed with people in mind. Children bike to school independently. Healthcare is accessible and affordable. Paid time off is normal and encouraged. Balance isn’t aspirational - it’s expected. And over 90% of the population speaks English.
Almost immediately after arriving, I noticed that my nervous system finally relaxed. The constant worries and fears about day to day living began to calm.
The constant low level anxiety I’d been carrying - about politics, safety, and unpredictability- began to fade. Bike culture, spending time outdoors, child safety, and non-toxic food all added to our comfort in knowing we had made the right decision.
How the DAFT Visa Allowed Us to Move to the Netherlands
We moved to the Netherlands using the DAFT
visa (Dutch American Friendship Treaty), which allows US citizens to live in the Netherlands as entrepreneurs. It's designed to bring small businesses abroad to the Netherlands and to participate in their economy. It is one of the cheapest and easiest visas in all of Europe.
Like many Americans, we assumed hiring professionals would make the process easier. We
first hired an immigration attorney and paid a significant amount of money—only to realize the support was minimal - but he got the job done. The application was submitted, but we were largely left to figure out the rest ourselves.
Later, I also hired a DAFT visa consultant for additional guidance, who was more helpful in guiding us through the remaining steps and also came at a lower cost.
The most stressful part of the DAFT visa process wasn’t the paperwork—it was the timeline. Making sure each step happened in the correct order, within strict time windows, while moving internationally with two young kids, was overwhelming.
That experience is exactly why The Coopers Go Dutch exists today. And why I created a DAFT Visa guide, so other people and families could have access to all of the information I wish we had had before making the move.
Learn more about the DAFT Visa Guide here
Culture Shock - Three Months into Life in the Netherlands
Three months in, culture shock is very real.
Things work differently here. The language is different - and difficult to learn!
Communication is more direct. Bureaucracy requires patience. Systems don’t always make sense right away. Even going to the grocery store and trying to navigate reading the labels in Dutch had me sweating as if I had just run a marathon. I've gotten much better at it by now.
But even on the harder days, the baseline feels much calmer.
The stress is different. The fear around school safety is gone. And life feels more grounded and calmer than it did before. Overall, we feel more connected and at peace here.
Thinking About Moving Abroad to the Netherlands?
If you’re an American quietly wondering whether life could feel safer, slower, and more sustainable—you’re not alone.
And if the DAFT visa feels confusing or overwhelming, I created a step-by-step DAFT Visa Guide based on our real experience—what worked, what didn’t, and what I wish I’d known before we started. This is a 20 page guide that includes our entire process, everything we learned in the last three months, and links to the resources we used to move abroad - attorneys, consultants, shipping, and more.
Learn more about the DAFT Visa Guide here
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