How can I immigrate to The Netherlands?  I am a single 58 year old male 
American citizen.  I have an MBA, am semi-retired with a small pension, and 
have a several decade career experiemce in marketing, business analysis and 
planning, and business management with both DuPont and Raytheon.  I am not 
fluent in Dutch.  I have only modest savings.  I also have no Irish ancestors.  
I want to live and work and eventually retire in The Netherlands

Greetings from Google!

Ronineconomist-ga has outlined the Dutch immigration procedures directly from 
the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service.  Please feel free to spend 
time on their site to see if you match their naturalization conditions:

Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service
http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/home.asp?LangID=1

Dutch Naturalization Procedures
http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/page.asp?
PageID=20&KoppelTekst=1&LangID=1&Visum=True&ProcedureID=23&ContentID=1&Reden=1&D
ialoogID=1&Period=1&CountryList=1&sProcName=Naturalisatie

There are additional links that might be of interest on the Dutch Immigration 
and Naturalization Service’s site (http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/home.asp?
LangID=1).  If you have questions on asylum, employment, or study, there are 
downloadable files (in Acrobat Reader) that might be of help.

http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/page.asp?pageID=5221&langID=1

Since you do have extensive work experience and a business degree, you might 
take ronineconomist’s (see comment below) immigration advice and look for 
Dutch/American employment. According to Dutch Immigration and Naturalization 
Service’s site, you’ll have to meet the following conditions:

You have a realistic prospect of a job in the Netherlands; 
·	You are prepared to sign a declaration of cognisance; 
·	You are prepared to sign a declaration about your past.

Your employer will also have to satisfy certain conditions:
·	Your employer applies for a work permit for you from the employment 
office (Arbeidsbureau). Your employer can obtain more information about the 
conditions that have to be satisfied before a work permit is issued from the 
employment office; 
·	Your employer is registered with the Chamber of Commerce. The company 
is financially sound. Social security, tax, and other contributions are 
properly deducted. Employees are registered with a public benefits agency; 
·	Your employer guarantees that you will be covered by health insurance. 
Your employer also makes sure you have sufficient means of support in the 
Netherlands.

Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service
http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/page.asp?
PageID=20&KoppelTekst=0&LangID=1&Visum=False&ProcedureID=3&ContentID=1&Reden=18&
DialoogID=1&Period=15&CountryList=185&sProcName=

In addition to ronineconomist’s job links (see comment below), you might look 
at workpermit.com’s (http://www.workpermit.com/netherland/employer4.htm) guide 
to permits in the Netherlands.  

They describe the work permit process pretty thoroughly:

“…the first stage of the process involves the candidate to making an 
application for a temporary residence permit (MVV) through his/her local 
Netherlands embassy. workpermit.com then lodges an application on your behalf 
at the Regional employment board (RBA) who approve it initially and pass it to 
the national employment board (AFB) who make the final decision, taking into 
account the national and EC labour markets. When the work permit is approved, 
the residence permit is issued by the embassy and the candidate may travel to 
the Netherlands and start work.”

Workpermit.com
http://www.workpermit.com/netherland/employer5.htm

After landing a job and living as a resident for 5 years, you’re eligible to 
apply for naturalization.  

Lastly, have you maintained your Dupont contacts?  If you have, you might look 
for employment among their Dutch subsidiaries:

http://www.dupont.com/corp/overview/subsidiaries/

Additional Websites that may interest you:

Naturalization procedures from the Consular Affairs
http://www.holland.com.ye/consular-%20Naturalization.htm

Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service
http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/

Downloadable Folders for Asylum, Study, Employment
http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/page.asp?pageID=5007&langID=1

Work Permit.com
Obtaining a work permit in the Netherlands
http://www.workpermit.com/netherland/employer4.htm

Procedures for working in the Netherlands for longer than 3 months
http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/page.asp?
PageID=20&LangID=1&DialoogID=1&Period=15&CountryList=185&Reden=18&submit=Continu
e

Temporary Residence Permit for Non-European Union Members
http://www.holland.com.ye/consular-%20residence.htm

Costs for Residence Permits, Visa, Naturalization
http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/page.asp?pageID=5222&langID=1&FromPageID=5007 

Studying Procedures in the Netherlands
http://www.nuffic.nl/study/immigration/whom.html

Dupont Subsidiaries
http://www.dupont.com/corp/overview/subsidiaries/

Search Terms Used:
Dutch immigration
Netherland immigration
Dutch naturalization

Categories Used:
Regional > Europe > Netherlands > Business and Economy > Immigration
http://directory.google.com/Top/Regional/Europe/Netherlands/Business_and_Economy
/Immigration/

Regional > Europe > Netherlands > Government
http://directory.google.com/Top/Regional/Europe/Netherlands/Government/?tc=1

Thank you for using Google!

Regards,
Trailhead

This is valuable information that was very professionally presented and in a 
very timely manner.  However, it didn't discover the Dutch-American Friendship 
Treaty which offers special opportunities for Americans to obtain residence 
permits; nor does it mention that there is an age limit requirement for work 
permits which disqualifies me.

Hi!

It looks like the simplest way for you to immigrate is to begin with a work 
visa, by getting a job with a Dutch company and living and working in the The 
Netherlands.  After five years of legal residence in the country, you are 
eligible to apply to become a naturalized citizen.  Here are the conditions 
for naturalization (from http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/):

- Immediately prior to your naturalization application have lived for at least 
five years in the Netherlands, the Dutch Antilles, or Aruba; 
- Have lived for at least three years in the Netherlands with the same Dutch 
partner or; 
- Have been married and living together for at least three years with the same 
Dutch partner. In this case, it does not matter whether or not you have lived 
in the Netherlands. However, you must not be living in the country of your own 
nationality when the application is made.

and

- You are an adult. That is to say, you are at least 18, or were not 18 when 
you got married; 
- You have a residence permit for a non-temporary purpose. If you do have a 
residence permit for a temporary purpose, such as study or medical treatment, 
you cannot be naturalized; 
- You are socially integrated. You are able, for example, to hold a 
conversation in Dutch about everyday subjects; 
- You do not present a danger to public order, public decency, public health, 
or to national security. The most important rule in this connection is that 
you must not have been given a prison sentence, a community service order, or 
fined more than € 453,78 (NLG 1000) in the four years prior to the 
application; 
- You are prepared to give up your current nationality. See the frequently 
asked questions for exceptions to this requirement.

There is more information on http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/, click 
the "english" link in the upper right corner.

Here are some sites with English job listings in the Netherlands (found by 
searching on "netherlands jobs":

http://www.englishlanguagejobs.com/
http://jobs.escapeartist.com/Openings/Netherlands/
this whole section of the directory:
http://directory.google.com/Top/Regional/Europe/Netherlands/Business_and_Econom
y/Employment/

Hope that is helpful.  ^_^

In your situation I think you have two options:-
- Take long vacations on a visitors visa.
- Marry a Dutch resident (we're liberal enough here that we don't care what 
gender you want to marry)

Without a company requesting you to come and stay in the Netherlands, I don't 
believe it will be possible. The company in question will have to proof that 
you actually add something to the Dutch society that we don't already have. 
Some IT companies have been succesful in the past. 

We're about to have elections here, and it is likely that immigrationlaw will 
even be more strict. It's a hot topic in campaigns.

A question for 'amsterdam-ga': how long do you expect to work before you 
retire?

And Rene, for the elections: nu ik een beetje over de immigratie lees vraag ik 
me af hoe Fortuyn die nog veel strenger zou kunnen maken...

I just saw that the Immigratiedienst demands every immigrant to speak Dutch. 
That's pretty dumb, it would be better if they'd demand to speak Dutch OR 
English...

If you still have questions, you can contact the Immigratiedienst via this 
page:
http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/page.asp?pageID=8012&langID=1

Frequently asked questions can be accessed through this page:
http://www.immigratiedienst.nl/page.asp?
pageID=5006&langID=1&categoryID=115&view=2

In regard to how long before I retire:  well I am almost 59, I have a small 
pension now from DuPont and at age 53 I will be eligible for my US social 
security retirement - those together will be about $1800 per month.  However, I 
am in good health and would wish to stay active, in a career, creative work, or 
volunteer work, for another ten or twenty years if I can.

My mistake:  At age 62 I will be eligible for social security.