To work in Aruba as a foreign national you need a residence permit with permission to work, and DIMAS, the admission department, decides on it. For a live application, DIMAS’s own portal and current checklist are the authority on what to do and in which order.18 This page shows who does what, where official sources currently disagree about the labour-market step with DPL, and how to check the live process before you apply.
It is a map, not a step-by-step guide. For what an application contains, what it costs and what happens after approval, read Work permits in Aruba: how it works for foreign nationals.
Who does what
| Body | What it does in a work permit |
|---|---|
| DIMAS | Decides on the residence permit that carries permission to work, runs the online application portal and publishes the checklists.18 |
| DPL | The labour department. Its Advies Toelating Arbeidsmarkt section runs the labour-market test and gives the employer a positive or negative advice, or a notification letter where a job or person is exempt. It also offers job matching to local jobseekers, the people who do not need a permit.675 |
| DVG, Communicable Diseases Department (DBZ) | Handles the medical stage once an application reaches it. DIMAS cannot approve until DVG has registered the medical results in the DIMAS system.9 |
| SVb and the Aruba Chamber | The employer documents DIMAS’s Paid Employment page lists include SVb statements of employer and employee registration and a Chamber statement of company registration.21213 |
Where official sources disagree today
The question is simple: does the employer have to visit DPL for the labour-market test before submitting to DIMAS? Current official sources answer it differently.
- DIMAS web portal, “Important Notice – Temporary Policy Change”.1 Effective 24 April 2025; the notice calls itself a temporary policy adjustment and gives no end date. It says the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Labour have temporarily changed the work permit application process: applicants no longer need to visit DPL for the labour-market test and may submit their application directly at DIMAS.
- DIMAS, Paid Employment page.2 Undated. A labour-market review is required and you must apply for it at DPL. After receiving a DPL statement you can apply to DIMAS. Exemptions exist and are checked at DPL.
- DIMAS, Working page.3 Undated. For most work permits you first visit DPL for a labour-market check.
- Government of Aruba, Work and residence permit.4 Published 28 November 2023, before the notice. Foreign nationals wishing to work in Aruba must first obtain a positive advice from DPL, then apply to DIMAS.
- DIMAS and Ministry of Labour admission handbook, section B.1.5 6 March 2023, before the notice. A positive DPL advice, or a notification letter showing the job or person is exempt, is required.
- DPL, Advies Toelating Arbeidsmarkt page.6 Undated. It describes the labour-market test and the advice the employer takes to DIMAS. It does not mention the temporary policy.
We do not resolve this. The portal notice is the newest dated official statement on the DPL step that we found, and it describes itself as temporary. The pages that still describe DPL first are undated or older than the notice. Whether they simply have not been updated is our inference, not something any source states, so we do not rely on it. What is certain is that the sources differ, and that the DIMAS portal is where a live application is submitted.
How to check the live process before you apply
- Open the DIMAS web portal and read the notice on its home page. If it is gone or reworded, the policy may have changed again.1
- If you are not sure which permit applies, use the Decision Tree wizard the portal offers before you start.1
- Download the current DIMAS checklist for your permit type, “Employment in paid service” for most employees, and read its date. The version we read is dated 31 July 2025.8
- Ask DIMAS, through its e-Helpdesk or an appointment at its helpdesk, whether a DPL labour-market step applies to this specific application, and keep the answer in writing.14
- If DIMAS says the DPL step applies, book it with DPL’s Advies Toelating Arbeidsmarkt section, which works by online appointment only.6
- Do not resign from a job or sign a lease on the strength of a general web page, including this one, before DIMAS has confirmed your route.
Temporary and special policies are not the ordinary rule
Three things can look like “the rules” but are not the same thing:
- The 24 April 2025 temporary policy concerns where the labour-market test happens. DIMAS describes it as temporary.1
- Hunto pa Progreso was a separate programme with its own tracks, outside the ordinary employer route. In a notice of 6 February 2026, DIMAS said its tracks had come to an official end and that the Minister had not extended it. It said the family-reunification and student phase and the flex permit of up to five years were kept as regular procedure.10 The notice names both 31 December and 31 January as end dates in different sentences, so read the original. DIMAS’s checklist for “Regular RRAV I” (single, without guarantor, Track 4) uses the same track numbering and is not the ordinary employer-guarantor route.11
- Exemptions from the labour-market test. DIMAS says resident domestic staff need no test and that there are more exempt cases to check with DPL.2 The 2023 handbook also says that anyone with five legal years in Aruba, or five permits, is exempt from the test.5
Other DIMAS permit types, such as knowledge migrants, start-ups and independent entrepreneurs, have their own pages and are not covered here.3
The medical stage
After a first application reaches the medical stage, the handling and evaluation of the medical requirements fall under DVG’s Communicable Diseases Department. DIMAS has no influence over the evaluation or the time it takes, and cannot approve the permit until DVG has registered the results.9 DIMAS’s current checklist says the medical results, including the medical statement, must be complete within 30 days of arrival, and that the medical institution forwards them to the Communicable Diseases Service. It also says that a positive statement from the Communicable Diseases Service lets someone start work for their guarantor while the final decision is pending.8 Providers and addresses differ between DIMAS documents, so use the list in the checklist you were given.
This is a different document from the health certificate that food and beverage workers need. For that, see Health certificate for food and beverage work in Aruba.
Employer documents
DIMAS’s Paid Employment page lists what an applicant needs once the DPL statement, where it applies, is in hand: the labour contract, legal documentation (first applications only), a certificate of no objection, Form A, the employer’s declaration, the SVb declaration of employer registration, the SVb statement of employee registration, the Chamber statement of company registration, and where relevant a director’s licence and a settlement permit.2 The PDF checklist lists a somewhat different set, including the passport, the guarantee declaration and a criminal record certificate for first applications.8 Both are DIMAS documents. Follow the one DIMAS gives you for your permit type, and see the employer compliance checklist for the SVb and Chamber side of hiring.
Quick answers
Who issues the work permit in Aruba?
DIMAS. Permission to work is part of the residence permit it issues.15
Do I have to visit DPL before I apply?
Official sources currently disagree. DIMAS’s portal says that since 24 April 2025, under a temporary policy, applicants no longer need to visit DPL for the labour-market test. DIMAS’s Paid Employment page and older government guidance still describe DPL first. Ask DIMAS which applies to your application.124
Is the temporary policy permanent?
No source says so. The DIMAS notice calls it temporary and gives no end date.1
Which source should I follow if they differ?
The DIMAS portal and the checklist DIMAS gives you for your application, because DIMAS decides on the permit. Keep DIMAS’s written answer.18
Is a Hunto pa Progreso permit the same as a normal work permit?
No. It was a separate programme, and DIMAS reported that its tracks ended.10
Where do I get the DPL labour-market advice?
From DPL’s Advies Toelating Arbeidsmarkt section, by online appointment, when that step applies to you.6
