Aruba Work Permit 2026: How It Works, Costs, Steps

maximum DIMAS decision period from the request, per the 2023 handbook Source 3: 6 weeks
fees for a first application: AWG 65 retribution plus AWG 1,200 permit fee Source 4: AWG 1,265
before you can normally change employer Source 3: 3 years

The short version

Permission to work is part of the residence permit for work as an employee, issued by DIMAS.
A first permit is tied to an employer in Aruba that acts as your guarantor.
Official sources currently disagree on whether a DPL labour-market step comes first: DIMAS's portal describes a temporary policy since 24 April 2025, its Paid Employment page still describes DPL first. Check with DIMAS before you apply.
Fees are set in the Official Gazette of 31 July 2025: Afl. 1,200 for a first permit and Afl. 600 for a renewal, plus retribution and, for many nationalities, a deposit.
DIMAS's handbook sets a maximum decision period of six weeks; you normally wait for the decision outside Aruba.

To work in Aruba as a foreign national you need one document: a residence permit with permission to work, issued by DIMAS, Aruba’s admission department. A first permit to work as an employee is tied to an employer in Aruba that is willing to act as your guarantor.³ Whether a separate labour-market step with the labour department, DPL, comes first depends on DIMAS’s current procedure. Official sources currently disagree about it, and this guide does not pick a side.¹² DIMAS’s handbook sets a maximum decision period of six weeks from the date of the request, and you normally wait for that decision outside Aruba.³

This guide is for people who are not Dutch nationals. Dutch citizens born outside Aruba also need a permit, but their route is lighter: see moving to Aruba from the Netherlands. For who does what and how to check the live process, start with Work and residence permits in Aruba: where to check the current process.

One permit, issued by DIMAS

There is no separate work permit to collect first. The permission to work is part of the temporary residence permit (vergunning tot tijdelijk verblijf) for work as an employee, and DIMAS issues it.³ DPL, the Departamento di Progreso Laboral, does not issue permits. Its Advies Toelating Arbeidsmarkt section runs the labour-market test and gives advice, and DPL also offers job matching for local jobseekers, the people who do not need a permit.¹²¹⁰

Your employer stands behind the application

DIMAS’s checklist asks for a copy of the employer’s ID, the company’s Chamber of Commerce extract and a guarantee declaration signed by you and your employer.⁴ By signing, the employer becomes your guarantor (garantsteller). That is more than a formality: the guarantor stays liable for costs the government may incur, for example if you have to be sent home, and must make sure you leave within 30 days if your permit expires or is refused, or if the employer stops acting as your guarantor.³

The labour-market step: where sources differ

The 2023 admission handbook says a positive DPL advice, or a notification letter that the job or the person is exempt from the labour-market test, is required.³ DIMAS’s application portal says that since 24 April 2025, under a temporary policy, applicants no longer need to visit DPL for the labour-market test and may submit directly to DIMAS.¹ DIMAS’s Paid Employment page still describes the DPL test first.²

We do not resolve this, and we do not know how long the temporary policy lasts. Read the notice on the DIMAS portal, ask DIMAS whether a DPL step applies to your application, and keep the answer in writing. The sources are laid out in the permit hub.

What goes in the application

DIMAS’s checklist for work as an employee (dated 31 July 2025) asks for:⁴

a copy of your passport, valid for at least three more months;
a copy of your employer’s ID, and the company’s Chamber of Commerce extract;
your employment contract, stating your hbo- or wo-level qualification where that applies;
the guarantee declaration, filled in truthfully and signed by you and your employer, no older than three months;
one recent colour passport photo (35 × 45 mm, JPEG);
for a first application, an original criminal record certificate (Antecedentes Penales or VOG) from every country you lived in during the past five years. It must be legalised or apostilled and no older than six months, with a sworn Aruban translation if it is not in Dutch, English or Spanish.

Scans of the original documents must be attached.⁴ DIMAS’s Paid Employment page lists a somewhat different set of employer papers, including the SVb registration statements.² An application that is missing something is not taken into processing; you get a written notice straight away instead.³

What it costs

The permit fees are set by an Official Gazette regulation of 31 July 2025: Afl. 1,200 for a first permit with permission to work and Afl. 600 for a renewal, and 50% more when an application is filed late.⁶ DIMAS’s checklist adds the retribution:⁴

	First application	Renewal or change
Retribution	AWG 65	AWG 40
Fees (leges)	AWG 1,200	AWG 600
Total	AWG 1,265	AWG 640

On top of that, a deposit (waarborgsom) may be due, and its amount depends on your nationality. A second Official Gazette regulation, in force from 1 August 2025, sets AWG 700 for nationals of Central America, the Caribbean and the rest of South America; AWG 1,000 for Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay; and AWG 2,500 for Asia, Africa, Australia, Oceania and European countries outside the EU.⁷ The fee for a permit of up to five years is the total of the annual fees for that category.⁶

Waiting for the decision

As a rule, you wait for the decision on a first application abroad. The handbook lists exceptions, among them family members of certain legal residents, and retirees, investors and company directors who are already in Aruba on a legal tourist stay.³ Do not plan on an exception unless DIMAS has confirmed that one applies to you.

Approved: the VTA and your first month

When DIMAS approves a first application, it gives your employer a Provisional Admission to Aruba (VTA), which the employer sends to you. The VTA is not the permit itself. It lets you enter Aruba to complete the process, and it lapses if you do not use it within three months.³

After you arrive:

the medical stage follows, with results due within 30 days of arrival. DIMAS’s current checklist says the medical institution forwards the results to DVG’s Communicable Diseases Service; an earlier upload of the same checklist told the first applicant to report on arrival to Urgent Care Aruba or MEDWORK, and the 2023 handbook says to see a registered general practitioner within 30 days.⁴³ From that point the evaluation falls under the Communicable Diseases Department of DVG, and DIMAS cannot approve the permit until DVG has registered the results.⁸ Provider details differ between DIMAS documents, so use the list in the checklist you are given;
once a positive statement of no objection has been issued by the Communicable Diseases Service, you may start working for your guarantor while the final decision is pending;⁴
to register at the population register (Censo), you need a legalised or apostilled birth certificate no older than six months.⁴

How long it lasts, and changing jobs

Residence permits are in principle issued for one year. In some cases DIMAS issues them for up to five years.³ DIMAS recommends filing a renewal at least three months before the permit expires.³⁴

The permit is tied to your employer. As a rule, someone admitted for work as an employee may change employer only after three years. The handbook makes exceptions, for instance for an irreconcilable labour conflict, a change in the employer’s situation such as bankruptcy, and force majeure. It also says a DPL statement or advice is attached for the new employer, which is a rule from 2023, so ask DIMAS how it applies now.³ That makes your first employer in Aruba a decision for several years, not just a way in.

After five years, things open up. The handbook says anyone who has lived in Aruba legally for more than five years, or has held at least five permits, is exempt from the labour-market test, whatever the basis of the earlier permits.³ DIMAS also has a separate checklist for a “flex” permit to work as an employee after five years of legal residence. It asks for your passport, a photo and copies of your last five permits, and costs AWG 2,040.⁵

Steps from job offer to first day

Get a written job offer from an employer in Aruba that is willing to act as your guarantor.
Order your criminal record certificates from each country you lived in during the past five years, timed so they are under six months old when the application goes in, and have them legalised or apostilled.
Your employer checks the live DIMAS procedure, including whether a DPL labour-market step applies to this application, and obtains the DPL advice or exemption letter if it does.
Your employer applies to DIMAS with the current checklist, and the fees are paid.
Wait abroad for the VTA, and travel within its three months.
In your first 30 days: the medical stage, then registration at Censo.

Check before you act. The DIMAS handbook dates from March 2023 and sits on the Laws & Regulations page (opens in a new tab) About DIMAS; the checklists are on the Downloads page (opens in a new tab) About DIMAS. The employment checklist we read is dated 31 July 2025. Ask DIMAS before you resign from a job or give notice on a lease.⁹⁴

Contacts: DIMAS (Departamento di Integracion, Maneho y Admision di Stranhero), Paardenbaaistraat 11, Oranjestad, phone (297) 522-1500, dimasaruba.aw (opens in a new tab) About DIMAS. DPL: dpl.aw (opens in a new tab) About DPL.⁴¹¹¹⁰

Still looking for the job itself? Browse open jobs in Aruba.

Quick answers

Who issues work permits in Aruba?

DIMAS. Permission to work is part of the residence permit for work as an employee, and DIMAS issues it. The labour department DPL runs the labour-market test and advice.³¹²

Do I have to go to DPL first?

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 still describes the DPL test first. Ask DIMAS which applies to your application.¹²

Can I apply for an Aruba work permit myself?

A first permit to work as an employee is tied to an employer in Aruba that acts as your guarantor, so you cannot arrange it alone.³

How long does a work permit take in Aruba?

The handbook sets a maximum decision period of six weeks from the date of the request. Incomplete applications are not taken into processing.³

How much does a work permit cost in Aruba?

AWG 1,265 for a first application and AWG 640 for a renewal, plus a deposit of AWG 700 to AWG 2,500 for many nationalities, according to the Official Gazette regulations of 31 July 2025 and DIMAS’s checklist.⁶⁷⁴

Can I change jobs on an Aruba work permit?

As a rule, only after three years with your employer, with exceptions for situations such as a labour conflict or the employer’s bankruptcy. After five years of legal residence, DIMAS has a separate “flex” permit for work as an employee.³⁵

Updated 23 October 2026. Earlier versions of this guide said the employer usually needs a positive DPL advice before applying. DIMAS’s application portal now says that, under a temporary policy since 24 April 2025, applicants no longer need to visit DPL for the labour-market test, while other official pages still describe DPL first. The guide no longer states one fixed order. It also now cites the Official Gazette for the fees and corrects where the DIMAS handbook is published.

Sources and checks 12 sources · checked 22 October 2026 · next review 22 November 2026

Planning guidance only. The authority named on each point decides; rules, fees and deadlines change.

Work permits in Aruba: how it works for foreign nationals