Work permits in Aruba: how it works for foreign nationals

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. You do not apply for your first one yourself. Your future employer files it for you and signs as your guarantor. In most cases the employer also needs a positive advice from the labour department, DPL, that the job cannot be filled locally.¹ DIMAS aims to decide within six weeks of a complete application, and you normally wait for that decision outside Aruba.¹

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.

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.¹ DPL, the Departamento di Progreso Laboral, does not issue permits. It advises on the labour market, and it runs free job matching for local jobseekers, the people who do not need a permit.¹⁴

Your employer applies, and vouches for you

For a first application to work as an employee, the employer files with DIMAS on your behalf, online or in person.¹ By signing the guarantee declaration, 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.¹

The employer also has to show a positive DPL advice, or a notification letter that the job or the person is exempt from the labour-market test. Without one of the two, DIMAS treats the application as incomplete.¹

What goes in the application

DIMAS’s checklist for work as an employee (version of 31 July 2025) asks for:²

• 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.² An application that is missing something is not taken into processing; you get a written notice straight away instead.¹

What it costs

The July 2025 checklist lists these fees for a residence permit for work as an employee:²

On top of that, a deposit (waarborgsom) may be due, and its amount depends on your nationality. The checklist lists AWG 700 for nationals of Central America, the Caribbean and most 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.² A multi-year permit, at most five years, multiplies the retribution and fees by the number of years.²

Waiting for the decision

As a rule, you wait for the decision on a first application abroad.¹² DIMAS’s admission handbook lists exceptions, among them certain family members of legal residents, people on the government’s published list of knowledge migrants, and citizens of the Kingdom on a legal tourist stay.¹ Do not plan on an exception unless DIMAS has confirmed that one applies to you.

A complete application is handled within six weeks in principle, under article 7 of the admission law (LTU).¹

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.¹

After you arrive:²

• your medical check, including the medical statement, has to be completed within 30 days. The checklist names the Department of Infectious Diseases (Avicenastraat 1), Urgent Care Aruba (Noord 63) and MEDWORK (Dr. Horacio E. Oduber Boulevard 1);
• once the Department of Infectious Diseases has issued a positive statement of no objection, you may start working for your guarantor while the final decision is pending;
• to register at the population register (Censo), you need a legalised or apostilled birth certificate no older than six months.

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.¹ File your renewal at least three months before the permit expires.¹² You also need to be able to show suitable housing at all times.¹

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, the employer’s bankruptcy or force majeure, and a new DPL advice is needed for the new employer.¹ That makes your first employer in Aruba a decision for several years, not just a way in.

After five years, things open up. Anyone who has lived in Aruba legally for more than five years, or has held at least five permits, no longer has to pass the labour-market test, whatever the basis of the earlier permits.¹ 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, lists an employer’s guarantee only for people who turn out not to qualify, and costs AWG 2,040.⁵

Six steps from job offer to first day

1. Get a written job offer from an employer in Aruba that is willing to act as your guarantor.
2. 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.
3. Your employer obtains the DPL advice, or the letter showing the job is exempt.
4. Your employer files the application with DIMAS, using the current checklist, and the fees are paid.
5. Wait abroad for the VTA, and travel within its three months.
6. In your first 30 days: the medical check, then registration at Censo.

Check before you act. DIMAS’s admission handbook dates from March 2023 and the employment checklist from July 2025. Both are on DIMAS’s Downloads page, which is where a newer version would appear first.³ Ask DIMAS before you resign from a job or give notice on a lease.

Contacts: DIMAS (Departamento di Integracion, Maneho y Admision di Stranhero), Paardenbaaistraat 11, Oranjestad, phone (297) 522-1500, dimasaruba.aw. DPL, phone (297) 521-5555, dpl.aw.²⁴

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 advises on whether the job can be filled locally.¹

Can I apply for an Aruba work permit myself?

Not for a first permit to work as an employee. Your employer files the application with DIMAS on your behalf and signs as your guarantor.¹

How long does a work permit take in Aruba?

DIMAS handles a complete application within six weeks in principle. Incomplete applications are not processed at all.¹

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 DIMAS’s July 2025 checklist.²

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.¹⁵

Updated 4 October 2026. Earlier versions of this guide said the work permit is issued by the DAO and that every permit must be in place before you travel. The permit is issued by DIMAS, and the handbook allows some exceptions to waiting abroad.