Moving to Aruba from the Netherlands for work: what Dutch citizens need to arrange

A Dutch passport does not, on its own, give you the right to live and work in Aruba. If you were born outside Aruba, you will normally need a residence permit from DIMAS, Aruba’s admission department, for your first five years.¹² After five years of uninterrupted legal stay you are admitted by right, and after ten you no longer need a permit at all.²

The reason is Aruba’s own admission law, the Landsverordening toelating en uitzetting (LTU). It treats Dutch nationals born in Aruba differently from those born in the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten or elsewhere.² What follows is how that works for someone moving here for a job.

Do you need a permit at all?

Not if one of these applies to you:¹²

• you were born in Aruba, or became Dutch through naturalisation in Aruba;
• you were born in the former Netherlands Antilles and have lived in Aruba without interruption since 1 January 1986;
• you were born outside Aruba, but at least one of your parents falls under the first group;
• you have been legally admitted to Aruba for the past five years without interruption (you are then admitted by right).

If you fit one of these, you can ask DIMAS for a declaration that you do not need a permit. DIMAS has a form for it on its Downloads page.¹⁴

The permit most Dutch newcomers need

Everyone else applies for a temporary residence permit (vergunning tot tijdelijk verblijf). Dutch nationals usually get it for one year at a time, up to five years, until they qualify for admission by right.²

How your job affects the permit

DIMAS’s 2023 admission handbook describes two routes for Dutch nationals:²

• Professionals at higher-education level (hbo or wo). The permit is tied to your employer and can be changed if you switch jobs. Your application is not tested against the availability of local workers. You must have suitable housing, good health, enough income and a certificate of good conduct. Depending on your contract, the permit can be issued for the length of the contract at once.
• Other jobs. The Departamento di Progreso Laboral (DPL) checks once whether local workers are available, but Dutch applicants take preference over foreign nationals. If you change employer, the check is done again.

What DIMAS asks for

DIMAS’s checklist for a permit to work as an employee (version of 31 July 2025) lists, among other things:³

• a copy of your passport, valid for at least three more months;
• your employment contract, stating an hbo or wo qualification where that applies;
• a guarantee declaration signed by you and your employer, a copy of the employer’s ID and its Chamber of Commerce extract;
• a recent colour passport photo;
• for a first application, a certificate of good conduct (VOG) from the country where you lived in the past five years, no older than six months.

The same checklist asks for a medical check within 30 days of arrival, and for renewals to be filed at least three months before the permit expires.³ It also lists the fees. Check the current version on DIMAS’s Downloads page before you apply: DIMAS updates these lists.⁴

Can you wait in Aruba while DIMAS decides?

As a rule, a first application has to be awaited abroad. The handbook makes exceptions, including for citizens of the Kingdom (rijksgenoten) who are in Aruba on a legal tourist stay when they apply.²³

Five steps from offer to arrival

1. Check whether you need a permit against the exceptions above.
2. Get the offer in writing, with your hbo or wo qualification in the contract if you have one.
3. Request your certificate of good conduct in the country where you have lived, close enough to the application that it is under six months old.
4. Apply to DIMAS with your employer, using the current checklist.
5. After arrival: the medical check within 30 days, and registration at the population register (Censo), for which DIMAS’s checklist mentions a legalised or apostilled birth certificate no older than six months.³

Rules change. We check this article against DIMAS’s website every month. The admission handbook DIMAS publishes dates from March 2023, and several of its checklists were updated in 2025. When in doubt, ask DIMAS before you resign from a job or sign a lease.

Looking for the job first? Browse open jobs in Aruba, and turn on job alerts so new ones reach you in the Netherlands.

Quick answers

Do Dutch citizens need a permit to work in Aruba?

Usually, yes. Dutch nationals born outside Aruba need a residence permit from DIMAS to live or work in Aruba, unless an exception applies.¹

How long does a Dutch citizen need a permit in Aruba?

For the first five years. After five years of uninterrupted legal admission you are admitted by right; after ten years of admission and residence the permit rules no longer apply to you.²

Is my job checked against local candidates?

Not for hbo- or wo-level professionals. For other jobs the DPL checks once, with Dutch applicants preferred over foreign nationals.²

Who decides?

DIMAS (Departamento di Integracion, Maneho y Admision di Stranhero), Paardenbaaistraat 11, Oranjestad, phone (297) 522-1500, dimasaruba.aw.³