Your first weeks on Bonaire: the declaration, five days, the sédula and only then the rest

The first weeks on Bonaire are not a list but a chain, and every link wants to see the previous one. The IND declaration opens Civil Affairs, Civil Affairs opens the sédula and the BSN, the sédula opens the health insurance and the bank, and the registration opens the CRIB number your employer asks for. What it costs: USD 171 in fees for the declaration, $ 8.40 per adult and $ 5.60 per child for the sédula, and nothing else. What it demands: the proof of deregistration from the Netherlands that you took with you in the week of departure, and the discipline to stand at the counter with the whole family within five days of the IND approval. The trap is the order: whoever goes to the bank or the health insurer first is sent back to a counter he cannot yet open.

What is the first link?

The declaration of admission by operation of law at the IND unit Caribbean Netherlands, compulsory for whoever lives on the island for more than 180 days per 365 or stays more than 90 days and works. You arrive a quarter of an hour before your appointment with your passport, the fully completed form, proof of housing and proof of sufficient income, not below the minimum wage. Only complete applications are processed; if your application is complete and you have paid the USD 171 fee, you are given proof that your application is pending. The IND aims for a decision within two months, with a legal maximum of six. You need not submit a certificate of conduct if over the past five years you lived only in the European Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten or the Caribbean Netherlands; the IND then requests that document itself.

Why do the five days weigh so heavily?

Because the clock starts at the moment of approval and not at the moment that suits you. The Public Entity writes that you make an appointment within five days of receiving the residence document to have yourself registered in person at Civil Affairs, and that all family members moving with you come along. Bring: a valid passport for everyone, the proof of deregistration for whoever comes from the Netherlands or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, and for whoever was born abroad legalised source documents such as a recent extract of the birth certificate. The registration is free. And the detail that suddenly counts with a five-day deadline: the counter is closed on Fridays.

On registration you automatically receive a citizen service number; everyone who registers on the islands gets one. With it you can apply for DigiD and in future arrange more and more online, including with organisations on the island.

Which clocks and amounts belong to the chain?

Link	Deadline or amount
Declaration of admission by operation of law (IND)	USD 171; aim 2 months, at most 6 months
Registration at Civil Affairs	within 5 days of approval, whole family in person, free
Sédula	$ 8.40 per adult, $ 5.60 per minor; waiting time at least a week
Sédula compulsory to carry	from age 12
BSN	automatic on registration
Health insurance ZJCN	registering only after the population register, at the counter
CRIB number	automatic for 15- to 65-year-olds after registration; collect with ID
Child benefit	apply by e-mail; at most 12 months retroactive; 8 weeks processing

What can only happen after the sédula?

The sédula is only issued to whoever is in the population register of Bonaire, is always applied for in person, and has a waiting time of at least a week. Until then two counters stay closed. Zorg en Jeugd Caribisch Nederland only registers you for the BES health insurance after you are in the population register; you then go to the counter with your sédula, your declaration of admission, an employer's statement if you work for a local employer, and proof of the end date of your Dutch health insurance. ZJCN itself advises bridging the weeks until then with your own health insurance, because until you are lawfully registered you are not insured. How the system works after that is in healthcare on Bonaire.

The second counter is the bank. What exactly a bank asks differs, but the sédula is the island's identity document and your employer needs the CRIB number; both only exist after registration. Read bank and payments on Bonaire for the dollar, the cost of euro transfers and the deposit guarantee.

Bring the proof of deregistration, on paper. Civil Affairs asks for it at the first registration of everyone coming from the Netherlands, and requesting it afterwards means calling on a Dutch municipality from nine hours' flight away. Without that paper the chain stalls on day one, while the five days keep running.

What else belongs in the first month?

The child benefit: you apply for it by e-mail to the RCN unit SZW, with at most twelve months of retroactive effect and a legal processing time of eight weeks, so better in week one than in month eleven. The school, where compulsory education applies from age four. And the CRIB number: created automatically for everyone aged 15 to 65 after registration, to be collected in person at the counter of the tax office with your identity document. Whoever wants the whole order with the clocks finds it in the step-by-step plan for Bonaire.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the journey, step 4.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Bonaire or go straight to step 4.3 in the open plan.