Saba · Within the Kingdom
Emigrating to Saba
The smallest island of the Netherlands: 2,270 people, four villages on one road, English as the everyday language, and no direct flight — you fly to Sint Maarten and take the Twin Otter or the ferry from there. The admission law applies to Dutch citizens here too, your health insurance and AOW accrual do stop, the hospital is on another island and a bank counter is no certainty. This page shows how the chain really runs: declaration, five-day clock, ID card, and the system that's surprisingly mild after that.
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- Kind of journey
- Within the Kingdom — by operation of law, with real conditions
- The chain
- IND declaration → Census Office within 5 days → ID card → health insurance
- Note
- 2,270 inhabitants, no hospital, no direct flight — everything via Sint Maarten
Last updated: 5 October 2026
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Five phases, from orientation to being settled
No visa, no language test, not even a foreign country — and still a journey with real clocks: an IND declaration of two months, a declaration period of five days, an exemption permit that has to be arranged before the container, and a transhipment on Sint Maarten for everything that comes along. Whoever knows the chain is settled in months.
- Orientation
The Netherlands, but the smallest piece of it
Saba has been a special municipality since 2010 — with an admission law that expressly applies to Dutch citizens too: housing and sufficient means are legal requirements. In this phase you learn what does stop (healthcare, AOW accrual, all benefits), look the safety net straight in the eye — no unemployment benefit, social assistance only after five years — and weigh the scale: two thousand people, one road, one school, a hospital on another island, and a hurricane season that is no theory here.
- Closing the Netherlands
Everything that looks like "just the Netherlands" does stop here
For the SVB and the benefits office you're a foreigner from the day you move: the Zvw policy ends (with proof, because the island asks for it), all benefits stop, and the protective assessment falls under the stricter non-EU regime. Two windfalls stand against that: your accrued AOW comes along at the full rate — single rate included — and Saba taxes it as country of residence, at the milder BES rate.
- The move
Everything comes via Sint Maarten — and customs wants its papers up front
The container sails to Sint Maarten and is transferred there onto the small cargo vessel to Fort Bay; the exemption permit comes first — six months' ownership, import within six months. The car has the stricter rule: twelve months' ownership, otherwise a progressive rate by customs value, and the BPM refund doesn't exist outside the EU — and ask whether a Dutch family car can handle The Road at all. The dog comes with a chip and a rabies clock, and changes planes onto the Twin Otter.
- Registration on Saba
Five days that carry the whole journey
The chain is fixed: home (an admission requirement, and the scarcest thing on the island), the declaration of admission by operation of law at the IND counter in The Bottom (USD 171, aiming for two months), and then the sharpest deadline of the route — within five days the whole family makes its declaration in person at the Census Office, with the proof of deregistration from the Netherlands. After that follow the ID card, automatically a BSN, the health insurance that then runs by itself — and the bank account, for which you may well have to take the boat to Sint Maarten.
- Arrival
Almost nothing happens by itself — and then the island becomes yours
The child benefit ($ 238 per child) you have to apply for, tax runs via a portal of its own, the car wants clearing and road tax at the Receiver's Office, and the school is in English with Caribbean CXC exams. Electricity at 55 dollar cents per kilowatt-hour and water by tanker truck teach you a different household. And healthcare has wings — what Saba Cares can't do, the insurance flies with you to Sint Maarten, and for heavier care to Colombia or the Netherlands.
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Saba journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 4.3 of your plan
Within five days: declaration at the Census Office
- Lead time
- the law gives five days from the start of your stay
- Costs
- free
The sharpest clock of the route: the law wants you to make your declaration of residence and address in person within five days of the start of your stay — with the whole family, children included — at the Census Office at Power Street 1 in The Bottom. Bring: passports, the IND declaration and the proof of deregistration from the Dutch BRP (phase 2); the Census Office names that proof of deregistration explicitly. Registration is free, and since November 2025 you automatically get a BSN with it — the islands are connected to the Dutch number system. Mind the opening hours: the counter is open in the morning and the afternoon, on Fridays only until eleven, and on an island with one counter "tomorrow" is sometimes "next week".
And this is the dashboard that step lives in, here with the plan for Spain.
This is step 4.3 of 35. The other 34 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
See all 35 steps for SabaFive mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Saba: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in Saba really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Calculate what your move to Saba costs
Answer a few short questions about your situation. You immediately get a range of what it costs. Free, no account needed.
That was the move. And once you live there?
Who may tax your pension once you live in Saba, is there a favourable regime, and how do you become insured? That depends on where your income comes from. Tick it and you see which rules apply to you — with the source.
See the financial conditionsClosing down the Netherlands: all your letters in one go
Moving to Saba starts with leaving the Netherlands tidily. That's why the plan includes the letter tool: you enter your details once and every cancellation and notification letter is ready.
- Health insurance, rent, energy, subscriptions, GP, school, bank, pension fund — 16 kinds of letters from details you enter once.
- A sending list that counts back from your departure date and your notice period, even when that's three months.
- What an emigrant has to ask for and an ordinary canceller doesn't: your no-claims years in English, your medical file, the school report.
The knowledge base on Saba
Per phase, the articles that are already there. They're written from the same journey and go deeper than what fits above.
- Orientation5 min
Working on Saba: free, without unemployment benefit, on an island where the government is the largest employer
With the declaration by operation of law you may work on Saba, and the minimum wage there is $ 10.66 an hour. But an unemployment benefit only exists from 2027 and then for at most three months, social assistance requires five years of residence, and a pension outside government is a point of negotiation. The honest story about working on an island of two thousand people, where the Public Entity itself employs some 180 people.
Updated 5 October 2026
- Closing the Netherlands5 min
AOW, AOV and tax on Saba: the full AOW travels with you, the BES rate taxes it, and the AOV has a Windward supplement
Whoever moves to Saba stops accruing AOW: for the SVB the Caribbean Kingdom counts as abroad. But the AOW you have built up travels with you at the full rate, Saba as your country of residence taxes it at 29.4% above a tax-free allowance of USD 21,956, and the Caribbean AOV that replaces it is $ 1,571 a month on Saba, with a supplement for the Windward Islands included. Two sharp edges: the preserving assessment under the non-EU regime and a voluntary insurance that must be applied for within a year.
Updated 5 October 2026
- The move5 min
Your car to Saba: twelve months of ownership, a stepped ABB and a weekly boat from Sint Maarten
The removal goods exemption also applies to the car on Saba, with the same strict requirement as on Bonaire: twelve months of ownership and use. Below that you pay not Bonaire's 25% but the Windward rate of 18%, 22% or 30% by customs value. The car does not come directly: it goes via Sint Maarten, on the weekly cargo boat to Fort Bay. After that Saba is cheap: $ 157 motor vehicle tax a year, diesel included.
Updated 5 October 2026
- The move5 min
Your dog or cat to Saba: 21 days after the jab, an examination within ten days, and Winair as the last leg
A dog or cat may enter Saba under the same BES rules as Bonaire: a health certificate and a rabies vaccination at least 21 days old, on an animal of at least fifteen weeks. The Public Entity Saba adds its own list: a chip before the jab, for dogs also distemper, a clinical examination at most ten days before departure, and no legalisation by the NVWA. The last leg is Winair's small aircraft, with 48 hours' notice and room for few animals.
Updated 5 October 2026
- The move5 min
Your household goods to Saba: the exemption in advance, 6% ABB without a permit, and everything via Sint Maarten
Removal goods enter the Caribbean Netherlands tax-free, on Saba too, but only with a Customs permit you apply for before shipping, with a signed list. Without the permit you pay 6% ABB on Saba over the value including freight, not 8% as on Bonaire. The container does not come directly: it goes to Sint Maarten and from there on Tuesday on the cargo boat to Fort Bay, where you clear it yourself on Wednesday morning.
Updated 5 October 2026
- Registratie op Saba5 min
Bank and payments on Saba: the dollar, one bank in Windwardside, and a euro transfer that costs money
On Saba the dollar is legal tender and your Dutch euro account works as a foreign account: a transfer in euros falls outside SEPA and the local bank charges per transaction. The island has one bank, a branch of the Windward Islands Bank in Windwardside, with ATMs in Windwardside and The Bottom. What you need: your registration, your ID card and the CRIB number; what you get: a deposit guarantee up to $ 25,000 per person per bank.
Updated 5 October 2026
21 more articles about Saba and about leaving the Netherlands
Registratie op Saba
- 5 min
Renting on Saba: twenty social homes, a rent committee in the making and your landlord's signature
On Saba you may rent freely as a Dutch citizen, but there is almost nothing to rent: the government counts about forty households on the waiting list and had twenty social homes built. The rent committee the law prescribes is still being set up on Saba. And the lease is more than an address: it is your proof of housing for the IND, and without the owner's signature you get no electricity connection.
Updated 5 October 2026
- 5 min
Your first weeks on Saba: the e-mail to the IND, the Census Office, the ID card and only then the rest
The chain after landing is the same on Saba as on Bonaire, but every counter is smaller and usually open in the morning: the IND appointment by e-mail, the declaration by operation of law, the registration at the Census Office with the whole family, the $ 14 ID card, and only then the health insurance, the CRIB number and the bank. Whoever carries the proof of deregistration and a birth certificate and knows the opening hours is settled in a few weeks; whoever arrives on a Friday waits until Monday.
Updated 5 October 2026
- 5 min
Moving to Saba: the same admission act, an island of two thousand people
Saba is a special municipality of the Netherlands, and yet an admission act applies that also covers Dutch citizens. The declaration by operation of law costs USD 171 and is requested by e-mail from the IND counter in The Bottom, which is open only four mornings a week. Then comes registration at the Census Office, the $ 14 ID card and the BSN.
Updated 5 October 2026
Arrival
- 5 min
Buying a house on Saba: 5% at purchase, 0.7% without surcharges, and a red roof is mandatory
Buying on Saba works as in all of the Caribbean Netherlands: through the notary, with 5% transfer tax and a registration at the Cadastre BES. After that the island is milder than Bonaire: Saba levies no surcharges on the property tax, so a second home pays 0.7% and the home you live in yourself nothing. Whoever builds deals with the Public Entity: a building permit of $ 500 or $ 1,000, sixteen weeks, and white walls with a red roof.
Updated 5 October 2026
- 4 min
Your driving licence on Saba: converting costs $ 140, the medical is valid two months, and the RDW route stays open
Unlike Bonaire, the Public Entity Saba does not treat a Dutch driving licence as equivalent to its own: whoever wants to convert a foreign licence goes through the procedure for a first licence, with a medical certificate no more than two months old, and pays $ 140 for the conversion plus $ 12 for the card. Whoever wants to keep the Dutch document renews it at the RDW from abroad for € 36.40, with a Dutch correspondence address.
Updated 5 October 2026
- 5 min
Children and school on Saba: English-language education, one primary school, one secondary school and $ 238 child benefit
The schools on Saba belong to the Dutch education system, but lessons are in English and the diploma comes from the Caribbean Examinations Council. There is one primary school, Sacred Heart in St. John's, and one secondary school, the Saba Comprehensive School, with CSEC and CAPE. Compulsory education runs from 4 to 16, child benefit on Saba is $ 238 a month and comes only on application, and childcare costs at most $ 75 a month in 2026. Further study means leaving.
Updated 5 October 2026
- 5 min
Healthcare on Saba: one clinic, specialists who fly in, and Sint Maarten as the first stop
On Saba you are insured as a resident by operation of law through ZJCN, without a premium bill and without an excess. The care itself is that of an island of two thousand people: Saba Cares in The Bottom with a GP, an emergency department and specialists who come over monthly. Everything beyond that goes as a medical referral abroad, and the route is fixed: first Sint Maarten, then Bonaire, Curaçao or Aruba, Colombia and only then the Netherlands, with flight and accommodation reimbursed.
Updated 5 October 2026
Leaving the Netherlands — for every destination
- 5 min
Keeping a bank account and DigiD: the two lines you never cut
After your deregistration you still need the Netherlands for years — for the M return, refunds and your pension. Within the EU your bank account is a right, towards Australia a favour from the bank. And your DigiD you arrange before departure, not after.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 5 min
The protective assessment: the bill that travels with you, and that never expires for one item
On emigration the Netherlands imposes an assessment on your pension, your annuity and your substantial shareholding that you don't have to pay — as long as you do nothing that makes it collectable. For pension and annuity it usually lapses after ten years. For a substantial shareholding it doesn't: that one remains valid indefinitely.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 6 min
Emigrating on a Dutch benefit: what comes with you and what stops, with Turkey as the example
A WIA, WAO or WAZ benefit comes with you to the EU and to a country the Netherlands has a treaty with; beyond that it stops. WW comes along for three months at most within Europe, Wajong and social assistance stop. Per benefit what you report, when, and what is left of it in Turkey.
Updated 5 October 2026
- 4 min
Emigrating with children after a divorce: the consent that comes before everything
With joint custody you can't just go abroad with the children — you need the consent of the other parent, or substitute consent from the court. What the court weighs, and why leaving without consent is legally child abduction.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 5 min
Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026
Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 4 min
The M form: the tax return for the year in which you emigrated
For the year of your departure you lived partly inside and partly outside the Netherlands, and a separate return goes with that. Nowadays it can be done online — but you have to think of it yourself, because an invitation rarely comes by itself.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 4 min
Your AOW accrual stops on departure — and you have one year to repair that
Every year outside the Netherlands costs you 2% AOW (the Dutch state pension), for life. The SVB has a voluntary continuation that closes that gap — but signing up is only possible in the first year after departure, and almost everyone misses that deadline.
Updated 25 September 2026
- 5 min
Your Dutch pension abroad: what travels with you, and who taxes it
The AOW travels in full to the EU and to Australia — the latter thanks to a 2001 treaty. Your company pension too, but where you pay tax on it depends on the tax treaty, and you arrange the exemption yourself.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 4 min
Cancelling your health insurance without a gap
Your Dutch basic insurance is tied to living or working in the Netherlands and stops being a given on emigration. The art is to have the end date match your new cover — and to know which route belongs to your situation.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 4 min
Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 5 min
Partner coming along without a job of their own: deregistering, healthcare, AOW and the house
Your partner has a job, a visa or a right of residence there; you go along without a job of your own. Administratively you are no passenger: the deregistration, the end of your health insurance and your AOW accrual apply to you separately. What you get back if you arrange it well, what it costs if you let it slide — and when "simply staying registered" is allowed.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 4 min
Stopping benefits on emigration: do it yourself, and in time
Rent benefit, healthcare benefit, childcare benefit and the child budget don't stop by themselves on the day you leave. Whoever lets them run receives a claw-back months later — this is what you arrange per benefit.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 5 min
Deregistering with the municipality: when exactly, and what stops then
Deregistering from the BRP is only possible from five days before departure, and is compulsory as soon as you're away for more than eight months a year. What stops at that moment, what stays, and which piece of paper you have to ask for right away.
Updated 26 September 2026
- 5 min
When does your pension stay taxed in the Netherlands? The three pots and the three conditions
"Your pension is taxed in your new country of residence" is right by approximation and not in the details. Your AOW, your company pension and your government pension each follow a rule of their own, and with the company pension the Netherlands can still levy if three conditions apply at once. This article explains which three, and which four questions you have to answer for your own situation.
Updated 26 September 2026
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