Look inside
The plan for Aruba, from the inside
These are all 31 steps of the Aruba journey, exactly as they appear in your personal plan — with the lead time and the costs next to them. Not a brochure: this is the file that feeds the platform. Pick another country below if you're heading elsewhere.
For which country?
Every country has its own steps, its own order and its own clocks. Switch as often as you like.
- Steps
- 31
- Phases
- 5
- Official sources
- 55
- Only for your situation
- 8
Phase 1
6 steps
Orientation
The same passport, but a door of its own — and it's shut further than on the neighbouring island. Whoever treats Aruba like Curaçao is already at the wrong counter first time round. Whoever knows the staircase — five years on a permit, then by operation of law, free after ten years — knows exactly what they're starting.
- 1.1
Within the Kingdom, with a door of its own
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 1.2
Know your route: employment, business or private means
- Lead time
- an evening of research
- Costs
- none
3 official sources
- 1.3
Explore the island before you decide
- Lead time
- weeks, preferably with a stay outside the high season
- Costs
- an exploratory trip is a serious expense here
- 1.4
Get a picture of what it's going to cost
- Lead time
- 1-2 hours with the calculator
- Costs
- none
- 1.5
The family conversation
- Lead time
- weeks, not hours
- Costs
- none
1 official source
- 1.6
Choose your target date
- Lead time
- five minutes, below
- Costs
- none
Phase 2
10 steps
Winding up the Netherlands
For the Dutch authorities this is an ordinary emigration — but within the Kingdom the sharpest edges come off: your AOW goes with you in full, your certificates need no apostille, and the tax credit partly travels along. What you do close off yourself: healthcare, the clocks on your documents, and the driving licence proof almost nobody knows about.
- 2.1
Gather the documents — each with its own clock
- Lead time
- 2-4 weeks; the VOG and the certificates last
- Costs
- fees per document; RDW authenticity declaration on top
3 official sources
- 2.2
Arrange the healthcare transition
- Lead time
- 1-3 weeks
- Costs
- bridging cover for the first period
2 official sources
- 2.3
AOW, AOV and child benefit: the mildest safety net outside Europe
- Lead time
- an afternoon of research; decide on voluntary insurance
- Costs
- voluntary AOW insurance: premium via the SVB calculator
3 official sources
- 2.4
Know where you'll be paying tax
- Lead time
- one good conversation with a tax adviser
- Costs
- advisory hours — depending on your situation
3 official sources
- 2.5
Deregister and stop the allowances
- Lead time
- deregistering is possible from 5 days before departure
- Costs
- limited — cancellation costs per contract
2 official sources
- 2.6
DigiD, bank and your vote: the Kingdom rules are different here
- Lead time
- an afternoon
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.7
Partner comes along without a job of their own
- Lead time
- an evening together, then a few things to arrange
- Costs
- none — the consequences are in the article
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.8
Living partly in the Netherlands: the eight-month rule
- Lead time
- one decision, before you commit to anything else
- Costs
- none
4 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.9
The house in the Netherlands: sell, rent out or keep
- Lead time
- one conversation with the mortgage lender and one with a tax adviser
- Costs
- advisory hours; when renting out possibly an interest surcharge from the bank
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.10
Children staying in the Netherlands: DUO, healthcare and the house
- Lead time
- an evening, and after that one report a year
- Costs
- none
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
Phase 3
5 steps
The move
Aruba is a customs territory of its own — "within the Kingdom" means nothing at the border here. But whoever prepares the exemption well gets a lot back: the household contents pass free of import duties and of the 7% border tax, and even the car can come along — if the six-month requirement allows it.
- 3.1
Choose your form of moving: container, part load or buying there
- Lead time
- decision point
- Costs
- none — the consequences of your choice are in the calculator
- 3.2
The exemption: also from the tax at the border
- Lead time
- quotes 2-3 weeks; the crossing itself weeks
- Costs
- according to your moving choices; the exemption itself is free
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.3
Pet coming along: no titre test, but a chain
- Lead time
- start at least 6 weeks before departure
- Costs
- per animal — examination, certificate and air freight, see the cost indication
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.4
The car: the six-month requirement decides
- Lead time
- decision point — check your registration certificate today
- Costs
- if taking it along — freight and inspection; outside the exemption 32% plus 7%
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.5
The travel day: the ED card, the medicines and the first accommodation
- Lead time
- ED card possible from a week before departure
- Costs
- the flights; medical declaration for medicines is free
3 official sources
Phase 4
5 steps
Registration on Aruba
The chain is fixed: DIMAS permit → registration with Censo → cedula → AZV. Every link wants to see the previous one — and on the last there's a window of thirty days that's about real money.
- 4.1
The DIMAS application: ten weeks, so start it early
- Lead time
- published 10 weeks; legally 6 plus 4
- Costs
- with work Afl. 65 + 1,200; without work Afl. 65 + 100
2 official sources
- 4.2
Register with Censo
- Lead time
- processing can take three weeks
- Costs
- the registration itself is free; extract Afl. 5
1 official source
- 4.3
Get your cedula
- Lead time
- after the Censo processing; issued on the spot
- Costs
- Afl. 50 per person from age 12
1 official source
- 4.4
The AZV: register within thirty days
- Lead time
- online, within 30 days of your Censo registration
- Costs
- premium 10.5% via wages (employee 1.6%); milder for pensioners
2 official sources
- 4.5
Bank and money matters: florin pegged to the dollar
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks
- Costs
- none — account charges per bank
2 official sources
Phase 5
5 steps
Arrival
From sorted to island rhythm — with two things you have to do actively: convert your driving licence (the Dutch one is invalid here as soon as you're a resident) and learn to live with the clocks of your permit. The rest is getting used to an island that has its own pace.
- 5.1
Convert your driving licence — the Dutch one is invalid here
- Lead time
- appointment at the BER; no test
- Costs
- fees at the BER; you already have the RDW declaration
2 official sources
- 5.2
School: in Dutch, with an Aruban heart
- Lead time
- enrol per school; entry per semester
- Costs
- publicly funded education almost free; international thousands of dollars
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.3
Work and income the Aruban way
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 5.4
Live with the clocks of your status
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- renewal: Afl. 40 + 100 a year
2 official sources
- 5.5
Landed
- Lead time
- it's done
- Costs
- none
8 of these steps aren't always there. They appear only when your answers call them up — a pet, a car, children staying behind. That's the difference between a plan and a checklist in which you have to work out yourself what applies.
Look inside
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 Aruba journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 2.3 of your plan
AOW, AOV and child benefit: the mildest safety net outside Europe
- Lead time
- an afternoon of research; decide on voluntary insurance
- Costs
- voluntary AOW insurance: premium via the SVB calculator
Here Aruba is the mildest destination outside Europe. Your accrued AOW goes with you in full — including the single person's rate of 70% and the partner allowance, arranged by order in council, no treaty needed. But the accrual stops: the Caribbean part of the Kingdom counts as abroad, so every year costs 2% — the voluntary insurance (apply within one year of departure, at most ten years) closes that gap. Something starts to stand against it: as a resident you accrue Aruban AOV, also 2% a year, with a pension age of 65. And child benefit: export to Aruba is formally arranged, but it hangs on your Dutch insurance — whoever emigrates fully is no longer insured and in practice sees it stop. So don't count on it.
This is step 2.3 of 31. The other 30 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
And what you don't see here
This page shows the content. What a page can't show is the work the platform does for you afterwards:
- The clocks that start running the moment you begin, and a nudge at the moment something is asked of you — not earlier.
- Your documents in one place, with their expiry dates watched, so nothing lapses while you wait for something else.
- The ticking off, together with your partner on the same journey.
- The steps that drop out or appear based on your answers, so your plan holds only what really applies to you.
Ready to start on Aruba?
All 31 steps, set to your situation and with the deadlines watched. € 299 once, no subscription.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Aruba: 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 Aruba really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
Thirty-six journeys are fully ready — Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Canada, Panama, United States, Suriname, China, Dubai, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.