Look inside
The plan for Bonaire, from the inside
These are all 32 steps of the Bonaire 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
- 32
- Phases
- 5
- Official sources
- 53
- Only for your situation
- 7
Phase 1
5 steps
Orientation
Bonaire is the Netherlands — and precisely because of that everyone misses the rules: the admission law also applies to Dutch citizens, your healthcare, AOW and allowances do stop, and the social safety net you're used to doesn't exist there. This phase corrects the mistake before it costs money.
- 1.1
Understand the system: the Netherlands, but not the Netherlands you know
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 1.2
Look the safety net in the eye before you decide anything
- Lead time
- an evening, and the honest conversation about it
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 1.3
Get a picture of what it's going to cost
- Lead time
- 1-2 hours with the calculator
- Costs
- none
- 1.4
Take the decision together
- Lead time
- no fixed one; take your time
- Costs
- none
- 1.6
Choose your target date
- Lead time
- five minutes, below
- Costs
- none
Phase 2
11 steps
Winding up the Netherlands
Here the mistake bites hardest: because Bonaire is "the Netherlands", nobody expects anything to stop — but the health insurance, the AOW accrual and all the allowances do end, and the protective assessment falls under the stricter non-EU regime. Two windfalls stand against that: your AOW goes with you at the full rate, and Bonaire may tax it as your country of residence — at the milder BES rate.
- 2.1
Arrange your healthcare: cancel with proof, and insure the transition
- Lead time
- cancel as of the emigration date; arrange bridging cover in advance
- Costs
- the bridging insurance
1 official source
- 2.2
AOW and pension: the accrual stops, the benefit travels well
- Lead time
- an afternoon of research, and one conversation with a tax adviser
- Costs
- the tax adviser conversation
2 official sources
- 2.3
The protective assessment: the strict regime applies here
- Lead time
- prepare now; the assessment comes after the emigration year
- Costs
- none; possibly the costs of providing security
2 official sources
- 2.4
Stopping allowances: all of them, and yourself
- Lead time
- an hour, online
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.5
Deregister — and take the proof with you
- Lead time
- possible from 5 days before departure, up to and including the day of departure
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.6
DigiD, Berichtenbox and the bank: arrange it now
- Lead time
- an afternoon
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 2.7
Documents: recent certificates, no apostille
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks for requesting extracts
- Costs
- fees per extract
2 official sources
- 2.8
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
- 2.9
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
- 2.10
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
- 2.11
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
3 steps
The move
The crossing is the big expense, and customs wants its papers in advance: the exemption permit for the household contents, the twelve-month sum for the car, and for the dog a vaccination clock of three weeks. Whoever plans this in parallel with phase 2 doesn't lose a month.
- 3.1
The container: apply for the exemption before shipping
- Lead time
- quotes 4-6 weeks ahead; sailing 3-8 weeks
- Costs
- see the cost indication
1 official source
- 3.2
The car: the twelve-month sum
- Lead time
- the sum an evening; shipping along with the planning
- Costs
- see the cost indication
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.3
The pet: three weeks' clock, no titre test
- Lead time
- vet visit and NVWA legalisation, 3-4 weeks in advance
- Costs
- see the cost indication
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
Phase 4
6 steps
Registration on Bonaire
The chain is strict in order and in pace: home → IND declaration → register within five days with the whole family → sédula → health insurance → bank. The declaration takes two months on average; the registration clock after it counts five days. Plan nothing through it.
- 4.1
Find your home: scarce, in dollars
- Lead time
- count on weeks to months; start before departure
- Costs
- deposit and first month, see the cost indication
1 official source
- 4.2
The declaration of admission by operation of law
- Lead time
- the IND aims for 2 months; legally at most 6
- Costs
- USD 171 per application
2 official sources
- 4.3
Within five days: register at Burgerzaken
- Lead time
- the clock is five days after the IND approval
- Costs
- free
2 official sources
- 4.4
The sédula: your identity card, carried from the age of twelve
- Lead time
- application after registration; ± 2 weeks' delivery time
- Costs
- USD 8.40 per adult, USD 5.60 per child
1 official source
- 4.5
Register with the health insurance — which otherwise runs by itself
- Lead time
- a counter visit as soon as the sédula or declaration is there
- Costs
- no premium bill; funding runs via wage tax
1 official source
- 4.6
Bank account: the dollar household in order
- Lead time
- 1-2 weeks as soon as the sédula is there
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
Phase 5
7 steps
Arrival
You exist — now the systems run, and almost nothing happens by itself: you have to apply for the child benefit, tax works via a portal of its own, and the car wants clearing within the permit period. After that the island is yours — with one hospital, one secondary school and electricity at fifty cents per kilowatt-hour.
- 5.1
Clear the container and the car
- Lead time
- clearance days to 2 weeks after the ship's arrival
- Costs
- see the cost indication
2 official sources
- 5.2
Work: check your contract for what's not in it
- Lead time
- reading step at the first contract
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 5.3
Healthcare in practice: the island has limits, the package has wings
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- see the text
2 official sources
- 5.4
Family: apply for what doesn't come by itself
- Lead time
- applying for child benefit an evening; school straight away
- Costs
- childcare at most $ 100 per child per month
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.5
Tax: the system of its own, via the portal of its own
- Lead time
- reading step; the return runs via MijnCN
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 5.6
The dollar household: electricity, water and the exchange
- Lead time
- arrange contracts in the first week
- Costs
- see the text
1 official source
- 5.7
Driving licence and the last threads with the Netherlands
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
7 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 Bonaire 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: register at Burgerzaken
- Lead time
- the clock is five days after the IND approval
- Costs
- free
The sharpest clock of the route: within five days of the IND approval you make an appointment and appear — with the whole family, in person — at Burgerzaken on the Kaya Neerlandia. Bring: passports, the IND declaration and the proof of deregistration from the Dutch BRP (phase 2). Registration in the basic administration is free, and since November 2025 you automatically get a BSN with it — the islands are connected to the Dutch number system, though the old ID number continues to exist alongside the BSN for the time being. Note: the counter is closed on Fridays.
What this step rests on
This is step 4.3 of 32. The other 31 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 Bonaire?
All 32 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 Bonaire: 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 Bonaire 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.