Temporary or Permanent Work Permit
Any foreigner who wants to exercise a profession/occupation must have a work permit to do so. The work permit will normally be granted only if there are no qualified persons locally available. In general, requests for work permits will only be taken into consideration if submitted through a local employer, who has to accept full responsibility for any possible expenses to be incurred by the government relative to its employees. For a trainee position or internship a special work permit is required.
The key for a successful and quick response to any request for a work permit is to submit all the required documents at the same time, completely and accurately filled out.
The application must contain the following information:
- Name, given names, birth date, place of birth and nationality of the employee;
- The job or profession to be engaged in;
- Name and address of the employer/enterprise, which must be provided with a stamp of the Wage Tax Division of the Inspectorate of Taxes;
- The address of the employee in Aruba;
- A birth certificate of the employee;
- Two passport photos;
- Certificate of good conduct "police record" from the country of origin or from the country where the applicant had his home address for the last ten years, not older than two months;
- Diplomas or certificates related to the job/profession and position to be occupied by the employee;
- A medical certificate not older than one month certifying that the employee is not suffering from any contagious disease, HIV, VDRL, TBC or mental illness (the HIV certificate is not compulsory for children under the age of ten, and for Dutch nationals);
- A proof of guarantee of the financial capabilities of the employer;
- Draft of the working agreement concluded or to be concluded between the employer and the employee, which should be in accordance with the Aruban labor laws;
- Copies of job vacancy posting, newspaper ads and recap of these results;
- A proof of payment of the required legal fee;
- A copy of the entry in the Commercial Register at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in case one is to set up a business of his own;
- A copy of the director's license from the Minister of Economic Affairs in case it concerns a person to be employed as a director of a company.
Before the permit is granted a deposit must be paid. The amount of this deposit varies from country to country.
