Hi BT, we(myself and Maria)are planning to move to bonaire.we have been looking at various sites with the aim to building a home.We have found a possible site and want to know how best to proceed.Any feedback from anyone with similar experience greatly appreciated. Anyone having moved from the UK? It would be great to hear from you.

Hello, I moved from the US but am an Irish Passport holder. Having EU status did not help me in any way. I still needed a work permit and to apply for residency. It was rather costly but not too much so. I now have a WONDERFUL man who will do my annual paperwork which will save me much time and stress.

I too built a home so give me a holler if I may help. We broke ground in Nov., the builders stopped for a month in Dec. and we moved in July 1.

Hi Graham.

I moved from the UK to Bonaire and it was pretty straightforward. You will need:

An offer of a contract of employment or proof of savings of around £15000 minimum.
Apostilled birth certificate and marriage certificate or proof of marital status.
A medical report that includes tests for hepatitis and HIV. This certificate must be no older than 12 weeks old on application.
A police report to prove that you have no criminal convictions, the same time scale applies.
A security bond which was £1500 per person. This is refundable if you leave the island. Make sure that you keep your original receipt.

As requirements change without warning, I would suggest that you use a local to do all of the leg work for you. I used Julie Mar who did that for me for a few hundred dollars.

Make sure that you have several copies of all of your documents as many offices will not copy for you.

Most of the real estate offices will be able to give you more up to date advice. I found www.sunbeltbonaire.com helpful.

If there are any questions that you think that I can help you with you are more than welcome to send me an email.

Hi thanks for the replies, just a couple of what seem like simple questions:
Are there restrictions on Building - Planning Permissions, Architects? In Ireland there are very strict regulations on what and where you can build..
Do you know, can you build or buy without residency or do you need residency first.
Once the land is purchased do you have to build within a certain time limit? Our plans is to build a home with guest house - for rental purposes. Are there any restrictions on this.

Graham, check out this web page, will answer many of your questions:

http://www.sunbeltbonaire.com/index.php?page=Real%20Estate%20basics

I highly recommend you talk with Anna at Remax and also Anja at Sunbelt. Feel free to tell them that Patrick and Susan from Sand Dollar sent you. Both are very professional and answered ALL our questions.

Patrick

Sorry, welcome to BT!