Hi,
I will be moving to Bonaire early 2007 - have been offered a job there for 1 year. My boyfriend is planning to come with me. How does he get a residency permit? What does he need? Would it be easier if we were married (I will be getting a work permit)?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Flo

If your boyfriend is going to stay here more than 90 days without leaving, then he will need a residency permit. Is he planning on working here also?

Sunbelt has a lot of good information on their site:
http://www.sunbelt.an/bon_licenses.htm

Two of the "big" things he will need will be:
An apostillized copy of his birth certificate.
An apostillized copy of his martial status.

The apostillized stuff is fun to get, I suggest starting the process ahead of time. Note: only the secretary of state can do the apostillizing, at least in most states.

Hi Florence.

As you are not married, I assume that he will have to get a permit in his own right. As a married couple, one partner can get island status by being "supported" by the other. The difference being that he would have to have confirmed employment or a minimum amount in the bank.

In the main, the requirements are as follows:
* Birth Certificate with Apostile stamp
* Legal documentation of marital status
* A contract of employment or a minimum savings of around $28000.
* A report of good conduct from the Police (no older than 3 months from application)
* Health report including HIV and Hepatitis (no older than three months)
* There is also a "security bond" that has to be paid. This is supposedly to pay for your deportation should you be thrown off the island for any reason. I believe that it varies from country to country. For UK citizen it is around $3000 per person. Allegedly, you can get it back if you leave Bonaire permanently or after you have been a resident for five years.

Copy everything several times as everyone wants one. It is wise to employ the services of a local to get you through the process. There is someone called Juliemar who performs this service at a reasonable price.

The whole process takes 6 to 12 weeks on average.

Good luck!

Antony,

I'm fairly certain that the "* Legal documentation of marital status" has to have the apostile stamp as well.

Note: If you are single, you may wonder where can I get proof that I am not married? Versus getting a copy of the marriage license. I found that going to my local county clerks office and getting them to print out a records search stating that there was, No record of a marriage license in my name; was sufficient. Then I sent THAT letter off to the Secretary of State's office to get the Apostille stamp. (The secretary of state will apostillize official documents from county clerks offices)

A few more things I noticed were incorrect with the above information:

1. The Health report (with hiv and hepatitis B test)can be no older than 1 month (not 3 months)

2. The police good conduct can not be older than 2 months (not 3 months)

3. The birth certificate with Apostille has to be less than a year old. Meaning, you will probably need to get your birth certificate reissued.

4. For U.S. citizens the bond you must post is ANG 1000.

5. A copy of your bank statement with a balance of US $20,500

I just went through this process recently, so I'm fairly certain the info above is still correct.

Tim

I am sure that you are right. As I mentioned, it does seem to differ for different nationalitys, the information that I gave was based on a UK citizen.

I was a little peeved that we had to pay ANG 300O each compared with your 1000! Such is life.

The health report can be done on the island so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

The difference in the amounts translates into a one way plane ticket to remove you from the island to the nearest home port of your country of origin. I wonder what the family from iceland had to put up for a deposit??

Hi everyone!!
First of all, thank you so much for this website. It is great and really helpful.My enquiry is: how long do I need to be off the island while my work permit is being processed? How do I find out? I am from Spain so I´ll be moving to Aruba for the process since a ticket to my homeland is really expensive. I would really appreciate your answers.Thanks.
Eloíde

I do know it vaires...You may have a better answer from your prosepective employer and his past experiences...

Hola!.Yo he escuchado que eso tarda más o menos un mes,pero no estoy seguro.

En esta p᧩na web:www.infobonaire.com dice que el tiempo de duraci󮠰ara obtener el permiso de trabajo es de dos a tres meses,sin embargo yo creo que el empleador puede hacer algo para apurar ese proceso.De todas maneras si quiere consultar la p᧩na entre a donde dice DEZA.

Taxes Does anyone know anything about Pub. 514 or Form 1116?? I cannot seem to make it work. This of course pertaines to U.S. citizens. Thanks in advance for any help Robert
carolinamudwalker@hotmail.com

Hello, Just fyi, the government announced new procedures and rules for any foreigners arriving to live and work; these rules went into effect on September 1, 2006. I suggest you contact DEZA (The Department of Labor & Economic Affairs (www.bonaireeconomy.org) for more details, as the changes may affect you.

Two things:

First, does anyone know if there is a requirement to be on the island within a certain time after getting your residence (non-working) permit? We have almost all the paperwork ready but don't have a definite date to move yet. In other words, can you apply, get the permit and then move 6 months later?

Second, just an update to Tim's post:

The Sunbelt site has been updated. They now have a digital brochure they can send out if you request it and some excerpts on their site here:

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

Is the report of good conduct from the police needed from your current place of residence or from the Bonaire police?

Good conduct report is from your current residence.

And, there used to be a requirement that it cover your last five years (in other words, if you haven't lived in your current location for at last five years, then you need one from each location that covered the last five years), but I have no idea if this is still in place. Best to check if that's still a requirement if you haven't been in your current location for that amount of time.