Travelling to the Caribbean Netherlands with a Dutch or United States passport?

• A valid passport for the duration of the trip. This means that the passport must also still be valid when leaving the island.
• A return ticket to your country of origin or a ticket for transit to another country.
• An address of accommodation, for instance the address of the hotel or apartment where you are staying.

If you hold a Dutch passport you are allowed to stay in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba for a maximum of 180 days during a 365-day  period. The day of arrival and departure are included in this term. This applies to stays in all three islands added together during that period. If you are going to work or do an internship during this period the free period of residence is not 180, but 90 days. If you are going to work or do an internship, you must apply to the IND for a Declaration of Admittance by Law (in Dutch: Verklaring van Rechtswege) if your stay exceeds 90 days. More information about this can be found on the page of the IND Caribbean Netherlands.

How do I know how long I can stay in the Caribbean Netherlands?

You can calculate the remaining free period of stay yourself. To do so, you first count how many days you have stayed in the Caribbean Netherlands during the past 365 days. Deduct the number of days from the 180-day period of free residence. Note: If during your stay you are doing an internship or work, do this calculation up to a maximum of 90 days in the last 365 days. With regard to the free term of stay, it does not matter how many days you work or do an internship in this period; the free period is always shortened to 90 days in the case of work or an internship.

Example 1: In the past 365 days you have stayed a total of 45 days as a tourist on Bonaire, Saba or St. Eustatius. You can then stay another 135 days on the islands, because 180 - 45 = 135.

Example 2: In the past 365 days you have stayed on Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius for 60 days, of which you have worked for 20 days. You can then stay another 30 days, because 90 - 60 = 30. Here it makes no difference exactly how many days you have worked within this period of time.

Example 3: In the past 365 days you have stayed on Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius for 100 days, of which you have worked for 20 days. You have exceeded your free period by 10 days, because 90 - 100 = -10. Here it makes no difference exactly how many days you did your internship in this period of time.

Exceptions

Some Dutch nationals qualify for an exemption to the rule on the maximum allowed length of stay. For more information about exemption rules, please visit the legal exemptions page.