Overall7/10Easier visas than about 75% of cities
Good to know
Good to Know
- Don't assume Schengen or EU entry rules apply here — Curaçao has its own immigration framework separate from the Netherlands' Schengen membership, even though it's part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
- Complete the free Digital Immigration Card (DI Card) online before you fly — it's mandatory for every foreign visitor and airlines may check for the confirmation at check-in.
- The safest planning assumption for a long nomad stay is 90 days per entry with a 180-day-per-calendar-year total cap — if you're island-hopping in and out, track your cumulative days carefully.
- A tourist/visitor entry does not allow paid work of any kind, including remote work for a local entity — if you need a residence or work permit, that's a separate, employer-sponsored process.
- There's real disagreement online about whether there's a hard minimum income to qualify — some sources say there's none, others cite figures around $2,500/month or roughly €2,600/month, so it's worth confirming current requirements directly on the official @Home in Curaçao portal before applying.
- This permit does not lead to residency — after the maximum 1-year stay you must leave or apply for an entirely different (standard) residence/work permit if you want to stay longer or work for a local employer.
- You cannot work for or be employed by a locally registered Curaçao business on this permit — all income must come from outside the island.
Visa Free Entry
- Summary
- Curaçao is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands but is NOT part of the Schengen Area and runs its own Caribbean immigration system distinct from EU/Schengen rules. Most nomads from visa-exempt countries (EU/Schengen states, US, UK, Canada, Australia, and many others) can enter without a visa for tourism, but total stay is capped and a mandatory pre-arrival immigration card applies to everyone.
- Passport Rule
- Passport should be valid for at least six months beyond your planned departure date from Curaçao, per multiple government travel-advisory sources (e.g., Canada's official travel advisory).
- Who Qualifies
- Nationals of a broad list of countries — including all EU/Schengen states, the US, UK, Canada, and Australia — are visa-exempt for tourism/short business visits. Travelers from countries not on the exemption list (e.g., Cuba, Haiti) must obtain a Caribbean short-stay visa in advance from a Dutch embassy/consulate, which covers Curaçao, Aruba, Sint Maarten, and the Caribbean Netherlands as a region.
- No Work On Tourist Status
- Visitor/tourist entry does not permit paid work for a local resident or Curaçao-based legal entity. A separate work permit (employer-sponsored) is required to work legally on the island, and a residence permit is required to stay beyond 180 days in a year.
- Visa Required Nationalities Note
- Travelers whose nationality is not visa-exempt (this includes, for example, Cuban and Haitian nationals per third-party guides) must apply for a Caribbean short-stay visa before traveling, valid for Curaçao, Aruba, Sint Maarten, and the Caribbean Netherlands together.
Length Of Stay
- Detail
- The official Digital Immigration Card portal defines a visitor as someone staying at least 1 night and a maximum of 90 nights per visit, and states: "The total number of days a person can stay in Curaçao as a visitor cannot exceed 180 days per calendar year." Some third-party guides describe the general Caribbean-Netherlands rule as up to 90 days within a rolling 180-day period — treat 90 days per entry / 180 days per year as the safe planning baseline, and confirm your specific nationality's rule before booking a long stay.
- Cap Period
- calendar year
- Annual Cap Days
- 180
- Per Visit Max Days
- 90
Mandatory Process
- Cost
- Free
- Name
- Digital Immigration Card (DI Card)
- Required For
- All foreign visitors (residents of Curaçao are exempt)
- What You Need
- Valid passport details, contact/personal information; you receive a confirmation email/PDF that must be shown at airline check-in
- Official Portal
- https://dicardcuracao.com/portal
- When To Complete
- Online, up to 7 days before departure
Digital Nomad Visa And Tax
- Overview
- Curaçao's official remote-work permit is run through the government-linked @Home in Curaçao portal, created to bring in remote workers, investors, and 'hibernators' (seasonal snowbirds) after the pandemic tourism decline.
- Program Name
- @Home in Curaçao (Temporary Stay Permit for Remote Workers/Digital Nomads)
- Visa Ease Tier
- moderate
- Visa Ease Tier Rationale
- The application itself is simple, low-cost (~ANG 535/$299), fast (~2 weeks), and light on documentation with no confirmed hard income floor, but the program caps total stay at 12 months, offers no path to residency, and requires switching to a separate work/residence permit track for anyone wanting to stay or work locally longer-term.
Tax Notes
- Local Tax Status
- Multiple independent guides consistently report that holders of the @Home remote-worker permit do not owe Curaçao income tax on their foreign-earned income while on this permit.
- Tax Residency Trigger
- The permit itself is capped at a maximum of 12 months and is structured so participants are not treated as local tax residents during that period; there is no officially documented separate day-count tax-residency threshold specific to this visa found in available sourcing.
- Baseline Tourist Stay Note
- Dutch and American nationals can, in principle, enter as tourists and stay up to 6 months while continuing to work remotely without this permit, though other nationalities' visa-free tourist allowances are generally shorter.
Application Path
- Visa fee
- ANG 535
- Process
- The application is fully online through the official @Home in Curaçao portal, submitted in English, Dutch, or Spanish, and takes roughly two weeks to process.
- Restriction
- You must be able to demonstrate that all professional activities are conducted remotely for an employer, company, or clients based outside of Curaçao, and locally-registered employment is not permitted.
- Who Can Apply
- Remote employees under contract with a non-Curaçao employer, freelancers/self-employed with foreign clients, business owners incorporated outside Curaçao, and investors/hibernators.
Documents Required
- Copy of passport bio page (valid well beyond intended stay)
- Proof of remote work / foreign employment or client contracts
- Health insurance covering Curaçao
- Clean criminal background check certificate
- Proof of accommodation (lease or booking) in Curaçao
- Motivation letter
- Proof of application fee payment
Income Requirement
- Most Consistently Required Proof
- Proof of remote employment/self-employment (foreign employer contract, business ownership documents, or freelance client agreements) rather than a fixed payslip threshold.
- Note
- Sources disagree on whether there is a hard minimum income figure — this is a genuine discrepancy across sources, not a settled figure.
Reported Figures
- Some guides report no official minimum income requirement, only that you must show a 'livable income' from remote work.
- Other guides cite a minimum verifiable income of roughly $2,500 USD/month.
- At least one guide cites a figure of roughly €2,600/month.
Duration And Renewal
- Renewal
- Renewable once for a further 6 months, for a combined maximum of about 1 year total.
- Initial Stay
- 6 months
- Residency Path
- This is explicitly a temporary residence permit, not a path to residency — a remote worker will not become a resident after this year and must leave or apply for a different permit type (e.g. a standard temporary residence permit plus work permit) to stay longer or work locally.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this visas research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Curaçao
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.