Closing on Condo this week.. Docs needed to stay for 180 days...

[Travelinman]

Dimas has not gotten back to my multiple emails and their website does not state what is needed to stay for 180 days as a homeowner. It just states:
"Do you want to stay longer in Aruba? This is possible when you own a house in Aruba, a timeshare apartment or a Yacht on Aruba (minimum 14 meters long). You can stay in Aruba for up to 180 days. You must have a private travel insurance in this case."

Can someone experienced with the process please help.. I am closing on my condo this Friday. I am staying for approximately a week after I close then returning the USA to pick up my <$220 worth of stuff. From what I can glean from various forums and websites some of the following may be true:

1) I need a return ticket and show it to immigration
a) If this is true, what if I want to change my ticket to an earlier or later date not exceeding 180 days
2) I need to show proof of property ownership to immigration
3) I need to show proof of medical insurance to immigration
4) I need to show sufficient funds to stay for a maximum of 180 days to immigration
5) The 180 days resets on January 1st

thanks!

[Andrea J.]

how about calling DIMAS?

a non homeowner (a renter) can stay for that long too.
I have friends there that stay Nov thru mid April in a rental at Terra Del Sol.

Dimas has not gotten back to my multiple emails and their website does not state what is needed to stay for 180 days as a homeowner. It just states:
"Do you want to stay longer in Aruba? This is possible when you own a house in Aruba, a timeshare apartment or a Yacht on Aruba (minimum 14 meters long). You can stay in Aruba for up to 180 days. You must have a private travel insurance in this case."

Can someone experienced with the process please help.. I am closing on my condo this Friday. I am staying for approximately a week after I close then returning the USA to pick up my <$220 worth of stuff. From what I can glean from various forums and websites some of the following may be true:

1) I need a return ticket and show it to immigration
a) If this is true, what if I want to change my ticket to an earlier or later date not exceeding 180 days
2) I need to show proof of property ownership to immigration
3) I need to show proof of medical insurance to immigration
4) I need to show sufficient funds to stay for a maximum of 180 days to immigration
5) The 180 days resets on January 1st

thanks!

[robin]

I have never been asked for any proof, but the longest we have stayed was 91 days. We will be staying about 110 days this coming trip. I don't know what they will ask or what we will have to show if anything. Try calling DIMAS or visiting when you are there for the week. I know that week of settlement is crazy-we spent it running all over the place when we bought the condo. As far as I know, you do need a return ticket, however; but you can change your dates. Get through settlement and then deal with it.

We are supposed to be there Dec. 12-the end of March. We can help you out once we are on the island.

[Traceyd14]

Jet Blue asked us to show return tickets before we boarded when we purchased one way tickets. I know of 2 other situations where people had to show return tickets. In one instance the person paid a higher price for a refundable or flexible ticket so they could move the return date. I cant help with the other questions, but I would say have a plan to show a return ticket at your depature airport.

[elephant_guy]

Dimas has not gotten back to my multiple emails and their website does not state what is needed to stay for 180 days as a homeowner. It just states:
"Do you want to stay longer in Aruba? This is possible when you own a house in Aruba, a timeshare apartment or a Yacht on Aruba (minimum 14 meters long). You can stay in Aruba for up to 180 days. You must have a private travel insurance in this case."

Can someone experienced with the process please help.. I am closing on my condo this Friday. I am staying for approximately a week after I close then returning the USA to pick up my <$220 worth of stuff. From what I can glean from various forums and websites some of the following may be true:

1) I need a return ticket and show it to immigration
a) If this is true, what if I want to change my ticket to an earlier or later date not exceeding 180 days
2) I need to show proof of property ownership to immigration
3) I need to show proof of medical insurance to immigration
4) I need to show sufficient funds to stay for a maximum of 180 days to immigration
5) The 180 days resets on January 1st

thanks!

Hi

1) As long as your return ticket isn't over 180 days you should have no problem. In my personal experience, I have never been asked to even produce a return ticket.
a) You can change your ticket with your airline to any alternative date you want. That's completely between you and them, Immigration in Aruba are only concerned that your entry is legal and that you do not stay longer than the time you have been granted to remain.

2) Yes. If you want the Immigration Officers at the airport to grant you a stay longer than the normal tourist holiday period 2 weeks/4 weeks etc you will need to prove you own property and show the necessary documents i.e. the property deeds to prove this. They will know how many days you are requesting to stay as this will be contained on your ED Entry Form.

3) As above showing them the Medical Policy document covering the full period of your stay.

4) Although I carry the paperwork, I have never EVER been asked to produce proof of funds for my extended stay and believe that this is because if you hold the deeds of a house on Aruba then you clearly have assets (if only in the house) which can be used to support yourself or can be claimed upon should you incur uninsured medical or civil costs.

5) As I understand it, the 180 day stay does NOT reset on 1st January. It's a rolling 180 days out of any 12 month period that you visit the island. Basically if you stayed for a complete 180 day period then you should not return for another 180 days. I say this because if it was a blanket 1st Jan reset, a person could arrive in Aruba in July stay till 31st Dec and then stay another 180 days from 1st Jan (totalling 360 days). That is not allowed as I understand the rules.

All DIMAS and other immigration information available suggests that everyone initially receives a maximum of up to 30 days permission which needs to then be renewed/extended at DIMAS in town, in reality if all your papers are in order the full period (under 180 days) can be approved at the airport by the Immigration Officers there. They sometimes take photocopies of your papers, deeds etc.. but this can save a lot of headaches.

I have had one occasion, where despite having all documents in correct order the Immigration Officer only gave us a 28 day stamp and stated that we would need to go to DIMAS in town to get the stay extended. This was not a pleasant experience and I would recommend that you politely outline that you have all the documents with you and relate to them that 'everyone else you know' gets approval for the complete stay at the airport.



I'm sure you will have zero problems and I hope you have a wonderful time during your lovely long extended stay on the island

Mick

[Travelinman]

I am grateful for all the responses here. After calling DIMAS 14 times throughout the day, I got a live person who said, "I don't know you need to call 523-7402" and when I asked what number is that, he stated, "that is the number you need to call who can help you" And of course, I called that number over 12x and no answer. I also emailed the Aruba Tourism Authority and their reply was this... "US citizens have 180 days per calendar year that they can stay in Aruba. If you are planning to travel recently you will be able to stay till the end of this year without encountering any issues. For the year 2021, another 180 per calendar year starts for you."

With the varying answers here, I am not sure what is factual or not. I ask because on Dec 31, 2020, I will be in Aruba for 75 days in 2020. If the timer truly resets on Jan1, then I am good until June 28. If the timer does not reset on Jan 1, and they actually look at a sliding window of the preceding 365 days (like a Schengen Visa 90/180 rule), then that's another story.

[robin]

I am grateful for all the responses here. After calling DIMAS 14 times throughout the day, I got a live person who said, "I don't know you need to call 523-7402" and when I asked what number is that, he stated, "that is the number you need to call who can help you" And of course, I called that number over 12x and no answer. I also emailed the Aruba Tourism Authority and their reply was this... "US citizens have 180 days per calendar year that they can stay in Aruba. If you are planning to travel recently you will be able to stay till the end of this year without encountering any issues. For the year 2021, another 180 per calendar year starts for you."

With the varying answers here, I am not sure what is factual or not. I ask because on Dec 31, 2020, I will be in Aruba for 75 days in 2020. If the timer truly resets on Jan1, then I am good until June 28. If the timer does not reset on Jan 1, and they actually look at a sliding window of the preceding 365 days (like a Schengen Visa 90/180 rule), then that's another story.

I seriously don't think they are going to come looking for you if you stay longer. When my son and his gf went to Aruba in August, they went through two different immigration lines. My son told the immigration person he was staying in the family condo and they said no problem for 90 days. His gf said she was staying with her boyfriend in the family condo and they said she could stay 30 days. They called DIMAS and without giving any names, they said it wasn't a problem. I don't think Aruba really keeps track of people not do they really know what they are doing.

[Travelinman]

Here is the story as it was explained to me. I looked up that phone number I was given and it went to IASA so I drove to IASA (Migracion Aruba). I spoke to the officer and he said there are 2 rules of the 180 day rule:

1) You are allowed to stay 180 days per calendar year.
2)You can not stay longer than 180 consecutive days even if you overlap from 2020 to 2021. ie - You can stay from October 1 to March 30 (180 days) and then you must leave the island for at least 24 hours. You can then return 24 hours later and stay for your remaining 90 days in CY 2021. You can not visit Aruba again until 2022.

[robin]

Here is the story as it was explained to me. I looked up that phone number I was given and it went to IASA so I drove to IASA (Migracion Aruba). I spoke to the officer and he said there are 2 rules of the 180 day rule:

1) You are allowed to stay 180 days per calendar year.
2)You can not stay longer than 180 consecutive days even if you overlap from 2020 to 2021. ie - You can stay from October 1 to March 30 (180 days) and then you must leave the island for at least 24 hours. You can then return 24 hours later and stay for your remaining 90 days in CY 2021. You can not visit Aruba again until 2022.

Glad you got answers even if they are confusing. Nothing is easy in Aruba.

[Travelinman]

Thanks Robin. I was going down the wrong path with DIMAS, hence the frustration. Once I figured out it wasn't DIMAS, but IASA who had the answers, it was no longer confusing.

For anyone that may be facing the same challenges, DIMAS is for working and living in Aruba as a resident, or interested in opening a business in Aruba.

IASA is for short stay non-resident as per their website: "Tourist stay, visa, stay extensions and related issues is handled by Immigration Department"