Shipping our household items to Aruba ~ Customs Tax~Permits ?

[Debbie & Tom]

Hello, I have a few questions regarding shipping personal household items from the UK to Aruba. We are buying a property on Aruba as a second home/rental. The shipping companies seem to require either a residents or working permit?, which we don't have or require to purchase the property. We would like to ship our furniture and household items from our rental house in the UK to the one on Aruba, I have read that this is exempt from customs tax but can take up to 28 days to clear? It is not clear wether we need any permits for customs, The internet research that we have done is confusing and very contradictory, has anyone else been through this process and could give me any more info please?

[Jacki]

Take a look through the "moving to Aruba" threads, I know there have been discussions before about container shipping. Also try using the search box on the upper right side of the page. Good luck finding the info you need

[Andrea J.]

And to add to Jacki's suggestion. You may want to message forum member Retagger or Billstellar who are also owners but not residents and ask their advice.

[SkiChris]

In principle, import duties are due on all imported goods into Aruba. The only real exception to this is if you are moving your primary residence to Aruba (so that exception doesn't apply to vacation homes or 2nd homes in Aruba). I purchased a house in 2012 and it was unfurnished so I shipped in 50-60% of the items & supplies by container (from the US). The other 40-50% I purchased locally in Aruba. You can feel free to send me a personal message with your email information and I will contact you directly to share some information.

[passion4travel]

Hi Debbie and Tom,

I am not sure if this feedback is too late for you...

We moved to Aruba in 2013, so here is our experience with bringing in goods to Aruba.

I know for a fact that Aruba customs will make you pay duties if you are NOT applying for your residency. The amount of duties really depend on the item. They tax you on the price of the item plus the shipping cost plus the insurance on the shipping. So it may not make sense for you to ship your items if you are not applying for residency since it may end up costing you a lot of money. It might be cheaper for you to buy your items in Aruba. It's best to contact the Aruba customs department or we have a contact with a logistics company that handled our move and they know EVERYTHING about bringing in goods to Aruba. They might be able to tell you the cost that you may have to pay to get your goods to Aruba. Then you can decide if it is worth it or not to ship your goods?