Retiring in Aruba as a French National: Stay, Pension, Taxes and Care

Aruba is an autonomous country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry) reminds readers that a passport is compulsory there and that the island is not part of the Schengen area. The Aruba Tourism Authority states that European Union citizens do not need a visa for a tourist stay, standard at 30 days and extendable up to 180 days per calendar year. To settle long term, a residence permit issued by the DIMAS department is needed, which applies the national ordinance on admission and expulsion.

DIMAS publishes a page dedicated to retiree and annuitant status (retiree / interest rate earner). The minimum age, the income level required, the length of the permit and the documents to provide are not reproduced here, because they change with the service’s updates: they should be requested from DIMAS (Paardenbaaistraat 11, Oranjestad; (297) 522-1500; info@dimasaruba.aw). A retiree permit does not replace a work permit: for any paid activity, the Government of Aruba requires a positive opinion from the labour department then a permit issued by DIMAS.

For other projects, DIMAS also publishes pages on family reunification, life as a couple and stays of indefinite duration. The documents usually requested for a first application, according to the paid employment permit list, include a passport valid for at least three months, a certificate of good conduct legalised or apostilled and less than six months old and, once the permit is granted, a legalised birth certificate less than six months old for registration with the civil registry. A medical examination (75 florins for the consultation, excluding further tests) follows provisional admission.

L’Assurance retraite (the French pension insurance body) explains that the pension can be paid abroad, into a French bank account or one opened abroad, the charges depending on the bank. The departure is reported by post to the regional fund, with the new address and any change of bank details. A certificate of life is sent each year: it must be completed by a competent authority and sent back on time to avoid any suspension of payment, through the personal area or by post to the Centre de traitement retraite à l’étranger in Tours.

Two solidarity allowances, the Aspa and the ASI, are not paid to anyone living outside France; they can be reclaimed on return. For a tax domicile outside France, CSG, CRDS and Casa are not deducted from the pension. A health insurance contribution of 3.20% may nonetheless be if the retiree falls under a compulsory French scheme, or if they are a foreign national with at least 15 years of old-age insurance in France. See the guide receiving your pension abroad.

No tax treaty between France and Aruba appears in the French administration’s list of treaties. The France-Netherlands treaty of 16 March 1973 defines the Netherlands as the part of the Kingdom located in Europe and can be extended to other territories only by exchange of notes; Aruba is not covered by it. Only a tax information exchange agreement, signed in The Hague on 14 November 2011 as regards Aruba, has been published in France: it organises assistance between administrations and does not allocate taxing rights.

For a French-source pension paid to a non-resident, the tax administration describes a withholding tax with a 10% allowance, then a three-rate scale (0%, 12% and 20%) whose thresholds are revised each year (pensions declared in boxes 1AL and following of return 2042). The 0% and 12% brackets are final, the 20% withholding being creditable against the tax. As the administration’s page does not detail effects country by country, the application of these rules to a resident of Aruba, with no treaty, should be confirmed with the non-resident tax office.

On the Aruban side, income tax applies an exempt amount of 30,000 florins then brackets of 0%, 21%, 42% and 52% in the published scale. The pages consulted give no precise rule on the taxation of a foreign pension received by a resident: it should be requested from the tax department (DIMP) before settling.

The S1 form and the European Health Insurance Card concern the European Union, the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. France Diplomatie specifies that the EHIC does not cover the Dutch overseas territories, including Aruba. The Assurance Maladie (French national health insurance) states that, outside an agreement, the retiree’s health costs are no longer covered by the French Assurance Maladie. Three routes exist:

• The AZV: anyone registered as a resident with the civil registry is insured. The premium is 11.5% of annual income for employees, of which 2.6% is paid by them, up to 85,000 florins; the calculation for a retiree with no salary should be requested from the AZV. It covers neither glasses, nor adult dental care, nor the higher hospitalisation class, nor care abroad during holidays.
• The CFE: a retiree offer is reserved for holders of a pension from the French basic scheme with no professional activity, with no medical questionnaire, whatever the age. It covers care abroad; care in France falls under the basic scheme. Cover is immediate if joining takes place before departure or within three months of settling; beyond that, a three-month waiting period for those under 44, six months for those over 45. The rate depends on the country, the age bracket and the family situation, via the CFE simulator. See the CFE guide.
• Private insurance with repatriation, useful for access to the hospital, which asks for a deposit before admission and a letter of guarantee from the insurer. See retirement insurance abroad.

For stays in France, the Assurance Maladie states that a retiree of the general scheme can join the Cnarefe: cover requires having contributed for at least 15 years since 1 July 2019; as a CFE member and general scheme pensioner, they send their requests to the CPAM of Seine-et-Marne. The spouse is covered only if a bilateral agreement provides for it: otherwise they must join the CFE or take out private insurance. Details: guide health insurance for retirees abroad and page healthcare reimbursement in Aruba.

Aruba runs a local old-age pension scheme (AOV) through the Social Insurance Bank (SVb, based in Eagle). The Government states that the right opens at retirement age, set at 65 since 1 January 2024 after a rise of six months a year from 60.5 on 1 January 2015. The amount depends on family situation and on the period during which the person is registered in the population register; the page gives neither a minimum residence period nor a required insurance period. A French retiree who settles late should therefore not count on this scheme without having checked their rights with the SVb.

Deferral of the local pension is possible up to five times, one year each time, each year of deferral increasing the amount by 7%. It is requested in writing one month before the due date, and it is advisable to go to the SVb four months before retirement age. The monthly amounts published by the Government vary from one page to another and are indexed: the SVb provides the scale in force. Private-sector employees also acquire, since 1 January 2012, an entitlement to a compulsory occupational pension.

Aruba’s Central Bureau of Statistics publishes the consumer price index each month. Indicators of growth, inflation and exchange rates appear in the “Economic indicators” block above; no official source consulted gives a typical retiree budget or rents by district. The minimum hourly wage, set by the Government and revised periodically, gives a benchmark for the cost of home services.

For choosing where to live, the official benchmarks concern access to services: Oranjestad, the capital, concentrates DIMAS, the AZV and the Dr Horacio E. Oduber Hospital; Eagle hosts the SVb; San Nicolas has the Instituto Medico San Nicolas. The climate is hot and semi-arid, with a dry season from about February to June, a rainy season from September to January and a position on the southern fringe of the hurricane belt (Aruba Meteorological Service). See the page living in Aruba.

According to service-public.gouv.fr, for a retiree returning from a country without an agreement, the situation depends on the social security agreement between France and that country; if it opens no rights in France and they meet the stable residence conditions, they can request universal health protection (Puma). A former CFE member can receive its benefits during the three months following their return, under conditions, and form S1106 is submitted to the CPAM. See the guide reducing the waiting period and the page return to France. The Aspa and the ASI, suspended during the stay, can be reclaimed at that point.