Changing jobs on a Curaçao permit: what has to happen before you start with the new employer
A work-based residence permit is not a permit to work wherever you like: it is granted for working with the employer who applied for your work permit. You can change companies, but in a specific order, and skipping a step turns legal work into illegal work, for you and for whoever hires you.
Two permits, two offices
- The work permit (tewerkstellingsvergunning, TWV) is requested by the employer from the Ministry of Labour (SOAW), for you and for that position.
- The residence permit is requested by you from the Toelatingsorganisatie, and it rests on that TWV.
When you change employer, the previous employer's TWV is of no use: the new one has to obtain one in their own name.
The right order
- The new employer posts the vacancy with the Sentro pa Labor (vacaturemelding.soaw@gobiernu.cw) and waits at least 5 weeks, during which they must be able to show they looked for someone in Curaçao.
- They apply for the TWV and pay the fee: XCG 500 for up to 6 months or XCG 1,000 for 6 to 12 months, currently the only durations SOAW processes. The details, from the company's side, are on the employer's page.
- You ask the Toelatingsorganisatie for the change of employer (XCG 615), within 6 weeks of the change.
For the change you need: proof of payment, the signed original form, a passport copy, a copy of your current permit, a copy of the new TWV (or proof of its application and payment), a Chamber of Commerce extract for the new employer less than 6 months old, a copy of their labour register, the original employer's declaration and guarantee declaration with an XCG 10 stamp each, your CRIB number and, if the employer is a private person or a sole proprietorship, a tax statement showing income of at least XCG 36,000.
Do not start working for the new employer before they have the TWV. Without it the work is illegal: the fine goes to the company (what happens to the employer) and for you it is a risk at your next renewal.
Before you resign: is the new job allowed?
Since 20 June 2025 a moratorium blocks TWVs for certain occupations. If the new position is on that list, the new employer will not get the permit, however good the offer. Check which professions can apply before leaving the job you have.
If you are dismissed or your contract ends
The permit is not cancelled automatically on the day you are dismissed, but the purpose it was granted for is no longer met. You have to report it immediately, and you have 6 weeks to request the change of permit (HIG 2006, section 3.1.3); from there you have three ways forward: a new employer who obtains a TWV (the process above), a change of purpose if you meet another one, or preparing to leave. The worst option is staying silent: in a Sint Maarten case, not reporting a change (a divorce) led the court to treat the permit as revoked from that date, together with all the years that followed (ECLI:NL:OGHACMB:2023:206).
Changing purpose
- From student to worker: it is a change with the same documents as a change of employer, plus a copy of your diploma. Do not work until it is approved: on a study permit, working gets the permit revoked.
- From a permit that says you may not work to a work-based one: also a change, with those same documents.
- From worker to rentier or pensioner: you stop working and request the change within 6 weeks (XCG 615). See the rentier and pensioner pages.
And after 5 years?
The 2006 policy said that after 5 consecutive years working with a TWV, with no gaps between permits, you could move to a work permit no longer tied to a specific employer. That section (3.3.1) was repealed in 2019, and the policy in force since 1 April 2026 keeps it repealed: no published rule says so today, so assume that every change of company goes through this process. What still counts are the years without gaps: after 10 years of uninterrupted legal residence you can apply for indefinite residence (see how to renew without gaps).
Sources: the Toelatingsorganisatie's official page for employees (extension and change requirements, 2026), information from SOAW's Vergunningenloket on the TWV, the HIG 2006 admission policy (section 3.1.3; section 3.3.1 was repealed in 2019), the Toelatingsorganisatie policy in force since 1 April 2026 and the ruling cited. Reviewed on September 21, 2026.