What happens to a company that hires without a work permit in Curaçao (LAV, articles 19 and 20)
Legal review: pending This page summarises court rulings and has not yet been reviewed by a lawyer. It is not legal advice. What this means
The law puts the obligation on the company
The Landsverordening arbeid vreemdelingen (LAV, the 2001 ordinance) prohibits in its article 2 an employer from having a foreign national work without a work permit (tewerkstellingsvergunning, TWV). The subject of the prohibition is the employer. The courts apply it that way: when the Ministry tried to refuse a worker's renewal because she had worked without a permit, the Joint Court said the work-permit rules bind the employer (ECLI:NL:OGHACMB:2022:157 · Sint Maarten and ECLI:NL:OGHACMB:2022:158 · Sint Maarten; the Ministry appealed and lost). Mind the nuance, because it was a Sint Maarten case: her residence permit did say she could not work, but the Ministry itself withdrew that condition on appeal, and the court added that a warning in the permit is enough for working without a work permit to count against the worker. In Curaçao, if the person bringing you over is a foreign national, the 2006 policy grants the family permit on condition that you do not work (HIG 2006, 4.2 and 4.4), and not meeting a condition of the permit is a ground for withdrawing it (LTU, Art. 14, letter f).
The penalties (article 19)
- Up to 3 months' detention or a fine of up to 100,000 guilders (now XCG) per infraction. It is classified as an infraction (overtreding), not a crime, but it accumulates per worker and per act.
- Compare with the cost of doing it right: the TWV costs XCG 500 (up to 6 months) or XCG 1,000 (6 to 12 months). The maximum fine equals 100 annual permits.
The 6-month presumption (article 20)
If it is established that an employer had a foreign national work in breach of article 2, the law presumes that the person worked at least 6 months, at the wage and hours customary in the sector. In other words: the worker can claim half a year's wages even if they worked less, and the burden of proving otherwise falls on the company. The labour judge decides on those wages, not on the worker's residence, which without a permit remains at risk before any authority (we explain this in informal work).
Other, less visible costs
- The later TWV gets harder. If the company already hired informally before applying, that history can weigh when SOAW assesses the application.
- The Guarantee Declaration the company signs for the worker's residence makes it liable for repatriation, government-paid hospitalization and up to XCG 200 per day of immigration detention, and does not end by withdrawing it: it lasts until the worker leaves the country.
- No work permit, no residence. A refused work permit automatically refuses the worker's residence (
ECLI:NL:OGHACMB:2021:279· Bonaire); the company loses the candidate it already trained. - For the worker, working without a permit is an immigration infraction that can complicate any future regularization.
How to do it right, in five lines
- Register the vacancy at Centrum voor Arbeid at least 5 weeks in advance.
- Check the position is not among the 6 occupations of the current moratorium.
- Pay the fee and submit the complete file at the Vergunningenloket (TWV page).
- With the TWV approved, the worker applies for residence, waiting abroad if it is a first application.
- Pay at least the minimum wage (XCG 11.93 per hour in 2026) and declare real hours.
The full guide for companies develops each step with the official forms.
Sources: Landsverordening arbeid vreemdelingen (articles 2, 19 and 20, Curaçao's consolidated text, P.B. 2025, no. 105); TWV page at loketdigital.gobiernu.cw; HIG 2006 section 3.8 (guarantors); rulings cited, in Jurisprudencia (Spanish). Not legal advice.
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