Curaçao Visa and Entry Requirements

Who sets these rules.

Curaçao is a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the Government of the Netherlands states the arrangement plainly: each country within the Kingdom has its own government. Entry is one of the things that country decides for itself. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office puts it the same way, that the authorities in Curaçao set and enforce entry rules.

That matters for two reasons. A Dutch or European Union rule does not automatically apply here, and the island's immigration service is the body that answers a hard case. This page reports what the FCDO publishes, which is what a British traveler is told, and says where a figure could not be read from an official source.

The ninety days are an annual allowance.

The published rule is that you can stay in Curaçao for up to 90 days in a calendar year without a visa. The phrase to notice is in a calendar year. Several islands in this region grant a period per arrival; this one grants an allowance across twelve months, and two separate trips draw on the same total.

There is an extension, and it has a condition attached. You can request an extension beyond 90 days at immigration if you can show you have travel insurance for the duration of your extended stay. So the extension is asked for in person, at immigration, and the proof is an insurance document rather than a fee receipt.

The passport rule is shorter than the regional habit.

Your passport must be valid for the duration of your stay. That is the whole rule. It is not six months beyond arrival and it is not three; a passport that outlives your return flight satisfies it.

Two refusals are stated separately and neither is about dates. You will be denied entry if you do not have a valid travel document or try to use a passport that has been reported lost or stolen. If a passport has ever been reported lost and then found, travel on the replacement.

The digital immigration card, and the trap inside it.

You must complete a digital immigration card 48 hours before you arrive in Curaçao. The trap is the next sentence: it must also be completed by anyone traveling through Curaçao. A connection counts. Someone changing planes and never leaving the airport is inside the rule, which is exactly the person most likely not to have read it.

Yellow fever is a certificate rule, not a health warning about this island.

To enter, you must have a certificate to prove you've had a yellow fever vaccination if you're coming from a country listed as a transmission risk. TravelHealthPro, writing about the Dutch Caribbean islands as a group, is explicit that there is no risk of yellow fever on these islands, however, there are certificate requirements.

The detail is worth reading twice. For Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, proof is required from travellers aged 9 months or over arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission and for travellers having transited for more than 12 hours through an airport of a country with risk of yellow fever transmission. That transit clause catches long layovers, and it is the part most travelers do not know about.

Customs, briefly.

There are strict rules about goods you can take into or out of Curaçao, and anything that may be prohibited or subject to tax or duty must be declared. This page gives no cash threshold, because the FCDO's Curaçao pages publish none and no figure should be invented to complete a set.

If any of this bears on how you want a trip arranged, tell us what you need and we will work to the rules as they are published.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Curaçao travel advice, entry requirements: that the authorities in Curaçao set and enforce entry rules; that a passport must be valid for the duration of the stay; that a traveler will be denied entry without a valid travel document or with a passport reported lost or stolen; that a digital immigration card must be completed 48 hours before arrival and must also be completed by anyone traveling through Curaçao; that a visitor may stay for up to 90 days in a calendar year without a visa and may request an extension beyond 90 days at immigration on showing travel insurance for the duration of the extended stay; that a certificate proving yellow fever vaccination is required to enter from a country listed as a transmission risk; and that there are strict rules about goods taken into or out of the country and anything prohibited or subject to tax or duty must be declared. Accessed 21 September 2026.
• TravelHealthPro, the National Travel Health Network and Centre: the Caribbean Islands (Netherlands) country page, which covers the Dutch Caribbean islands as a group: that there is no risk of yellow fever on these islands but there are certificate requirements; that for Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao proof of vaccination against yellow fever is required under International Health Regulations from travelers aged 9 months or over arriving from countries with risk of yellow fever transmission and for travelers having transited for more than 12 hours through an airport of a country with risk of transmission; that there is a risk of dengue on these islands and that travelers should avoid mosquito bites particularly during daytime hours; that the Zika virus statement is given for Aruba, Bonaire and Sint Maarten; and that rabies has not been reported in this country. Accessed 21 September 2026.
• Government of the Netherlands: the governance of Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten: that each country within the Kingdom has its own government; that Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten each have their own Governor who represents the King in their respective governments; that the Governor is appointed by the King for six years, after which he or she may be reappointed for one more term, so that a Governor can serve for a maximum of 12 years; that the Governor has no ministerial responsibility and does not participate in the day-to-day business of government; and that Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten each have a Minister Plenipotentiary in The Hague who, together with the ministers of the Dutch government, make up the Council of Ministers for the Kingdom. Accessed 21 September 2026.