Every air traveler to Aruba has to complete one piece of digital paperwork before flying: the Embarkation and Disembarkation Card, which everyone just calls the ED card. It takes a few minutes, it is done entirely online, and for most visitors the only money involved is Aruba's $20 sustainability fee, which the same form collects on the government's behalf. That is the whole process.
One thing is worth knowing before you start. Third-party services offer to fill the form in for you and charge for that help, and Aruba's own tourism authority says so plainly: some services or companies may charge a fee to assist you with filling in the form, the decision to use them is entirely yours, and the form can easily be completed independently within a few minutes. So here is the complete picture instead of a warning: what the ED card is, the one official website, the fee and its exemptions, the timing window, and what you actually pay.
If you are still in the early planning stage, our Aruba travel guide covers the whole trip. This post covers the one form standing between you and the beach.
Everything below was checked on September 12, 2026 against three primary sources: the official portal at edcardaruba.aw, the tourism authority's page at aruba.com/us/plan-your-visit/getting-to-aruba/online-ed-card, and the sustainability-fee FAQ run by AWSS at awss.aw/faq. Where those sources word something differently, we show you the difference rather than picking one.
What the ED card actually is
The ED card is Aruba's digital entry form. It replaced the old paper embarkation and disembarkation cards that travelers used to fill out on the plane, and it now doubles as the collection point for the island's sustainability fee. You complete it online before you travel, you receive a QR code by email, and that QR code is your proof of completion at the airline counter and at Aruba border control.
Think of it as the digital equivalent of a landing card plus a small tourism fee, rolled into one short form. It asks for the usual things: passport details, travel dates, flight numbers, and where you are staying on the island. There is no interview, no approval wait worth worrying about for ordinary tourists, and no need to print anything as long as you can show the QR code on your phone. We still suggest a printed backup, because phones die at the worst moments.
One thing the ED card is not: a visa. It does not replace any visa requirement that may apply to your nationality, and it does not change passport rules. For US, Canadian and EU travelers visiting as tourists, the ED card plus a valid passport is the standard entry package. The portal is also clear about the limit of what it gives you: a successful ED card submission does not by itself guarantee entry into Aruba.
Renting a car? Compare every Aruba agency
One search across the island rental companies, free cancellation on most cars, no card to reserve.
The only official website: edcardaruba.aw
Write this down, bookmark it, tattoo it somewhere if you must: the only official ED card portal is edcardaruba.aw. The current online system launched on October 30, 2024, and the government runs it directly.
The easiest way to verify you are in the right place is the domain ending. The .aw extension is Aruba's official country domain, the same way .uk belongs to the United Kingdom, and awss.aw names that same address as the correct one for the sustainability fee. If the address bar does not end in edcardaruba.aw, you are on a different service, not the government portal.
So type the address in directly rather than clicking the first search result. Other companies do offer to fill the form in for you and charge for that help, and aruba.com is clear that the choice is entirely yours and that the form can easily be completed independently within a few minutes. Going straight to the portal simply keeps the decision in your hands.
What to have ready before you start
The form moves fastest when everything is in front of you. Gather these before you open the portal:
- Passports for every traveler in your group
- Flight numbers and dates for both directions
- The name and address of your hotel or vacation rental on the island
- A Visa, Mastercard, or Discover card for the fee
A few pointers from filing many of these: enter each name exactly as it appears in the passport, because the QR code is tied to your travel document. Double-check the passport number before submitting, since a transposed digit is the most common self-inflicted problem we hear about. And remember it is one form per traveler, children included; the under-8s skip the fee, not the form.
If you have not locked your accommodation yet, that is one more argument for filing a couple of days out rather than the moment the window opens. The form wants a real address on the island, and your booking confirmation has it ready to copy.
Let us plan this trip for you
We live in Aruba and vet every spot ourselves, share your dates and we'll build the rest.
The $20 sustainability fee, explained
Two separate things happen inside one form, and mixing them up is where most of the confusion starts. The ED card is Aruba's entry form. The $20 sustainability fee is a separate government charge, run by AWSS, and the ED card is simply where it is collected. The portal takes Visa, Mastercard and Discover.
AWSS describes the fee as mandatory for all non-residents entering Aruba, payable when you complete the ED card, and fully mandatory since December 6, 2024. It funds wastewater and infrastructure work on the island. It is a real government payment, and there is no version of your trip where you pay it anywhere other than the official portal.
Repeat visitors get the pleasant part: AWSS exempts travelers re-entering Aruba within one year of their last visit, recognized automatically by passport number during the ED card process, with no payment required. Read that wording carefully, because it is a rolling twelve months from your previous visit, not a calendar-year reset. AWSS also notes that if your itinerary changes after you submit and you have to file a new ED card, the system recognizes your passport number and does not charge the fee twice.
The fee is generally non-refundable, including when plans change or a trip is cancelled. AWSS allows refunds only in narrow cases such as duplicate charges, and says a refund request submitted more than 60 days after travel will not be issued.
Who is exempt from the fee
AWSS publishes the exemption list, and this is it as written:
- Residents of Aruba
- Children under the age of 8
- Transit passengers staying in Aruba less than 24 hours under a transport agreement
- Travelers returning to Aruba under a transport agreement within 1 year
- Aircraft and vessel crew members on duty
- Repeat travelers re-entering Aruba within 1 year of their last visit
Exempt travelers still complete the ED card, they simply are not charged. The portal handles it during submission, so there is no separate application and no reason to pay anyone to claim an exemption on your behalf.
The wording we get asked about most is the repeat-visit one, so to be exact: it runs one year from your previous visit, not per calendar year. A trip in December and another the following January sit inside twelve months of each other and fall under the published exemption, while two trips fourteen months apart do not. If your dates sit close to the line, the portal decides when it reads your passport number.
If you arrive by cruise rather than by air, check the official sources for your own sailing instead of taking a blanket answer from us. What AWSS publishes is the transit exemption above, for stays under 24 hours under a transport agreement, and that is narrower than saying all cruise passengers are exempt.
Browse 33 vetted Aruba experiences
Most confirm instantly with free cancellation up to 24h, and 4 of them are free.
The timing window: inside the last week
The official sources do not word this identically, and we would rather show you that than invent a precision nobody publishes. Aruba's tourism authority says you can fill in the ED card within the 7 days before your travel to Aruba, and restates it elsewhere as 1 week prior to departure. The AWSS FAQ says to complete it as early as possible, up to 6 days before your flight. The portal itself states no day count at all. All three checked September 12, 2026.
What that means in practice: plan on the last week before you fly, and let the portal tell you the exact first day it will accept. It is not a form you can file a month ahead.
Our honest advice: do it two or three days out, not the night before. If a payment fails or a passport number goes in wrong, you want a calm day to sort it. AWSS also notes that if your flight itinerary changes after you submit, you need to complete a new ED card, though a fee already paid is not charged twice on the same passport. The rest of the departure checklist sits on our travel tips page.
The QR code flow, start to finish
Here is what actually happens after you hit submit:
- You complete the form at edcardaruba.aw and pay the $20 fee (if it applies to you).
- A QR code arrives by email. Save it to your phone and, ideally, print a copy.
- At check-in for your flight to Aruba, the airline verifies that you have a completed ED card. Without it, you may be denied boarding. This is not a theoretical risk; airlines are responsible for not flying ineligible passengers, so they check.
- On arrival in Aruba, border control scans the QR code, stamps you in, and you are on your way to the beach.
That is the entire flow. No appointments, no biometrics beyond your normal passport, no pickup counters. Each traveler needs their own ED card, including children, so a family of four submits four forms (with the under-8s exempt from the fee but not from the form).
Find your hotel by month, beach & budget
Compare current Aruba rates across the major booking sites in one place, in USD. Most rooms are free to cancel.
The free 7-day itinerary
The exact 7 days we send friends
One email with our day-by-day Aruba plan: which beach on which day, where to eat, and the tours worth booking. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
If something goes wrong
Most submissions sail through in minutes, but a few hiccups come up often enough to plan for.
The QR code email has not arrived. Check the spam and promotions folders first; that resolves most cases. Search your inbox for anything related to the ED card before assuming the submission failed.
The payment did not go through. The portal takes Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. If your card is declined, try another card on one of those networks, and make sure your bank is not blocking the foreign transaction.
You spot a typo after submitting. This is exactly why we push the buffer-day timing. Discovering a mistake 48 hours before departure is an inconvenience you can sort out calmly; discovering it at the check-in desk is a crisis. Review the confirmation the moment it arrives, not at the airport.
Your flight changed. AWSS is direct about this one: if your flight itinerary changes after submission, you fill out a new ED card, and if the sustainability fee was already paid the system recognizes your passport number and does not charge you again. When in doubt, arrive with extra time and all your booking documents in hand.
Paid assistance services, and what they actually sell
Search for the ED card and you will see results offering to handle the form for you. Aruba's tourism authority addresses them directly, and we will quote rather than characterize: some services or companies may charge a fee to assist you with filling in the form, the decision to utilize such services is entirely yours, and the form can easily be completed independently within a few minutes.
That is the honest frame. A service that files a form on your behalf and says so is selling convenience. What matters is that you know the official route before you choose it: the form at edcardaruba.aw, the $20 sustainability fee for each traveler who is not exempt, and nothing else. AWSS says the same thing in one line, make sure to use the correct website, and names edcardaruba.aw.
How to keep it simple:
- Check the domain. The official portal is edcardaruba.aw. The .aw ending is Aruba's country domain.
- Type the address yourself rather than clicking whichever result sits highest.
- Know what you are paying for. Anything above $20 per traveler is somebody's service charge, not a government fee.
- Tell whoever books for the family. This one catches people in a hurry more than anyone else.
If you already paid a service, your ED card is very likely valid, because they file the real form. Use the official portal next time and keep the difference.
Renting a car? Compare every Aruba agency
One search across the island rental companies, free cancellation on most cars, no card to reserve.
The return ticket requirement
One more entry rule that travelers overlook: Aruba officially requires visitors to hold a return or onward ticket. Immigration officers may ask for proof of it on arrival. In practice, enforcement varies, and most travelers on normal round-trip bookings never get asked, but one-way travelers planning to "figure it out later" are taking a real risk at the border.
If you are island-hopping or traveling open-ended, have an onward booking you can show. The ED card form itself asks for your flight details, so this requirement and the form work hand in hand.
Step by step: your ED card in five minutes
Here is the whole process, condensed:
- File inside the last week before arrival. The official sources word it as seven days (aruba.com) or up to six days (awss.aw), and the portal itself decides the first day it will accept.
- Go directly to edcardaruba.aw. Type it. Do not click an ad.
- Have ready: passport, flight numbers, arrival and departure dates, and the name and address of your hotel or rental.
- Complete one form per traveler, kids included.
- Pay the $20 sustainability fee with Visa, Mastercard or Discover for every traveler who is not exempt. Children under 8, residents, on-duty crew, transit passengers under 24 hours and anyone re-entering within one year of their last visit are not charged.
- Save the QR code email. Screenshot it, and print a backup if you can.
- Show it at airline check-in and again at Aruba border control. Done.
Total for a family of four where both children are 8 or older: $80, all of it the government fee. Where a child is under 8, that traveler still files the form and is not charged.
Let us plan this trip for you
We live in Aruba and vet every spot ourselves, share your dates and we'll build the rest.
How this fits into the rest of your arrival
The ED card is the only pre-arrival paperwork most visitors need, which is part of why Aruba is such an easy island for US travelers. The airport experience is similarly smooth, including US preclearance for the trip home, and we cover all of it in our Aruba airport guide. For flight routes and how to find a cheap seat, see getting to Aruba in 2026.
Once the form is filed and the QR code is in your inbox, the boring part of the trip is over. If you have not sorted the fun part yet, tell us your dates on the trip planner and we will help you build the week, and our packing list covers what goes in the bag.
Budget-wise, treat the fee as a fixed $20 per person line item alongside flights and hotels. It is one of the few Aruba costs that never varies with season, and we count it in the full trip math in our Aruba vacation cost guide.
Bottom line
The Aruba ED card is a short online form at edcardaruba.aw, and the $20 sustainability fee is a separate government charge the same form collects from every non-resident who is not exempt. File inside the last week before you fly, save the QR code, and carry proof of your return ticket. Not charged: residents, children under 8, on-duty crew, transit passengers staying under 24 hours under a transport agreement, and anyone re-entering within one year of their last visit. Paid assistance services are optional, and the official route is $20 per traveler and a few minutes. All of it checked against edcardaruba.aw, aruba.com and awss.aw on September 12, 2026.
