To travel to Aruba, every traveler is still required to have their physical passport with them. An Immigration officer can, at any time during the journey, request to see your physical passport.
Aruba HOP is a mobile application and software combined with biometrics that allows visitors to Aruba to autocomplete government immigration requirements before traveling and board their flight with their ‘ready-to-fly’ status being confirmed invisibly in the background.
For the purpose of initial pilot, Aruba HOP will be available to non-resident passengers who would typically apply for authorization for travel using a manual process to enter their information from paper travel documents.
Aruba HOP implements seamless travel to Aruba through the use of verifiable digital credential technology. Passengers can easily apply for their authorization for travel using a simplified process that eliminates the need to manually enter information from your paper travel documents when traveling.
As part of the process that allows admission to Aruba, the Aruba Embarkation-Disembarkation Card (ED-Card) helps verify that all the necessary steps were taken in order to board an inbound plane to Aruba.
This mandatory step for every passenger traveling to the island of Aruba, including kids and babies, needs to be completed and approved.
Once your Aruba ED-Card application is approved, it is a smooth ride to your Aruba vacation!
A Digital Travel Credential (DTC) follows the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) standards to facilitate a direct, trusted relationship between the passenger and the government of the country they are planning to visit. The technology enables a government to verify the identity of a passenger and to securely create a digital credential from the passenger’s physical passport that is held in their mobile wallet. This technology is built to ensure authenticity, integrity, and ownership can be automatically and repeatedly verified, thereby mitigating the risk of fraud.
Verifiable credentials (VCs) are a type of digital credential that can be held on a mobile device in a digital wallet and used independently from a third party controller. They represent information found in physical credentials, such as a passport, and have numerous advantages over physical credentials, most notably their ability to be tamper-resistant and instantaneously verifiable.
Your information is not being collected outside of the typical Aruba ED Card information that is stored in accordance with the policies of the government of Aruba and complies with EU data privacy standards.
You may find the full text of the privacy policy and terms and conditions here.
We highly suggest creating a PIN that is easy to remember. Once your PIN number is set, you will not have the ability to reset it. If you cannot remember your PIN, you will simply delete the app, then set it up from new with your passport.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips use technology that allows for the storing and communication of data using radio waves.
Near Field Communication technology, better known as NFC, is a proximity-based wireless communication standard and can be used to read an RFID chip. Unlike Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, NFC interaction is limited to an extremely short range.
Aruba HOP uses NFC technology for you to use your phone to read the information from your passport to create a Digital Traven Credential.
Passports with this icon will have NFC capability:
All United States passports issued after 2006 have NFC technology. Because US passports expire after at most ten years, this means today, every valid US passport has NFC. You can also contact your passport issuing authority to determine the specifics for your passport.
NFC has been a staple feature on smartphones for several years. Please check the device manual for specific details for your device.
Android
There is a wide range of Android phones that are enabled for NFC. Commonly used phones that operate with Android software in the U.S. include Asus, Blackberry, Google, and Samsung. Some phones will be NFC-enabled but may not have the capability turned on. If you have a Samsung Android phone, check under settings > connections > tap NFC and contactless payments > tap the switch to turn NFC on.
Apple
The iPhone models released since 2018 come with a Background Tag Reading feature to work with the NFC tags. With this feature, you do not have to tap the NFC Tag Reader option before your iPhone starts searching for data. Instead, you only need to keep the iPhone screen on, and it automatically searches for NFC tag data.
You must use a mobile device with an NFC reader to use Aruba HOP. If not, you may continue to use the manual, paper based ED process to enter Aruba.
You must have a passport with an NFC chip to use Aruba HOP. If not, you may continue to use the manual, paper based ED process to enter Aruba.
If you having trouble scanning your passport with your NFC-enabled device, try the following troubleshooting steps:
Remove any covers or cases from your passport and mobile device.
Try scanning the other side of the passport. Your passport has an RFID chip embedded in one of the covers.
Try opening your passport and placing your phone on the information page moving it very slowly up and down/left to right.
Make sure the mobile device touches the passport, with no gap between the two items. Hold your phone against your passport until the scan is complete.
Once you have scanned your passport, accepted your Digital Travel Credential, and see it in your wallet, you can apply for your Aruba ED Card.
Next, go to https://edcardaruba.aw/, select the “Non-Resident” option, and choose to complete your application using a DTC.
The website will then display a QR code that you will scan using the QR code reader in your Aruba HOP. The app will then prompt you to share your credential with Aruba. If you consent to share your data, click “Accept” at the bottom of the request dialog.
Your credential will be securely transferred to Aruba’s servers and used to make the rest of the application process easier and more secure.
You will then receive an offer for a ‘Trusted Traveler Credential’ in your Aruba HOP at the end of the application process. Once you tap ‘accept’ you will be ready to enter Aruba.
Your DTC, created in the Aruba HOP app, is currently only used during the ED Card application process to enter Aruba.
In the future, hotels, rental car companies, excursions and tours, and others will be able to use your DTC when your identity information is required to improve your experience while protecting your privacy and data.
No one collects your information without your choice and consent.
During this trial, only the government of Aruba is collecting your information. They are collecting the same information they would collect if you chose to travel there using paper documents.
In the future, other companies or organizations will be able to process your data. You will be asked if you consent to share your data with them.
The SITA DTC issuer system does not store your personal data.
To delete the DTC, simply uninstall the Aruba HOP App.
Aruba only retains your information for a period of time as mandated by law and then removes your information from its systems.
Please contact [email protected] if you have further questions.