Table of Contents
- Who issues licenses
- The Curacao license characteristics and cost
- The Curacao license advantages
- License obtaining requirements
- The license obtaining process
- How to make obtaining a license simpler
- Curacao’s Crackdown on Illegal Gambling Sites (Update 2023)
- Curacao Working on a Major Regulatory Overhaul September 2023 Update

Who issues licenses
Gaming licenses are issued by respective state authorities, usually gambling commissions. Each country has its own. In many countries, gaming activities are somehow regulated. In countries like Ireland there are favorable conditions for gambling business, in Russia it is prohibited, in Spain you need a costly license and in Andorra there are no regulations for the time being. To get a license, not only you can turn to a state authority, but also to a reselling company. It will take off all the hassle from you and save your time, since such companies have years of experience in licensing.The Curacao license characteristics and cost
Being a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Curacao is situated not far off from Venezuela. Curacao was the first country in the world to legalize gambling. Since 1996, Curacao has been the most popular jurisdiction to run online gambling business, partly because of being a politically stable country. Nevertheless, the main reason is great licensing conditions and affordable cost. The Curacao license will cost you 21,900 EUR per year + 6% sales tax. The renewal of the license is priced at €21,900 per year + 6% sales tax. . However, for that price, you will will get at least:- Professional consultation
- The gaming license itself
- Control over complying with licensing requirements
- Two domains and one validator
- Company formation in Curacao and the EU
- Assistance in opening bank and processing accounts
- Help in processing payments
- Servers rent
- Data storage in a data centre
- Private or public cloud
- DNS hosting
- Administrative and legal service
- Backoffice support
The Curacao license advantages
The Curacao jurisdiction is the most favorable option for obtaining a license, owing to the following 4 advantages:- One license is enough to run any kind of gambling business
- The process of obtaining is simple
- Period of obtaining is 4-8 weeks
- No need to pay VAT; no profit tax rate

License obtaining requirements
License obtaining requirements are developed by the Curacao regulating authority. An operator has to keep financial record, use properly functioning games and provide a thorough description of the activity of his company. This also means you will be required to register a company inside the country’s E-Zone, so that all servers and hosting are located in Curacao. To get a license, an operator needs to go through a simple procedure.The license obtaining process
Obtaining a license comes in several steps:- Provide an application
- Provide a detailed report concerning the point 7 of the eGaming IP license and of the requirements compliance regulation.
- Fill in the IP application form and provide it together with all the necessary accompanying documents
- Make a payment
- Wait roughly six weeks to get your license approved
- In case something does not correspond to requirements, the gambling commission will provide a checklist of necessary improvements
How to make obtaining a license simpler
Being the process of obtaining a Curacao license relatively easy, one can come across difficulties when dealing with it on his own. Solving these problems and the reissuance can be protracted, so if you want the license obtaining process to be smooth and quick, contact specialists. In addition, if you open a White Label casino, you can work under the license of a company which has developed it, so you won’t need to get your own license. If you want to know more about licensing your online casino, use a free professional consultation.Curacao’s Crackdown on Illegal Gambling Sites (Update 2023)
Curacao’s online gambling authorities are faced with mounting pressure from Dutch authorities. The Dutch Minister for Legal Protection, Sander Dekker, expects Curacao to pressure operators and license holders to implement the reforms agreed upon last year as a part of the Country Package (Landspakket) financial aid deal. In particular, the minister referred to an article from an investigative journalism publication, Follow the Money, which showed that over 12,000 illegal gambling sites had been established in the country, which accounts for about 40% of all illegal gambling worldwide. Curacao is currently working on a plan to regulate online gambling more precisely, but no real changes have been seen so far. Of course, not all operators in Curacao are illegal. However, the current gambling legislation framework with master and sub-license holders is proving to be an unreliable one, so we can expect to see meaningful changes in the country’s laws in the early months of 2023.