few questions about Sint Maarten

Member since 15 August 2017

DreamhomevzMember15 August 2017 21:19:12

Good afternoon,

My husband and I fell inlove with the island while travelling. We are avid travellers living in the hustle and bustle of the big city. We love the island life, and the amazing people we have met in Sint Maarten. We want to explore the options of moving and starting to plan for our forever in the islands. We are both working as Sales professionals in the automotive industry, with skills that can be used in any type of sales industry.

I do have a few questions as I am not sure where to start planning for the move, or how long to plan before moving.

My husband is a Dutch citizen, I am not. Will it still be easy for me to get a job?

Housing, does it make more sense to buy a property or rent to start off?

How easy is it to get a job?

What are the complications if any in starting a business?

Looking for any advice as we want to move so badly but not sure where to search for the answers to guide us on our journey.

Thanks so much in advance.

chuckbourquardez Member

Member since 17 May 2022

chuckbourquardezMember07 June 2022 23:43:18

@Dreamhomevz ,

My wife and I also fell in love with the island after visiting and buying a Timeshare in Simpson Bay. We also love the island life, especially the politeness and diversity of the nationalities of the residents. We jumped in with both feet and bought an apartment in Porto Cupecoy in September 2020 and we are now permanent residents. if you could possibly work remotely as Sales professionals in the automotive industry, I would recommend that option because compensation is generally not as high as the U.S. I hope that my responses will help you.

The first step in planning your move is accessing what is needed to move from your current location. Things to consider is selling your home, whether you want to sell or move your vehicle, downsizing as needed to fit all of your stuff into a container, getting major medical procedures done, and visiting your veterinarian if you have pets. Keep in mind that what you take with you needs to be the essential items. We shipped our 2018 Toyota RAV 4, which is small enough for the narrow roads but large enough to bring back items from ACE Hardware. You can buy a nice vehicle here but it won't meet U.S. safety standards.

The next step is interview and obtain bids from at least three moving companies who have experience moving household goods to St. Maarten, preferably with a home office on the island. We did not choose wisely , which complicated our move. I estimate that 6-9 months would be sufficient to properly plan. Our timeline was much shorter but that created a bit of stress.

If your My husband is a Dutch citizen, it will be easier for him to get a job but you should be okay once you get your permanent residency or a work permit. Your husband's citizenship should help but it took us 9months. Please keep in mind that the Government needs to take care of its residents needs before visitors.

Normally, it makes sense to rent prior to buying but housing costs are rising comparable to the state of Florida, from which we came. After hurricane Irma, it would be a good idea to research which areas of the island were devastated before buying. We bought a ground floor apartment in Porto Cupecoy, which was barely touched. Irma took an unusual path but it is worth considering when deciding where you would like to live. Ocean views are beneficial to realtors but the things that are important to a vacationer are different for a resident. I worked in D.C. for 10 years and I very seldom visited the tourist attractions.

We chose Bright House to help us with our permanent residency but I others have had different experiences. As with anywhere else, there are complications in starting a business but the logistics supply line takes longer to get commodities to St. Maarten.

Vero Team

Member since 02 February 2017

VeroTeam14 June 2022 16:14:13

9026

Hi chuckbourquardez,

Welcome to expat.com, thank you for your detailed answer! However, this thread that has been inactive since August 2017. It is therefore unlikely that there will be any replies.

If you want to chare your experience, please do not hesitate to create a new discussion on the Sint Marteen forum.

Vero

Expat.com team