New members of the Sint Maarten forum, introduce yourselves here - 2020

Hello!
My name is Sara, my husband is Jared, and we're looking to move to Sint Maarten this year. We are from the US. We spent a few weeks in Sint Maarten last summer- We rented an apartment, rented a car, explored the island and talked to many locals, and we absolutely loved the island. We thought, hey, why can't we have this all the time? So we're planning to go back to Sint Maarten for about 10 days in April 2020 to learn more, and we're set to be able to  spend all of July/August 2020 in Sint Maarten as well.

We need to learn more about living and working in Sint Maarten... Do we really need work visas? Jared thought he had heard that as US citizens, there was a US+Dutch agreement in place that would make immigrating from the US to Sint Maarten much easier. I've heard so far that we need employers to sponsor our work visas, that we cannot be in Sint Maarten during that process, and that the process sometimes takes several months. Is that true? It's been very difficult to find clear information.

Jared and I have been taking inventory of our skills to find work on the island. I'm licensed as a pediatric occupational therapist (OT), I have 7 years experience and currently work with diverse international clients in special needs infant centers and schools in NYC. I also have work experience as a non-profit grant writer and editor, as well as a Red Cross employee teaching swim lessons, overseeing municipal swim programs, and teaching professional and community CPR, lifeguarding, emergency response, etc. Jared has 8 years experience as an architectural drafter in NYC. He is also a very skilled classically trained singer (opera tenor). He may be able to work for his same architectural company and work remotely from the island.

Thank you for the welcome, I'm excited to be here and I'm hopeful we can learn some more information about moving to and working in Sint Maarten!!