Look inside
The plan for Sint Maarten, from the inside
These are all 26 steps of the Sint Maarten journey, exactly as they appear in your personal plan — with the lead time and the costs next to them. Not a brochure: this is the file that feeds the platform. Pick another country below if you're heading elsewhere.
For which country?
Every country has its own steps, its own order and its own clocks. Switch as often as you like.
- Steps
- 26
- Phases
- 5
- Official sources
- 33
- Only for your situation
- 9
Phase 1
6 steps
Orientation
The same passport, a different country — and on Sint Maarten also a different island from the ABC islands: English-speaking, in the hurricane belt, with a French neighbouring state within walking distance.
- 1.1
Within the Kingdom, but with an admission law of its own
- Lead time
- reading step
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 1.2
Know how income and healthcare work there
- Lead time
- an evening of research
- Costs
- none
2 official sources
- 1.3
Explore the island before you decide
- Lead time
- weeks, preferably with a stay outside the high season
- Costs
- a scouting trip is a serious cost item here
- 1.4
Get a picture of what it's going to cost
- Lead time
- 1-2 hours with the calculator
- Costs
- none
- 1.5
The family conversation
- Lead time
- weeks, not hours
- Costs
- none
- 1.6
Choose your target date
- Lead time
- decision moment
- Costs
- none
Phase 2
8 steps
Closing the Netherlands
A move within the Kingdom is an ordinary emigration for the Dutch authorities — and two documents here have an expiry date that sets your planning: the birth certificate and the certificate of conduct.
- 2.1
Collect the documents for the Declaration and the Census Office
- Lead time
- 2-4 weeks — and the certificate of conduct you apply for last
- Costs
- fees per document; the Declaration itself costs XCG 200 (± € 100)
2 official sources
- 2.2
Arrange the healthcare transition
- Lead time
- 2-6 weeks — the acceptance question first
- Costs
- the premium of your new policy; bridging cover for the first period
2 official sources
- 2.3
Know where you'll pay tax
- Lead time
- one good conversation with a tax adviser
- Costs
- advisory hours — depending on your situation
2 official sources
- 2.4
Deregister and close
- Lead time
- deregistering is possible from 5 days before departure; the whole takes 4-8 weeks
- Costs
- limited — cancellation costs per contract
2 official sources
- 2.5
Partner comes along without a job of their own
- Lead time
- an evening together, then a few things to arrange
- Costs
- none — the consequences are in the article
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.6
Living partly in the Netherlands: the eight-month rule
- Lead time
- one decision, before you commit to anything else
- Costs
- none
4 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.7
The house in the Netherlands: sell, rent out or keep
- Lead time
- one conversation with the mortgage lender and one with a tax adviser
- Costs
- advisory hours; when renting out possibly an interest surcharge from the bank
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 2.8
Children staying in the Netherlands: DUO, healthcare and the house
- Lead time
- an evening, and after that one report a year
- Costs
- none
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
Phase 3
5 steps
The move
The household contents go by sea container — but unlike with the neighbouring islands without a customs circus: Sint Maarten is a free port, and import duties don't exist there.
- 3.1
Choose your form of move: container, part-load or buying there
- Lead time
- decision moment
- Costs
- none — the consequences of your choice are in the calculator
- 3.2
Request quotes — without a customs circus
- Lead time
- quotes 2-3 weeks; the crossing itself weeks
- Costs
- according to your moving choices
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
- 3.3
Pet coming along to Sint Maarten
- Lead time
- start at least a month before departure
- Costs
- per animal — permit, examinations, crate and air freight run into the hundreds of euros
1 official source
Only if this applies to you
- 3.4
Taking the car along or buying there
- Lead time
- decision moment
- Costs
- when taking it along — freight, clearance, inspection and plates; there are no import duties
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 3.5
Book the crossing and your first accommodation
- Lead time
- book before departure
- Costs
- falls under "the first months" in your budget
Phase 4
4 steps
Registration on Sint Maarten
The chain is fixed: Declaration by Operation of Law at IBP → registration at the Census Office → ID card. Every link wants to see the previous one — and the birth certificate may nowhere be older than three years.
- 4.1
Apply for the Declaration by Operation of Law
- Lead time
- count on weeks to months — submit right after arrival
- Costs
- XCG 200 (± € 100) per application
2 official sources
- 4.2
Register at the Census Office
- Lead time
- appointment plus about two weeks of processing time
- Costs
- registration is free
1 official source
- 4.3
Collect your Sint Maarten ID card
- Lead time
- after the registration; brief counter work
- Costs
- a small fee at the counter
1 official source
- 4.4
Arrange your health insurance and banking
- Lead time
- 1-3 weeks
- Costs
- the premium of your policy, or the ZV premium via your employer
2 official sources
Phase 5
3 steps
Arrival
From settled to island rhythm — driving licence, school, and an annual calendar with the hurricane season simply on it.
- 5.1
Driving licence and transport
- Lead time
- arrange it in your first months
- Costs
- fees on exchange; the annual plates with the car
2 official sources
Only if this applies to you
- 5.2
School for the children
- Lead time
- make contact with schools before the move
- Costs
- varies widely — from publicly funded education to serious private school fees
Only if this applies to you
- 5.3
Landed
- Lead time
- it's done
- Costs
- none
9 of these steps aren't always there. They appear only when your answers call them up — a pet, a car, children staying behind. That's the difference between a plan and a checklist in which you have to work out yourself what applies.
Look inside
This is what one step of your plan looks like
Not a brochure but the real thing: this is one of the steps of the Sint Maarten journey, exactly as it appears in your personal step-by-step plan — with the deadlines, the counters and the sources.
Step 2.2 of your plan
Arrange the healthcare transition
- Lead time
- 2-6 weeks — the acceptance question first
- Costs
- the premium of your new policy; bridging cover for the first period
Your Dutch basic insurance stops on emigration, and there is no CAK route: within the Kingdom there's no healthcare treaty. If you go there as an employee below the wage limit, you come under the SZV ZV on registration; in all other cases — entrepreneur, higher wage, pension — a private policy is your system, and that you arrange before departure.
The order here is the reverse of what people do: first put the acceptance question to an international insurer (on age and health, with the age limits in black and white), only then take irreversible steps. And cover the gap: between your Dutch end date and your first insured day on the island there should be a travel or expat policy that carries medical costs in the Caribbean.
This is step 2.2 of 26. The other 25 are ready for you — each with the same sources, the same counters and a planning that watches your dates.
And what you don't see here
This page shows the content. What a page can't show is the work the platform does for you afterwards:
- The clocks that start running the moment you begin, and a nudge at the moment something is asked of you — not earlier.
- Your documents in one place, with their expiry dates watched, so nothing lapses while you wait for something else.
- The ticking off, together with your partner on the same journey.
- The steps that drop out or appear based on your answers, so your plan holds only what really applies to you.
Ready to start on Sint Maarten?
All 26 steps, set to your situation and with the deadlines watched. € 299 once, no subscription.
The departure guide
Five mails, and you see your whole journey
Not ready to start yet? Then we'll send you the departure guide for Sint Maarten: five mails in a week and a half, with the order, the pitfalls and the real costs. After that one question about where your plans stand, and beyond that only a short update when something in Sint Maarten really changes — at most one a month, no newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
Ready to begin?
Thirty-six journeys are fully ready — Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Canada, Panama, United States, Suriname, China, Dubai, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand: your step-by-step plan, your documents and your costs in one place, with the timing watched. Pay once, and it's yours.