Retiring in Sint Maarten (the Dutch Part of Saint-Martin) as a French National

Sint Maarten is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, outside the Schengen area: France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry) specifies that a passport is compulsory there. To settle there in retirement, the list of documents of the Immigration and Border Protection Services (IBPS) provides for a “pensioner” (Penshonado) or “annuitant” (Rentenier) category, with a first-time application, a change from a work permit and an extension. The first-time application includes the passport, a criminal record less than six months old translated into Dutch or English, birth and marriage certificates that are legalised or apostilled and less than three years old, proof of address, proof of income (bank letter or pension letter) and bank statements for the last three months, which the list describes as mandatory.

To move from a work permit to pensioner status, and to extend that status, the list adds a certificate that the applicant owns, for their own use, a property worth at least 450,000 florins, accompanied by a valuation report and a copy of the deed, as well as a copy of the valid temporary residence permit. The list for the first application makes no mention of this: the condition applying to a direct arrival should be confirmed with the IBPS. The minimum age, the minimum income, the validity period and the fees do not appear in the document read. The IBPS specifies that processing fees are non-refundable and that a permit that expired more than three months ago becomes a first application. The page on living in Sint Maarten describes the settling-in formalities.

Settling abroad changes the formalities for the French pension. The Assurance Maladie asks you to inform your health insurance fund and your pension fund of your departure and your new address. CLEISS (the French centre for European and international social security liaison) specifies that, without a social security agreement with the country, pension rights are examined separately by each country: the French pension does not take into account periods completed under the local scheme, and local contributions do not automatically give rise to a right payable in France. The CLEISS list of agreements mentions neither Sint Maarten nor the Netherlands. For the payment arrangements and the supporting documents requested, the guide on receiving your pension abroad gives the procedure, and the pension fund specifies its requirements.

The impots.gouv.fr list of tax conventions has no entry for Sint Maarten. The Franco-Dutch convention of 16 March 1973 defines the Netherlands as the part of the Kingdom located in Europe (article 3) and can be extended to the Netherlands Antilles only by an exchange of diplomatic notes (article 30). The BOFiP lists only, for the Dutch part of the island, a tax information exchange agreement signed on 10 September 2010 and in force since 1 August 2012, which does not allocate taxing rights. Without a convention, each country applies its domestic law, and impots.gouv.fr recalls that domestic law can make a person a resident of both countries.

French tax residence depends on the home (or, failing that, the main place of stay), the main professional activity or the centre of economic interests: a single criterion is enough. A retiree whose home remains in France stays taxable in France on their worldwide income. If they cease to have their tax home there, they are taxable only on their French-source income, which includes pensions paid by a fund established in France. Without an option, this income is taxed at the minimum rate of 20% up to a threshold revised each year and 30% above; the option for the average rate is generally more favourable. Withholding tax may apply, but the income must be declared every year.

The Sint Maarten tax regime applicable to a foreign pension could not be read on an accessible official page: no rate is given. The Senate notes that the Dutch part has attractive taxation compared with the French part, without detailing its scale. Before settling, a retiree requests a written analysis from the French tax authority and from Sint Maarten's tax inspectorate.

Form S1 and the European Health Insurance Card concern only the European Union, the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (Assurance Maladie). France Diplomatie specifies that the card does not cover Sint Maarten. For a permanent move outside these areas, health costs are no longer covered by French Assurance Maladie. The retiree can join the CFE (Caisse des Français de l'Étranger) or take out private insurance; see the guide on retiree health insurance abroad and the page on retirement insurance abroad.

The CFE retiree offer is aimed at holders of a pension from the French basic scheme (metropolitan France and the overseas departments and regions) with no professional activity, with no health questionnaire, and covers only care received abroad; care in France comes under the basic scheme. Cover is immediate if you join before departure or within three months of settling, otherwise the waiting period is three months before age 44 and six months after age 45; on returning to France, the CFE applies no waiting period and the member returns to the general scheme. On the local side, the SZV pages read define the insured person of ZV health insurance as an employee under the salary cap and describe no affiliation for a retiree coming from abroad; the AVBZ, long-term care insurance, is funded by the contributions of those who work, and a resident retiree receiving the AOV has 1% of their pension deducted for it.

For their stays in France, a retiree of the general scheme or an integrated special scheme requests affiliation to the Cnarefe (Centre national des retraités de France à l'étranger); without an agreement with the country of residence, coverage depends on a minimum of 15 years of contributions to one or more French compulsory schemes, a condition in force since 1 July 2019. Family members are covered during their stays in France only if a bilateral agreement provides for it; without an agreement, the spouse joins the CFE or takes out private insurance. For how reimbursement works, see the page on healthcare reimbursement in Sint Maarten.

Sint Maarten has a general old-age pension, the AOV, run by the SZV. It is open to any insured person who has reached retirement age: 60 for people born before 1958, 62 for those born in 1958, in 1959 and up to 30 June 1960, and 65 for those born from 1 July 1960. An insured person is someone registered as a resident of Sint Maarten at the census office, from age 15 until retirement age; non-residents taxed as residents of the island also accumulate years. The amount depends on the number of years of residence, not on contributions paid: the full pension corresponds to 45 years of insurance and each missing year reduces it. A French national arriving at the end of their career therefore acquires few years; the SZV page does not publish a fixed amount and refers to the annual documents for the maximum amounts.

The claim is submitted about six months before retirement age, by email to benefits@szv.sx, the procedure being long: the SZV answers within three to six months in case of questions, then sends the decision by post. The pension is paid monthly into a bank account, and a life certificate must be sent if the beneficiary lives abroad. It starts on the first day of the month following retirement age, with retroactive effect limited to one year in case of a late claim. The AOV and AWW reference amounts are indexed every year; the SZV expresses them in Caribbean guilders (Cg).

The official sources read publish neither rents, nor retiree budgets, nor any ranking of places to live: no amount and no recommendation of a town is therefore given here. The “Economic benchmarks” block on this page updates inflation and the exchange rate. The administrations useful to the retiree (IBPS, SZV) are located in Philipsburg, where the French embassy in the Netherlands also has a consular agency run by an honorary consul. The proximity of the French part, accessible without systematic checks at the border according to the Senate, makes it possible to consider living on the other side of the island: the page on Saint-Martin (French part) then describes the French general scheme.

Leaving the island has to be prepared: returning insured cards where applicable, deregistration declaration and departure letter. On a final return, a former CFE contributor may receive its benefits during the three months following their return, subject to conditions; without the CFE, cover requires a residence period of three consecutive months (service-public.gouv.fr). See the page on returning to France.