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

According to the Senate, the Dutch part of Saint-Martin, with an area of 34 km², has been an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 2010, with internal autonomy. Sint Maarten is therefore neither a French municipality nor a European collectivity like any other: it is a country in its own right within the Kingdom, with its own government, administrations and social rules. The World Bank gives it about 44,000 inhabitants and a life expectancy at birth of about 76 years.

Tourism is, according to the Senate, the island's leading resource, with more than half a million visitors. The same report describes a Dutch part that is more liberal and has more attractive taxation than its neighbour, and stresses that the French part is subject to European Union rules whereas Sint Maarten is not, which creates gaps in customs, health and environmental matters. For a French national, living in Sint Maarten therefore means settling abroad, even though the French part of the island is a few minutes away by road. The “Economic benchmarks” block above gives the updated indicators (growth, inflation, unemployment, exchange rate).

The page on the neighbouring collectivity is available in the page on Saint-Martin (French part), where the French general scheme applies.

The Senate report on the delimitation agreement describes an “open” border: an almost total absence of physical marking and of systematic checks, the free movement of people and goods going back to the Treaty of Concordia of 1648. The delimitation agreement between France and the Netherlands, signed at Belle Plaine on 26 May 2023, was adopted by the Senate on 15 April 2026 and by the National Assembly on 16 July 2026, then authorised by Law no. 2026-645 of 22 July 2026, published in the Journal officiel of 23 July 2026. The Senate reports that the purpose of this agreement is to fix the line while preserving this free movement.

In daily life, travel between the two parts is therefore smooth: the Senate notes regular cross-border flows linked to employment, schooling and economic activity. Several points nonetheless call for attention. Princess Juliana international airport, which also serves the French collectivity, is on the Dutch side: France Diplomatie asks French travellers arriving by air in Saint-Martin to hold a passport. Crossing to the Dutch side also means entering another health and social protection system: the European Health Insurance Card does not cover Sint Maarten, and insurance covering medical costs and repatriation is essential according to France Diplomatie. Finally, the Senate specifies that French social standards are more protective than Dutch standards, a gap to be aware of before accepting a job on the other side of the border.

France Diplomatie recalls, in its page on the Netherlands, that a passport is compulsory for the Dutch Caribbean islands (Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba, which are countries of the Kingdom, as well as Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius), which are not part of the Schengen area. A national identity card alone is not recommended. For Sint Maarten, the page cites the entry.sx website for the formalities to complete before arrival; it specifies neither the length of stay authorised for a French national nor any fees, and the entry.sx page could not be read live. These points should be confirmed with the immigration service (IBPS) before booking the ticket.

Before a long-term departure, three habits are essential. First, declare your departure to French agencies (health insurance fund, CAF, France Travail, pension funds): the Assurance Maladie (the French national health insurance) asks for the declaration of transfer of residence outside France to be sent within the month following the end of residence in France. Next, take out an assistance contract or health insurance, because France Diplomatie states that access to care may be refused without cover, even in a life-threatening emergency, and that the embassy cannot cover these costs. Finally, gather civil status documents: IBPS permit applications require, depending on the category, birth and marriage certificates that are legalised or apostilled, less than three years old, and translated into Dutch or English.

Residence permit applications are submitted to the Immigration and Border Protection Services (IBPS), located at 8 A.Th. Illidge Road in Philipsburg; the online application portal is shown on the government's services website. The categories described in the IBPS list of documents cover the employee, the company director, the trainee, the pensioner or annuitant, the student, family formation with a Dutch national or otherwise, cohabitation and the investor, with procedures for change of category, extension and duplicate. The IBPS specifies that additional documents may be requested during the procedure, that processing fees are non-refundable and that a permit that expired more than three months ago is treated as a first application, which requires an exemption letter from the Minister of Justice.

Almost all the lists ask for the passport, a criminal record less than six months old (translated into Dutch or English) and a detailed registration form from the census office less than six months old. The employee adds a copy of the work permit (proof of an application filed with the labour department is accepted to start the procedure) and their contract; an employer that is a sole proprietorship or houses its staff also provides a certificate from the tax inspectorate. The government states, on its services website, that the civil registry offers forms for registration applications, local change of address and notice of departure, as well as an online appointment system.

Fee amounts, processing times and permit validity periods do not appear in the list of documents read: they should be requested from the IBPS (immigration@sintmaartengov.org). The table below summarises the documents specific to a few categories.

Local ZV health insurance, run by the SZV, covers employees whose salary does not exceed the legal cap and who work at least five days a week, together with their spouse (up to age 59) and children (up to age 24, or 25 if they study full-time). It is funded by a premium of 12.5% of salary, of which 4.2% is paid by the employee (SZV). The other profiles are not described as affiliated in the pages read; the SZV can issue a certificate of non-insurance. The details of the cover, the reimbursements and the situations by profile are presented in the guide on the healthcare system in Sint Maarten and in the page on healthcare reimbursement.

France Diplomatie recommends, depending on the conditions and length of the stay, vaccines against hepatitis A and typhoid fever (hepatitis B for frequent or prolonged stays), and flags dengue, chikungunya and Zika, the latter having affected Sint Maarten in 2015 and 2016. There is no curative treatment for dengue; if symptoms appear, consult without delay and avoid anti-inflammatory drugs. An expat health insurance policy is a useful complement for the profiles that local insurance does not cover.

Housing and cost of living. The official sources read do not publish readable rents or price baskets: no amount is therefore given here. Housing matters mainly as supporting evidence: the IBPS asks, depending on the category, for proof of address (a utility bill or a lease) and the census form. The consumer price index is published by Sint Maarten's Department of Statistics, whose website could not be read live; the “Economic benchmarks” block on this page gives updated inflation and exchange rate figures.

Schooling. For a child, the IBPS asks, in family files, for an enrolment letter from a school in the Dutch part when the child is attending school. The Senate also observes schooling flows between the two parts of the island. French schools and their admission conditions do not appear in the sources read: they should be requested from the consular agency or the French embassy in the Netherlands.

Climate and natural hazards. The Senate recalls the passage of Hurricane Irma on 6 September 2017, with gusts above 320 km/h, eleven deaths and damage to most buildings; 8,000 to 10,000 people left the territory in the following days, and reconstruction was slowed by the complexity of the regulations on this shared territory. This reminder justifies, for a resident, checking the cover of their home and assistance contracts.

Language. The official sources read do not detail the official languages; they indicate only that the IBPS accepts documents translated into Dutch or English.

The “Safety” section of the France Diplomatie page on the Netherlands describes the European Netherlands and does not detail the situation of Sint Maarten: no assessment of local safety is given here. Travel advice, which is regularly updated, should be consulted before each departure. The French embassy in the Netherlands (Anna Paulownastraat 76, The Hague) is the competent authority, and a consular agency run by an honorary consul is based in Philipsburg (1 Almond Grove Estate), reachable by email and open from Monday to Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 12 noon according to the embassy's page; the services it provides, in particular for passports, are not specified on that page.

This consular presence does not replace insurance: France Diplomatie recalls that medical and repatriation costs cannot under any circumstances be covered by the embassy on the spot. Finally, registration on the roll of French nationals living abroad is recommended for every settled resident.

A final departure is prepared like the arrival. According to the SZV, the ZV insured person returns their card and those of their dependants, or has the end date amended on the day of departure; they check with the employers' counter that no premium is due; they obtain the departure letter, which the SZV stamps before it is endorsed by the island's tax collector, and submit their deregistration declaration to the civil registry office. Health premiums already withheld from salary are not refundable, as the law does not allow it. On the French side, returning opens health rights after a residence period of three consecutive months, with form S1106 handed to the CPAM (the French local health insurance fund), unless work resumes; a former CFE contributor (Caisse des Français de l'Étranger) may receive its benefits during the three months following their return, subject to conditions (service-public.gouv.fr). See the page on returning to France.