How to apply for a Resident Permit by yourself (DIY) in Sint Maarten (Dutch side) as an American Citizen

Love SXM and want to stay longer than 6 months as a U.S. citizen? According to immigration, we need to apply for a resident permit.

Many people got scared when it comes to applying for permits. I went through the whole process myself, and it was not a hassle at all if you are an American Citizen. The American – Dutch Treaty allows you to apply with minimum paperwork required compared to other countries’ citizenship.

In this blog, I will layout all the details and things to notice from my own application experience (as of Nov 16^th, 2025). Hope it helps!

Kindly note the resident permit process may have small changes every once a well, so please always refer to the original website for the most updated information.

1. To start

Create an online account on https://services.sintmaartengov.org/default.aspx. You can make appointments in government offices, apply for the resident permits on this website.
After creating the account, log in, and then select “Resident Permit Application”.

2. The application section

Read instructions of this page (as of Nov 16, 2025). For the documents you need to apply for the SXM permanent resident permit as a U.S. citizen, click Step 1 – #3 Van Rechtsweg Treaties.

Scroll down to American Treaty Section (each of the document will be explained in the next section of this blog)

Highly recommend to view the “New Residence Permit Application” form before actually start applying.

3. Explanation of all the documents in this treaty

Proof of payment

On step 7 of the application, you can choose to make payment “at the receiver’s office “ or “pay online”. After submitting this “New Resident Permit Application” form online, you should receive a payment link (check your spam folder). This link shows the application invoice. The Receiver’s office is located in the same building of the post office, across the street from the yellow/white/green government building in Philipsburg.

– if you pay it online, you will receive the receipt in your email, and that’s the receipt of your proof of payment.

– if you pay by credit card, please avoid using AMEX or anything that will call you/text you before processing the card payment. Once the website failed one payment, you need to clean the caches or just open a different browser (say if you failed one payment via Chrome, you need to use Safari to process again) to try to pay again – I hope this will be changed in the future lol.

Application form

This is the form under “2. The application section” in this blog, and Step 2 – “New resident permit application.” – the green button.

Copy of passport all pages (picture page in color)

Scan each page of your passport in ONE document, and make sure the scanned doc size is smaller than 10MB. I use One Drive’s document scan function to complete this task.

For married people - Original marriage certificate not older than 3 years legalized or with an apostille not older than 3 years

My marriage license is 12 years old, so I needed to get my license an apostille stamps from the states’ office, where my license was issued.
I mailed in my original marriage license to a third party apostille service person in my state, paid the fees to him, and have it mailed back to me in SXM.

Original birth certificate not older than 3 years legalized or with an apostille not older than 3 years

same as above
I did my birth certificate and marriage license together

Original police record - not older than 6 month

needs to run a state background check in the state that you reside
I had to go back to the state to do that.

Original police record - not older than 6 month

needs to run a state background check in the state that you reside
I had to go back to the state to do that

Dutch school registration letter for children (if applicable)

The schools on the island know what to do

If one of the parents of one or more children is staying in the country of origin, the following is required:

a letter of consent – my spouse wrote a letter to consent the situation, allowing me applying for permanent resident for our daughter here in SXM.

proof of custody of the children – I submitted my daughter’s birth certificate as proof
Proof of address in SXM
latest utility bill in SXM under your name

proof of source of income

$20k in bank and to show monthly income in the bank statement from the last 2 month.

Proof of health insurance

I went to a health insurance provider in Philipsburg and ask them for IMMIGRATION health insurance. You can email/call those insurance providers before you go into the office first for a quote, but make sure you always follow up if you don’t hear from them after a few days. The cost of immigration insurance is way less than the U.S. health insurance.

Bring your passport, and your proof of address (utility bill) to the office with you. They need for you to fill out a few forms. Then it will take a week for them to approve you, and for you to come back to the office to pick up the policy package and pay. The insurance policy isn’t effective until the following month, if you pass the cut off day of the month I think. This specific policy basically is a pay out-of-pocket, and get reimbursement type of thing.

MOTIVATION LETTER

it is NOT on the Treaty PDF, but it is on Step 5 of your application. Make sure you safe it locally on your computer, and copy/paste to application step 5.

Create an online account on https://services.sintmaartengov.org/default.aspx. You can make appointments in government offices, apply for the resident permits on this website.
After creating the account, log in, and then select “Resident Permit Application”.

4. After submitting the resident permit application

After submitting the application, I would send in an email to the immigration office (email on the application step page), and ask if they have received the application.
also, when you receive an email saying “your permit is ready for pick up”, it may NOT be available. Double check with the immigration office via email for the actual status.

I brought the following to pick up my permit:

– 1 Dutch sized passport picture

– Valid Passport Identification

– Deposit fee receipt (if applicable) – Make sure you save the email of the application fee receipt after you paid the application fee online.

– Valid medical insurance

– pick up the permit within 2 month

the Immigration office has dress codes, please dress business casual. I wore shorts and tank tops and flip flops, and that was not allowed…

5. After picking up the resident permit – Apply for the Registration Paper / SXM ID card application / Transfer your U.S. Drivers License to SXM

for any of the application below, make an online appointment here, and write down your confirmation number. https://services.sintmaartengov.org/default.aspx.

After picking up the resident permit, make an appointment at Civil Registry Department for your 1st time registration – this paper is critical for all kinds of application in the future (bank, business, etc.)… at Government building in Philipsburg (Soualuiga Road #1) . Make sure you have all the paperwork ready + application form filled out. https://www.sintmaartengov.org/services/pages/FIRST-TIME-REGISTRATION.aspx
It takes 2 weeks for the registration paperwork to be ready – so make an appointment for your SXM ID Card in 2 weeks. There are two locations, one in Simpson Bay across the street from McDonalds, one at the Government Building in Philipsburg. https://www.sintmaartengov.org/services/pages/IDENTIFICATION-CARD-ADULT.aspx
then you can apply to transfer your U.S. DL to SXM Drivers License 🙂 . You need to get in contact with a driving school’s tutor, and some of them maybe able to issue a letter of transfer / authorization. Bring below documents to the government office’s RECEPTIONIST desk. At the time of submitting the application, I waited 6 weeks to hear back from them.

Original and copy of a transfer / authorization letter (from BINO)
Copy of your 1st time registration paper
Copy of you SXM ID
Copy of your Passport
Copy of your US DL
Copy of your medical declaration paper (most medical office has the form, but if you need to get the form, it is $12 at the Receiver’s office. It costs $$$ to get the form filled out by a doctor.)

After hearing back from the Government office to pick up the transfer paperwork, make an appointment online with the Drivers License Office to pay for the DL fee, and you will be issued a SXM Driver’s license right away 😊.

Hope it helps!