| Brief History of St. Maarten |
|
|
|
 From 550 BC to AD 600 the Arawak Indians inhabited the inner parts of the island. They too preferred the inner island food as opposed to the fish and seafood the coast had to offer. The Arawaks, their descendants, were different. They lived along the beaches of the island between AD 750 and AD 1550. They ate fish from the sea and thrived in the lowland areas west of Simpson Bay Lagoon. Contrary to belief, the Carib Indians never made it to St. Maarten. While invading many of the Caribbean islands they died of disease before making it to St. Maarten. They were enemies of the Arawaks as history has reported and been written by Spanish, French, and Dutch settlers. On November 11, 1493 Christopher Columbus spotted the island on his way to Hispanola. Columbus was concerned for the safety of his people as he had heard of the Carib Indians attacking settlers in the southern Caribbean islands. Because of this he sped toward the settlement at Fort Navidad in present day Santo Domingo and passed by St. Maarten/St. Martin without exploring it. Columbus named the island after the Bishop of Tours and patron saint of France, St. Martin (AD 316-397). The French and Dutch settlers first landed on the island in 1627. In 1638 the Spanish chased the European settlers off the island and took over the Dutch constructed Fort Amsterdam in Great Bay. Within ten years the Spanish abandoned the island and thus the French and Dutch came again from the nearby islands of St. Eustatius and St. Kitts. Eventually the two European powers decided to divide the island rather than fight over it. Popular folklore says that the division of the island was decided between a Dutchman and a Frenchman. Starting at Oyster Pond, the two "competitors" stood back-to-back and then walked around the coastline of the island to decide the political boundaries. The Frenchman proceeded north with a flask of wine, while the Dutchman went south with a flask of Dutch gin. The Frenchman covered more ground and won 21 square miles for France while the Dutchman had a bit too much and gathered just 16 for the Netherlands. The Dutch and French signed a treaty in 1648 that dealt with the movement of goods and services on the island. Regardless, the wars in Europe caused the island to change hands a number of times. The English invaded the island from near by Anguilla, and even the Dutch and French fought for total control of the island as many as sixteen times it has been reported. In the 1750's the sugar plantations were started and the economy began to develop. There were over 30 plantations on both sides of the island. These plantations created a demand for labor, so slaves were brought in from Africa. In 1848 slavery was abolished in the Caribbean islands, and without it the sugar industry dwindled to a stop with the close of the last plantation on the island in 1915. Because of this the economy of the island in the early 20th century to the mid-1950s was very poor. Many of the locals went to Aruba, Curacao and Venezuela to work in the oil refineries and to work in the sugar plantations of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Others went to Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the Virgin Islands for work. This is helps to explain why today many locals have such a diverse heritage, as their parents have come from all over the Caribbean. In 1943 Princess Juliana Airport was constructed as an allied air base and has meant more to the growth of St. Maarten than any other event. The Little Bay Resort was constructed in 1950 near Phillipsburg which led to an impressive amount of development onn the Dutch side of the island. The French side experienced much slower development until 1985 when the French law of defiscalization gave tax incentives for French citizens and businesses to invest in the islands of the French West Indies, thus making investment more profitable. Because of this the population on the French side jumped from 8,000 in 1980 to 30,000 in 2000. Today estimates are that only 19 percent of the island's population is native. Tourism has encouraged those who left the island decades ago to return, while others from as many as 80 different countries have also come. Today, most of the people that now call St. Maarten/St. Martin home speak English, French, Spanish and Dutch among regional dialects. Most of this information is taken from "On the Trail of the Arawaks" by Christophe Henocq, director of the St. Martin museum.            |
| How to submit request for Temporary Residency |
|
A permit for temporary residency may be obtained by the petitioner/employer submitting a request ot the Governor of the Island Territory. It is suggested that original documents are not submitted unless specifically asked for. |
|
| Read more... |
| How to Obtain Permanent Residency |
|
A non-national may obtain permanent residency after they have legally proven that he or she has been residing in the island territory of St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles for ten years in a row. Residency can be proven by temporary residency permits, continuous SVB (Social Security Bank) coverage, or a declaration of the Tax Inspectorate for the years that one is registered as a tax payer. |
|
| Read more... |
