Help, Tips and Advice Please

Hi,

My wife and I are more than likely going to be moving from the US to St. Maarten very soon. We will be going there because of a new job. We have both been to St. Maarten only once and it was over 15 years ago. We did love it when we were there.

We currently have a house, jobs, dogs and all our possessions in the US. We will be selling everything and moving.

The reason for this post is to ask for some/any information/guidance/help to ease our anxiety. We've never done something this big and crazy but we are both "all-in" on this but we are both going crazy with anxiety of the unknown. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
RnM

Good morning ,
From your posting that you Folks have only been here once over fifteen years , and just suddenly giving up all that you have back in the U.S one , two , three is not a wise thing to do.
Will await further response from other members .

RnM--I would suggest, at the VERY least, that you make a short trip to SXM before you accept the position. And I might want to 'hedge my bets' and put your house up for rent and put a big bunch of your stuff in storage. Best wishes.

Totally agree Carol.....before selling all possessions and moving to a country that you haven't been to in 15 years mandates AT LEAST a week long visit to evaluate the Island AND formulate a plan B for after the move that would make changing your mind a much easier task...and I suggest renting a private home for the visit rather than being swayed by a resort

Yes, good idea. Renting a B & B would be better.

Hopefully, some of the members here who have already done this will chime in.

We’ve been visiting the island annually for almost fifty years and once upon a time we considered making such a move. We considered so many options and in the end decided in our case the possible good facets of living there just didn’t outweigh the negative possibilities. But that was us.

I’ve known a few who have made the move without a regret in the world at having done so and are totally happy with their move but by the same token I’ve known a few who questioned their own sanity and couldn’t wait to move back ‘home’ again.

My only concerns for you would be that you were only there once for a week and that was fifteen years ago. The island has changed so much through the natural evolvement not to mention the changes due to storms, etc. And looking at a vacation spot is very different from looking at a living situation.

Think long and hard, and whatever your end decision, good luck.

In addition to visiting the island to see if it is still as attractive as you once thought, perhaps , too, consider the job you are going to. Is it stable? How much assistance will your new employer provide, if any, to get you there and get you settled? What if it doesn't work out? Will the employer repatriate you back to the USA? Also, consider the cost of living on an island. Will you be able to live comfortably? So much to consider with a move like this. Best not to burn all the bridges behind you.

Well said a very big risk to take , unless its a General Manager for new Divi Resort opening soon.

Thanks all who've replied. A little more about us. We want to sell most of what we have anyway and live a simpler life. The house will probably get rented at first. At least until we know its right to be there. The company is very stable and they've been on the island since the 1980's. I start the first round of conversations with them next week so I'm not sure of compensation level yet. It should be fairly decent since it is an upper management position. I'm hoping to hear from people who've made the move themselves that can possibly offer some insight to how it actually is to live and work there. What should my main concerns be? Are there any areas to avoid if I have to find my own housing? Are long term leases/rentals hard to find? If we don't end up moving there, we will probably continue to live and work here in the US for another 5 years and retire to an island anyway. This just sounds like a nice transition to that retired island lifestyle. Again, thanks for any and all replies.

Thanks for some details . No problem with good long term rentals , just ensure that the total work package will be worth it .Best of luck.

RnM--As I assume you know, moving to the Caribbean and working is a whole different thing than retiring there. You'd have the beauty of the Caribbean, yes, but you also have the issues that come from living on an island. Like hurricanes. Like the internet decides not to work for a couple of days. Or GEBE (the local electric company) decides not to work for a couple of days. Or, you can't just go to the store and buy "X", like you could in the states. You may have to order it and have it shipped and maybe it shows up and maybe it doesn't. Or 'rock fever', I think it's called, where you get tired of being confined to this little space of rock in the middle of the ocean. Or, you have a major medical issue and you have to be med-evacced to the states, in order to properly treat it. But meantime you're working, so you have to deal with satisfying your boss, and trying to keep your employees in line, and trying to get in supplies or whatever for the business, etc., etc., etc.

I don't know how it works exactly, but if you're American, the company has to prove somehow that there are not any local people who are qualified to do the job. This may be a big deal and it may not be.

As far as I know, there are extremely few people on here who are working on island that are not locals. Lesley, who responded above (Kenny's is his online name) is a business owner on island, and he is a local. You might want to contact him by private message and see if he could give you any information about the company you are considering.

I know it seems like we are all being "Debbie Downers", but maybe we are all just secretly thinking that we would never be so lucky as to get a job offer on island! Best wishes. If you do take the job, we would be interested in hearing about your experience.

I trust you've looked into the requirements to work on Island for non locals.

RnM,

Some great points made here. Lesley should be a great source of information and I’m hoping Elaine will jump in with her thoughts as she and her husband made the move from the States to the island on a permanent basis and are mostly very happy with their decision to do so.
Again, good luck on all counts.

Thanks for all this useful info. I don't think anyone is being a "Debbie Downer". I prefer a dose of reality. It keeps me in check.

From what I've researched, US Citizens can live and work there without a permit due to the DAFT treaty between The Dutch and US Governments. At least that's how I understand it. Hopefully if I'm wrong someone will correct me.

DM me. We lived on island and owned for 10 years.
irina

RnM--It's not at all that simple. Do send Irina a private message. She had personal experience with trying to get permission to work on island.

Keep us updated on what transpires.

That was a big fight and I do recall one Puerto Rican won his case way back in court. But he was living here way back in the 80's to present.

PM sent

That treaty is worthless btw.
LOL
irina

We are also Interested in answers hr receives for long-term rental availability as both our jobs have told us we "can work from anywhere".