Visa?

I will be arriving in SXM around October. I am wondering about residency. Will I be considered a resident of SXM or am I still going to be a resident of the state I live in? Are the visas temporary? If they are temp. how long do they last? I read somewhere that the visas are good for 3 months. I was just wondering! All this is very new to me. Thanks for any info!

[oceanchild]

Start here: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p...s/cis_981.html (I'm assuming you're going to the Dutch side but have no real basis for that.)

How long a visa lasts depends on how long you ask for it to last. Looks like this is what you'll need: http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/a...f=AR00000400EN

The school should also be able to help you. They do this for a living.

Thank you the info was very helpful!! Exactly what we were needing to know!! You are a lifesaver!!! ~B

[moonlight]

Do not try and apply for residency on your own. The med school will file your paper work for you after you turn in the forms to them. FYI You must be legally married in order to get a residency permit. If you are living there with your boyfriend, they will never issue you a permit. Like the web site said, a residence permit does not allow you to legally work on the island.

The med school should have sent a form with the new student paperwork. If you or your DH didn't get the residency forms call MEAS (the office in Miami) and ask them to send it to you asap.

Sometimes the residency visa will be processed quickly and you'll have it in 2 months. Sometimes it can take over a year to arrive. My smart husband never filled out my residency forms. I thought he did. I didn't find out until 4 months before we left the island that he never turned them in. I was there "illegally" the whole time.

IF you don't have your residency permit before you arrive to the island you will need the following (and most people do not have the permit upon arrival):

1. A return ticket to the USA (that includes Puerto Rico) dated with in 90 days of your arrival. I would buy a cheap one way ticket from SXM to Puerto Rico dated 2 months after my SXM arrival. You must have the return ticket printed, in hand, and ready to show St. Maarten immigration.
Some people luck out and are not asked for it, but I was never lucky and was always asked for it. If you don't have your permit or a return ticket to the USA they will confiscate your passport and let you walk up to the airline ticket counter to buy one- not cheap.

2. You must know the exact address of where you will be living on the island. Again, if you don't know it they will keep your passport. And you can come back later on that day or the next day to give them the address and get your passport back.

Yes, all this happened to me on my first trip to the island. I was alone and really pissed I had to spend all that money on a return ticket, leave the airport without my passport... just hoping they would give it back to me later. But don't worry! Since you know all of this before hand, you'll get good to go!