This requires that a person requesting a work/ residency permit must reside outside of the Netherlands Antilles, while their documents are being processed and while awaiting a decision.

A complete listing of all documents required, when submitting a request for temporary residency permit, can be obtained at the office of the Local Chief of Police, at the Sun Color Building.

* a recent passport picture,
* a copy of the person’s/ employee’s valid passport (including family mem-bers),
* a legalized or apostilled birth certificate,
* a police record (not older than six months),
* a medical certificate (not older than two months),
* a legalized or apostilled certificate of marital status or a co-habitation agreement.

(B) Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Burundi, Bosnia-Herzegovina,

Botswana, Burkina Faso;

(C) Cambodia, Central African Republic, China, with the exception of the People’s Republic, Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Regional passport) and BNO (British National Overseas) travel document holders, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Congo Democratic Republic (former Zaire), Congo (Brazzaville), Cuba;

(D) Djibouti, Dominican Republic;

(E) Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia; East-Timor;

(F) Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia-Montenegro), Fiji islands;

(G) Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau;

(H) Haiti;

(I) India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Ivory Coast;

(J) Jordan;

(K) Cape Verde, Kazakhstan, Cameroon, Kenya, Kyrgyz, Kiribati, Kuwait, Korea (North)

(L) Laos, Lesotho, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya

(M) Macedonia (former Yugoslav Republic), Madagascar, Maldives, MalawiMali, Morocco, Marshall islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Moldavia Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar (formerly Burma);

(N) Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North Marianne (islands)

(O) Oman;

(P) Pakistan, Palau, Palestinian authority, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines;

(Q) Qatar;

(R) Russian Federation, Rwanda;

(S) Salomon Islands, Samoa (East), Saudi-Arabia, Sao Tome and Principality, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro (Yugoslavia), Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Syria;

(T) Tadzjikistan, Taiwan (Republic of China), Tanzania, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu;

(U) United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan;

(Y) Yemen

(Z) Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Information may 2005

Persons submitting the request should not leave behind original documents.
Only original documents which require further investigation must be left behind.

Requirements for a permanent residency permit are amongst others a declaration of guarantee with a NAfl,- 5,- stamp, a valid passport, copy of the temporary residency permits; registration form issued by the Census Office and private health insurance or SVB-insurance/ SVB.

The ceremony is slated to be held on Monday, December 15, at the Government Administration Building, starting at 4 p.m.St. Maarten is introducing the ceremony, taking into consideration that becoming a Dutch national is, indeed, a very special occasion, similarly as in the case in other countries, when non-nationals obtain citizenship. One known example of this is the U.S.

The idea for a naturalization ceremony is not new to Dutch municipalities and other territories of the kingdom. The naturalization ceremony was first launched in the Netherlands in 2001 by the then Minister for Urban Policy and the Integration of Ethnic Minorities. At that time, participation still took place on a voluntary basis. Municipalities in the Netherlands were also not obliged to organize a ceremony.

In 2006, under former Minister for Immigration and Integration, Rita Verdonk, the ceremony became a compulsory part of the naturalization procedure in the Netherlands. The Netherlands Antilles and Aruba are now to follow with implementation of the ceremony.

What is new to the procedure is a declaration of allegiance, to be administered to all new Dutch citizens in the Netherlands and on the islands. In order to introduce this declaration, an amendment is being made to the Kingdom Law on Dutch Nationality [Rijkswet op het Nederlanderschap, RWN].

The aim of this new compulsory part is to emphasize the allegiance to the Netherlands – or if a person lives in one of the other countries of the Kingdom: the allegiance with that part of the Kingdom – and the democratic legal order. It is expected to be a celebratory occasion, where the applicant is presented with a notification of the granting of Dutch citizenship. The declaration of allegiance will therefore become a permanent part of the ceremony. The purpose of the ceremony is to have new citizens feel more involved with their community and the kingdom of the Netherlands, fully appreciating the rights and obligations of all Dutch citizens. The ceremony should be seen as a culmination of the integration process.

The ceremony additionally serves to have new Dutch citizens personally receive the royal decree confirming their attaining the Dutch nationality. At the celebratory ceremony, the governor of the island territory — as representative of the crown — is expected to address those present on, among others, the significance and implications of the Dutch nationality.

The new Dutch citizens will also be welcomed into our community and invited to continue, as a good citizen, to make a positive contribution to the development of St. Maarten.The compulsory nature of the ceremony is seen as an advantage and seeks to reiterate that the attaining of Dutch citizenship is a serious matter to which a great deal of value is attached. It is also to show that authorities attach great significance to the successful completion of this procedure.It should be noted that this formal procedure is intended for everyone who becomes a Dutch national through option or naturalization.

The new Dutch citizens invited to the event are reminded that they will only become a Dutch national if they attend the naturalization ceremony. If they do not attend the ceremony, they will receive a new invitation for the next naturalization ceremony. The maximum period in which one has a chance to attend the ceremony is one (1) year. If one fails to attend the ceremony within that year, one has to redo the naturalization procedure.

New applicants are meanwhile being reminded of the procedures for the administering of the new naturalization test.

This is one part of the naturalization process for foreigners residing in the Netherlands Antilles, and which came into effect as of the 1st of October, 2007.

Foreigners desiring to become a Dutch national must first take a naturalization test. Only after having passed the complete test, may the foreigner submit a request for naturalization. The naturalization test in the Netherlands Antilles is focused primarily on testing one’s knowledge of the community and the governmental structure, as well knowledge of the Dutch or English language.

Candidates must first be screened at the Bureau Local Chief of Police, located at the Sun color building, before qualifying to take the naturalization test.

Kingdom Day marks the date on which in 1954 the islands of the Netherlands Antilles obtained autonomy within the Dutch kingdom and the Kingdom Charter was signed.

Businesses may open on Kingdom Day, with employees opting to work on a voluntary basis.

Employers are reminded that they must adhere to the labor laws, as laid down in the labor regulations of July 27, 2000 (Publication Sheet 200, no. 67), on these official holidays.

Employers are thus asked to keep in mind the relevant labor laws regulating work performed on that day.

This entails that persons can only be put to work on a voluntary basis and must be paid the tariff for holidays stipulated in the labor laws, if work is performed on Kingdom Day.

The Governor of the Island Territory of St. Maarten additionally reminds the general public of the following: Thursday, December 25, 2008 is an official holiday (Christmas Day).

In keeping with the Law on Shop closure (Publication Sheet 1969, nr. 58), all places of business must be closed on that day. Absolutely no exemptions are granted for businesses to be opened on Christmas day. This includes all stand alone casinos, which are also expected to close on Christmas Day.

The aforementioned is not applicable to those businesses mentioned in article 3 of the law on shop closure, i.e. pharmacies, as far as it concerns the sale of medicines and medical products; cinemas; bars, restaurants; hotels and guesthouses; stores located in hotels, on airport premises and on harbor premises; funeral parlors; gas stations and bakeries selling pastries, milk and milk products.

Friday, December 26, 2008 (Boxing Day) and Thursday, January 1, 2009 (New Year’s Day) are public holidays. This means that businesses may open on those days, with employees opting to work on a voluntary basis.

Here again, employers are reminded that they must adhere to the labor laws, as laid down in the labor regulations of July 27, 2000 (Publication Sheet 200, no. 67), on these official holidays.

The theme for World AIDS Day 2008 is “leadership” with the slogan, “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.”Leadership was selected as the theme for World AIDS Day to encourage leaders at all levels to stop AIDS.

Building on the 2006 theme of accountability, leadership highlights the discrepancy between the commitments that have been made to halt the spread of AIDS, and actions taken to follow them through. The theme empowers everyone from individuals to organisations to governments to lead in the response to AIDS.

Why are this year’s observances so important?

2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. Since 1988, the face and response to AIDS has greatly changed. While many of these changes are positive, this anniversary offers us an opportunity to highlight how much more still needs to be done.

For example:

· Leaders in most countries from around the world now acknowledge the threat of AIDS, and many have committed to do something about it. As of 2007, nearly all countries have national policies on HIV. However, despite these policies, most have not been fully implemented and many lack funding allocations, as is the case with the island territory of St. Maarten.

· While treatment for HIV and AIDS has improved and become more widespread since 1988, many still do not have access to it – in 2007 only 31% of those in low- to middle-income countries who need treatment received it.

· Despite HIV awareness now reaching nearly all areas of the globe, infection rates are still happening 2.7 times faster than the increase in number of people receiving treatment.

· While the number of countries protecting people living with HIV continues to increase, one third of countries still lack legal protections and stigma and discrimination continues to be a major threat to universal access.

The number of people living with HIV is continuing to rise in every part of the world. There are now 33 million people living with HIV worldwide.

Last year, between 230,000 to 270,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, while 20,000 to 25,000 were newly infected.

At the end of 2007, an estimated 30,000 people with the disease were receiving antiretroviral treatment in the region – a 50 percent increase over 2006.

We should take keen note that 38 people in the region die from AIDS-related causes daily and that 55 new HIV cases occur each day in the Caribbean.According to the Caribbean Media Corporation, the Caribbean has the second highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate worldwide after sub-Saharan Africa (Caribbean Media Corporation, 10/22).

We are reminded that we have only two years to go for “the goal of universal access to comprehensive prevention programmes, treatment, care and support by 2010”. To achieve this goal, leadership and action is needed now! Individuals must be empowered to access treatment, to know their rights and take action against stigma and discrimination, and to know and use methods of prevention against receiving and transmitting HIV!

Communities must demand and encourage leadership of its members!

Now, more than ever is the time to lead – empower – deliver!

And so, we have no more time to waste about reaching the youth. Today’s young people are tomorrow’s journalists, politicians, teachers, scientists and employers. Schools have a vital role to play in getting their students talking about HIV so that they can safeguard their own sexual health and help to break down stigma and discrimination around HIV.

Finally, May this year’s activities serve to highlight the need for our collective response to curbing the spread of HIV/Aids, first of all, in our community, and by extension, the wider Caribbean and world communities.

If you are a non-national then your child is subjected to the Law on Admittance and Expulsion. This means that you need to submit a request for a residency permit for your child at the Office of the Local Chief of Police. A child that is born out of (an) Antillean parent(s) is not subjected to the law on admittance and expulsion. However, this child needs to be registered in the system and will receive a declaration to that effect.

The same goes for a child born out of a person of Dutch nationality, born on the island of Aruba before January 1, 1986, and who was living in the Netherlands Antilles on January 1, 1986.

A child that is born out of Dutch parents in or outside of the Netherlands Antilles is admitted to the Netherlands Antilles by rights. The same applies here; the child needs to be registered in the system and will receive a declaration to that effect.

NOTE:
An Antillean is a person of Dutch nationality, who is born in the Netherlands Antilles.