PHILIPSBURG:--- Lawyers Jeroen Veen and Willem Nelissen from Lexwell Attorneys at Law successfully argued that all EU citizens − currently 28 nationalities − have to be treated no different from Dutch citizens when applying for residency in Sint Maarten. The Court of First Instance agrees.
Friday (14 March 2014) the Court of First Instance handed down a land-mark decision in the case of a Slovakian plaintiff against the Minister of Justice. The Court agrees with lawyers Jeroen Veen and Willem Nelissen that based on European legislation as well as the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty, all European Citizens should be admitted by law to reside on Sint Maarten, in the exact same way as European Dutch citizens are.
The Judge held: "From the treaties cited by the plaintiff, it is unmistakably clear that in Sint Maarten the principle of non-discrimination applies to nationals of all EU Member States, including Slovakia, when compared to Dutch Citizens and that no less favorable treatment than that of third country nationals, including Americans, is the norm." [Translation]
According to lawyers Jeroen Veen and Willem Nelissen, this decision will have far reaching consequences for Sint Maarten's immigration policy. Similarly, the immigration policies of the other former Netherlands Antilles islands, Curacao and Aruba, could be affected. Their respective Immigration Ordinances ("LTU"'s) are similar to that of Sint Maarten and they too have OCT-status with the European Union.
Press Release from Lexwell Attorneys at Law
