Moving between St. Maarten, BES and the Netherlands? New data rules now apply

GREAT BAY--A new circular from the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations has updated the procedures for the exchange of personal data between the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and Saba, Statia Boniare.

The circular, published in the Dutch Government Gazette on June 2, 2026, replaces the previous circular of December 6, 2013. The update follows the entry into force of the law introducing the Citizen Service Number, BSN, and digital government facilities in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba on November 11, 2025.

The purpose of the circular is to help prevent people from being registered as residents in more than one population administration within the Kingdom at the same time. It gives updated guidance on how personal data should be exchanged when persons move between the European Netherlands, St. Maarten, Aruba, Curaçao and the BES islands.

For St. Maarten, the circular is relevant mainly in cases where residents move between St. Maarten and the Netherlands or between St. Maarten and the BES islands. It deals with how personal records, administrative numbers and the BSN are handled during migration within the Kingdom.

Under the updated procedure, when a person moves from St. Maarten to a municipality in the European Netherlands, the person must provide a relocation notice, commonly referred to as a verhuisbericht, from St. Maarten. The person’s departure must also be processed in St. Maarten’s population administration before registration can be completed in the Dutch municipality.

The personal record from St. Maarten’s civil registry may be sent electronically to the receiving municipality through the PIVA-BRP link, known as the PBK module. That personal record can then serve as a source document for registration in the Dutch Personal Records Database, BRP, unless there is reason to doubt the accuracy of the information.

The circular also clarifies how administrative numbers and BSN numbers must be handled. If a person from St. Maarten has not previously been registered in the BRP, the Dutch municipality will use the administrative number from St. Maarten’s population administration and assign a BSN. If the person already has a record in the BRP, the existing BRP administrative number and previously assigned BSN remain leading.

This is important because the introduction of the BSN in the BES islands has made correct use of administrative numbers more important across the Kingdom. The circular explains that each person should have one unique administrative number as part of the data exchange system, although this has not always been easy in practice because the Kingdom has separate population administrations and people may move through third countries before returning.

The circular also addresses departures from Dutch municipalities to St. Maarten. Municipalities in the Netherlands are specifically asked to record the St. Maarten address to which a person says they are moving. This is necessary to ensure that address information can be processed correctly through the automated data exchange system.

When a person emigrates from a Dutch municipality to St. Maarten, the municipality must currently provide the person with a relocation notice free of charge. The circular notes that this requirement will be discontinued in the future, but the date will still be determined by a separate administrative measure.

For the BES islands, the circular includes similar rules on registration, the transfer of personal records, use of the BSN and the handling of relocation notices when people move between Bonaire, St. Eustatius, Saba, St. Maarten, Aruba, Curaçao and the European Netherlands.

The circular also states that Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten remain responsible for setting their own rules for data exchange with the other population administrations, based on the administrative agreement that underpins the exchange of personal data within the Kingdom.

The Ministry included the contact details for the civil registry departments in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. For St. Maarten, questions related to civil registry matters may be directed to burgerzakensxm@sintmaartengov.org.

The new circular is administrative in nature, but it has practical consequences for residents who move within the Kingdom. It is intended to make population registration more consistent, reduce double registrations and ensure that personal data follows residents correctly when they relocate between St. Maarten, the Netherlands and the other islands of the Kingdom.

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