TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Clearing C&I bvi

Cleared into bvi at west end on sunday with boat and crew. Procedure was the same as it's always been. I showed up with the paper work and all the passports and my crew stayed on the boat. I've been told that occasionally they will want to see all of the passengers. But you start with just the captain and all the paper work.

Excellent, sounds good. We'll do the same a week from Friday in Great Harbor. How's your new baby? I am quite jealous.

Cheers, RickG

Good news. We clear on next week. Hope this holds

Will be there SOON! SUNDAY!

Something has come up and I am told I was doing it wrong. I often go to St Thomas to pick up and drop off crew. I always cleared in and out at the same time at Cruz. I have been told that if I make a crew change I have to clear out of the USVI and can't do the in and out. No one has said anything however I wonder if I was doing it wrong?
G

She was spectacular. Capt. Jay had her running like a clock and fully sorted out. The only thing we could find or had fail after 5 days was a fridge latch and a fan switch in the master cabin.

GeorgeC1 - I don't understand the "clear out at Cruz Bay" part. Private boats don't clear out of the USVI. We just leave and are not required to clear out. Maybe it is different for commercial vessels?

Excellent. I'm rather jealous of the drinks fridge in the cocktail table.

Cheers, RickG

Private boats are required to clear out of the USVI if they have come from another country. In my case I come from the BVI to the USVI. For short stays customs in the USVI will check you in and out at the same time avoiding the need to come back. I have swapped out crew on those short stays. I am told now that if there is any change in crew a vessel must clear out separate from the clearing in process. This would be a hassle when dropping off and picking up passengers. Anyone know the actual rule? The same thing would apply if you have a boat delivered to the USVI which is a option I am thinking about. You would have to clear out after picking up the boat.
G

A US flagged boat leaving the USVI going to the BVI does not have to clear out.

If you leave the USVI on a charter boat with crew aboard, you do not clear out. You go to the BVI ( the foreign country) and clear IN.

When you get to the BVI, you are required to clear in. If you leave the BVI for the USVI, you must clear out of the BVI and back in to the USVI, because you have crossed an international boundary.

If you change crew aboard, and didn't have to clear out the first time you left the USVI , why would you need to do anything different the second time ( o r the 3rd or the 4th, or for a charter boat changing crew weekly, any other time ?)

Interesting topic, for sure. Thanks to all for their input.

So just like the mainland a US registered vessel can leave the US without paperwork? If you are flying a flag of one of the other countries around the globe you need to have the paperwork showing you clear out properly on your departure from US Waters to check into the next port properly? Correct?

A US flagged boat departing US waters does not need a zarpe to enter most British Comonwealth ports though one is recommended. However, as it will be a foreign flag when it departs that port it will need a zarpe to enter the next. The French and Spanish bureaucratic culture seem to particularly relish the paperwork.

Rick - Yup... the cockpit fridge is pretty sweet. Worked great. Certainly best to stock it the night before. I was kind of relieved that it worked as well as it did - it was a bit of a gamble not knowing how well it would perform in the hot sticky weather.

We've sailed from the USVI to Sint Maarten, USVI to Antigua, USVI to Bahamas, etc. without ever clearing out of the USVI. It never has been necessary to clear out or obtain any outbound clearance papers because we are a US flagged vessel.

Other countries recognize that we do not have to clear out of US Territories, dependencies, etc. and do not expect any paperwork stating we have outbound clearance.

At least that is what we have always done.

http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/USA?rc=Formalities

Basically the bottom line is that when you have checked INTO the US legitimately, there is not a procedure for checking out with CBP ( customs and border patrol).

At least, that is the way I read the explanation.

It depends on the destination country. You must have a zarpe (clearance from last port) to enter Mexico, Columbia and most western Caribbean countries. That includes US boats leaving from the US. In the DR it depends on the mood of the clearing officer but it is a legal requirement. At one time you had to clear out between ports inside the DR. Not sure if that is still true.

Best to check Noonsite for the latest regulations.

When I depart the USVI for the BVI I don't clear out as the BVI doesn't require a zarpe when arriving from the USVI. But when I sail to Antigua or St. Martin from the USVI I'll always head into the Cruz Bay immigration office and get my outbound clearance from them. They don't actually enter anything into the computers, just put their stamp on the form. I do this because those countries want outbound clearance and I am very, very surprised that the previous poster was able to clear into Antigua without outbound papers, as those officials are quite bureaucratic.

Whether you use the English term Outbound Clearance or the Spanish term Zarpe. A document showing you left one port free in clear is best to have before you try to enter another port. The US does not make US flagged vessels go through any specific procedure to leave. However many jurisdictions will not let you in if you cannot prove you left your previous port with the exact passenger list in good standing. Noonsite and other cruising forums detail families with boats confiscated in Mexico or Americans in the pacific sailing hundreds of miles back upwind to Haiwai to get a clearance document they failed to pick up on the way out.

I guess you could look at it this way. Do not go further than you are willing to back track without the proper document saying you, your crew, and your boat left in good standing from the previous port.

The document is basically telling the next port captain you left without running out on any bills, or fines, no one on your crew list was wanted for a crime or prohibited from leaving the previous port for some reason. All good things to know if you are the immigration officer in charge.

It would be just foolishness not to get an outbound clearance stamp from the USVI if traveling to any foreign port other than the BVI.

Why risk it for just an extra hour in Cruz Bay?

We all have nightmare stories of a C&I agent who got up on the wrong side of the bed. Mine was in St. Kitts...of all places.

Usually deference and politeness go a tremendous distance to soothe the savage beasts. Not so on this occasion. I was just lucky to escape the ordeal (in 6 hours!) with my boat.

...and I HAD my zarpe! I shudder to think if I didn't...

all customs officials like shuffling paper - I always get a clearance out from the USVI or BVI when heading down island or Bermuda.

When we went to St. Martin from USVI we cleared out in Charlotte Amalie. We brought two copies of the clearance paper work, but only needed one. They did not keep a set of documents or make a copy. We did get our stamp and the customs officer in Marigot wanted to see and kept that document.

Cheers, RickG

We check in at IWW at Sandy Ground in St. Martin. Much easier. No outbound clearance needed from the USVI.

We checked in last Friday at gun creek. Beerman came in with me and we both filled out the forms. Total was $34. And it was a holiday so I think we paid extra for that.

Cheaper then I expected. Although we didn't pay any cruising tax or NPT fees since they don't do that there. I also told them we'd be getting a commercial license since the boat is going in to charter here so that may have impacted things as well.

They didn't say anything about two of us being there or not having any other crew with us.

In 32 years of cruising to the BVI we have never, ever cleared out of the USVI when headed to the BVI. Never had a problem.

(Same with the SVI, but strangely you need to check in with Customs in Dewey/Culebra, even though PR is part of the US. If your boat has a sticker this can be done by phone-call usually. You need to have all passports handy.)

Couldn't comment on going to other destinations.
Couldn't comment on the new BVI rules going into effect.

Your charter company will steer you in the right direction if you are chartering in the USVI and sailing to the BVI. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Going from usvi to svi and needing to check in makes sense because you are moving from a duty free zone to a duty zone.

That's similar to going through customs on arrival by ferry in stt and then again when departing stt in a flight to the continent.

From what I understand a US flagged vessel does not have to clear out of the US. Foreign flagged vessels have to clear out since Homeland keeps track of the time in US waters for foreign vessels.