TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Clearing Questions

Question 1. If you are aboard a sailboat based in the BVI with USCG Documentation and clear out of the BVI, how much time do you have before you have to leave BVI waters? Hours? Days?

Questiin 2: Can you clear out of BVI and clear in BVI for arrival at a later date at the same time?

I've read the clearing procedure in many places but have not come across an answer to these questions.

To be clear this is what I plan to do:

Sunday Board boat in Road Town
Sail within BVI waters for several days
Friday sail to St John USVI
Sunday sail to BVI

I know I need to check out of BVI, Check in USVI, check in BVI. I'm just trying to 1. Check out of BVI when its convenient 2 minimize time in BVI Ports Autority

Thanks

Tony

1. Generally you have 24 hours to depart after clearing out. That is primarily to allow for weather. Probably clearing out at Great Harbor in the afternoon and hanging at Foxy's for the evening would be OK. Clearing out at WE then sailing around to CGB to party might not.

2. No you can't "Pre-clear in" to the BVI.

They used to give only 12 hours maximum after clearing out.

In January, we cleared out of Great Harbor for a next day early departure to Cruz Bay. The gentleman suggested that we "leave with reasonable haste."

Our situation is a bit different going the other direction as we are a private USVI registered vessel. We can clear in and out if we are staying three days or less, but must clear out separately if it is a longer stay. On a charter vessel we are able to clear in and out for a longer period.

I've asked to clear out/in in that order and been told no. Still, worth asking. We bring our BVI paper work when we clear back in, for us it means only a $15 fee the second time around. Again, different situation as we are USVI registered.

We're getting ready to do this exercise across two weeks, with two vessels and crews, one vessel is private and the other is charter. I'm expecting to pay coming and going. I'll still bring my NPT mooring certificate and try to beg off.

Cheers, RickG

The BVI does not grant 24 hours, one needs to depart their waters within 12 hours. And I've even paid weekend/overtime fees when clearing out because my intended departure date/time fell on a weekend even though I was in the customs offices during normal working hours...

Glenn, Greg, Rick, Arnd

Thanks for the spot-on answers to my questions! TTOL Rocks! I suspect we will pull into Sopers to do all of our clearing just prior to departing BVI as well as just after entering.

Cheers,

Tony

I will say that Great Harbor is a much more pleasant experience. It is faster, unless the C&I man has walked to the wharf for a ferry. Sopers Hole is a bit of a scrum. Of course, we'll be clearing in twice at Sopers over the next two weeks...but clearing out at Great Harbor.

Cheers, RickG

We usually sail from the USVI to the BVI and spend a week or so there.
We clear in and out of the BVI at the same time, paying for the number of days that we'll be there.
If you leave early it's probably no big deal, but it would not be good to stay beyond the number of days you paid for.

Have to be careful in Jost since Customs there insists on charging the $1 per foot per day fee that all other Customs offices have decided not to. It can get a bit heated sometimes. Turf war in the Customs hierarchy I'm told.

I thought they did away with the $1 a foot charge

So did I