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Subject: [world-cruising] US Visa requirements for British citizens
From: John Titterton (jt@XXX.XXX)
Date: Tue Jun 17 2003 - 09:28:21 EDT
Greetings group,
A word of warning for British citizens visiting the USVI or the US
mainland on sailboats.
I have just returned to South Africa after undertaking the delivery of a
34 foot sailboat to Fort Lauderdale via St Helena Island, Grenada, BVI
and USVI from South Africa. We were three-up (2 x South Africans and 1 x
Brit.). Before leaving SA I contacted the US Embassy in Cape Town to see
if the Brit. needed a visa and were told that he did not. We were happy
about this and accepted the word of the embassy staff - both us South
Africans had US C1/D crew visas already.
During our stopover in Grenada we were told by a US couple on "Indigo"
that the British crew member in fact did need a visa if he was entering
the US on any form of private transport. He is only exempt if he enters
US territory on commercial transport. We checked this with the US Consul
in Grenada and found that the initial information we had been given in
Cape Town was incorrect and he did need a visa if entering on a private
sailboat.
We were then informed that it would take approximately three weeks to
obtain a visa for the crew member. This delay was out of the question
and thus we came up with a legal solution to this dumb US law. The
following is how we solved the problem.
Our initial plan was to sail directly from Grenada to Ft Lauderdale so
we deviated first to Road Harbour, Tortola. We immediately cleared in
with customs and immigration, discharged the crewman from our crew list
and sent him to Cruz Bay, St John (USVI), on a ferry (which is a
commercial vessel). I then cleared out of the BVI and sailed the four
hours to Cruz Bay where I cleared US customs and immigration. We then
told the immigration official that we wanted to take on a British
citizen (who had arrived safely and was waiting for us outside the
customs fence) as an extra crew member. No problem - he was signed on as
crew and we then sailed via the Old Bahamas Channel to Ft Lauderdale.
The US immigration official knew what we were doing (all quite legal he
told us), but said that if we had not done what we had, the British
crewmember would have been immediately expelled from the US and the boat
held until a US$30 000 fine had been paid.
So, all British citizens be aware that your visa program with the US
does not apply when sailing on a private vessel. Get a visa before you
leave.
And we all had a good trip - 6547 NM added to my log book.
John Titterton
Cape Town
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