Any rules/regs for sailing with non-EEC passport holders?

[alant]

If you take a trip from UK to France with a multinational crew, (Australians, Americans, etc) technically will there be any problems with these non-EEC passport holders?

Assuming the trip also encompasses a visit to the Channel Islands, what are the rules for re-entry back into EEC (UK or France) for these guys.

What are the skippers responsibilities regarding reporting any non-EEC crew to the authorities

 

[Mirelle]

One thing to keep in mind is that the UK does not participate in the "Schengen agreement", so your guests/crew will need Schengen visas as well as their UK visas. If you embark them in the Schengen area, then it seems reasonable to assume that they have Schengen visas, in which case you need to be sure that they have UK visas (if required).

 

[tcm]

Schengen visa

Yep, i had advice from Stingo about this (he is from seth efrica) and you do NEED a Schengen visa to travel to schengen countries like france and spain and portugal - most of mainland eu. Our crew had to do this a week before departure to france. Otherwise they risk being chucked out, although er not sure if any custom offical has ever checked it...

They used a visa agancy to go to embassy and muck about with queuing etc. There are loads of little agents doing this such as http://www.visaworld.co.uk/

 

[GeorgeP]

Passport checks

I've had my passport checked three times in the last ten years by French customs while on a boat. This probably represents about three - four months in France, so it's worth having your papers in order.