Entering US from the sea

[Hunter34]

Apologies if this has been covered before but I still cant get to grips with finding stuff in the archives.
What is the proceedure to enter the US from the sea.Is it possible to use the visa waiver sheme as you do when you arrive by plane or is a full visa needed.
If a visa is need do you have to obtain one before you leave the UK or can it be done when you arrive?
We will be wintering in Bermuda and Bahamas and then may decide to sail across to Florida unless of course the immigration proceedures just make it impossible to arrive by sea in which case we will stick to the Carribean and save ourselves the trouble.
I have left the US by sea after entering on the visa waiver which was surprisingly easy.I phoned the immigraton number to find out where their office was so I could come along to clear out and I was told not to bother, just write left by private ship on the back of the green form and put it in the post.I somehow doubt getting in will be so easy.
Or am I wrong?

Anyone know.

Thanks in advance

Andrew

 

[john_morris_uk]

You need to get a Visa before your arrive. Easiest in Uk before you go, although it is possible to get a visa in the Carib. The visawaiver scheme is only for people arriving by an approved carrier (such as an airline).

I was still hacked off a few weeks ago at being made to wait in line for two hours, photographed and fingerprinted, before I was allowed to walk across the airport to board another plane to leave the country! I had only landed for a connecting flight!

 

[TigaWave]

Just for your or any body elses information, we arrived in St Croix without Visas, british yacht all british crew and were promptly told to leave, parole papers issued.....after a very hard sail straight from Los Roques. We just wanted to rest....needless to say we weren't happy.

 

[cgull]

Recently went in to Miami ,(as crew on a british registered yacht from Caribbean) went to customs, was told i qualify under the Visa waiver scheme, therefore only have to pay 150 dollar exemption fee! One other crew paid 250 dollars.Some other crew paid nothing.

 

[NigeCh]

Re: Entering US from the sea ... Did 911 ever exist ????????????

The theory is to make you have to make a personal visit to Grosvenor Sq and wait amd wait and wait to get and then have to pay through the nose for a proper paper visa.

The 2nd theory is to forget about that and take a set of phone numbers with you (Available from the USA Consulate website) so that when you enter the USA wearing your 'Q' flag nobody takes any notice of you. You radio the USCG and ask for Customs Clearance and you get a garbelled message about futt bucking time wasters ......

The 3rd theory is to land and phone the first of the telephone numbers that were given to you by the USA Visa Dept in London ... and you get a recorded message telling you to phone another number .... So you phone the 2nd number and ... you get a recorded message telling you to phone a 3rd number .... 4th .... 5th ..... 6th ..... and finally you get a recorded massage telling you to phone the FIRST number ..........

I've sailed into the USA 7 times with no visa and come back to the UK by air the same number of times. I've done this 4 times post 911 and found that it is easier to enter and leave the USA since that horrific incident as the USA Immigration Service is so bottled up with form filling and X-raying your shoes that it hasn't a clue as to what its purpose is.

OK, if you have to have an exit visa then go get your green forms from the USA Visa office in London and take say 20 or 30. They are just inside the door on the right.

Fill in the bottom bit, and there you go: It's your pre-prepared exit visa for when you leave by air back to the UK /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Oneday someday I'll be caught freebying into and out of the USA ... The most security concious country in the World ... What a joke!

 

[Sea Devil]

Re: Entering US from the sea ... Did 911 ever exist ????????????

A bit my own experience -

Every time I have sailed into the USA it has been hard work for me to alert them to my presence. Every time I was given an address in town for me to go to with my ships papers, passports et al. Then another address to go to for veg and fruit control. Nobody ever visited the boat!

The exit visas are collated manually and not by computer! This means that in reality they do not match your exit visa to your entry visa....

Compare that to Australia where in Port Jackson they make you sit on on a Buoy for hours and stay until they have time to clear you in - not very nice after a Tasman sea crossing from NZ!

 

[Hunter34]

I thought as much

Thanks guys for the interesting replies.
As I live in France and wont be coming to the UK before next winter which is when we may land in the US there isnt much chance of obtaining a visa beforehand.
I think we will just plead ignorant when we arrive.
If we get chucked out then its our hard luck.

Andrew

 

[Sea Devil]

Re: I thought as much

But you can get the visa from the US consulate in Paris - probably worth the effort and I think.. you can do it by post.