Visiting France for the first time.... Documentation

[Slowboat35]

My experience of Preavis forms is that they are virtually impossible to find online, as is the address to which you need to send them. The RYA says that the forms are port-specific yet I have seen an apparently generic one. The port-specific ones that I have seen contain a destination address that is the Port Police themselves, yet advice here seems to be to send them to the marina office which logically has no function in immigration. RYA repeats that despite still being listed as a port of entry Boulogne has no such facilities and a costly taxi trip to Calais is required. They also say that in Dieppe the Ferry Port has refused entry from landside to crews trying to access the police there.
RYA also lists "Douvres" as a port of entry which could be handy (again if access to the ferry port is available).
The whole thing sounds like a disorganised mess with no-one knowing what's actually going on - only the Western channel ports seem to have their act together with their derogation scheme.

 

[dolabriform]

My experience of Preavis forms is that they are virtually impossible to find online, as is the address to which you need to send them. The RYA says that the forms are port-specific yet I have seen an apparently generic one. The port-specific ones that I have seen contain a destination address that is the Port Police themselves, yet advice here seems to be to send them to the marina office which logically has no function in immigration. RYA repeats that despite still being listed as a port of entry Boulogne has no such facilities and a costly taxi trip to Calais is required. They also say that in Dieppe the Ferry Port has refused entry from landside to crews trying to access the police there.
RYA also lists "Douvres" as a port of entry which could be handy (again if access to the ferry port is available).
The whole thing sounds like a disorganised mess with no-one knowing what's actually going on - only the Western channel ports seem to have their act together with their derogation scheme.

We had no issues with the ferry port in Dieppe, they were extremely helpful. But I agree, generally Cherbourg etc have been much more organised.

 

[TwoFish]

Many thanks to all who have provided helpful info. The short answer is that there has been no mention of the Préavis form here in Dunkirk. The very helpful gentleman at the Capitainerie (sp?) at the Yacht Club de la Mer du Nord was unaware of any such requirement. The Police Aux Frontiers passport stamping process was as described above. One visit had us stamped in for yesterday and stamped out for tomorrow.

The PAF station is 18km away from the marina. Taxi was helpfully arranged by YCMN and the return journey plus short wait at PAF was 50 Euro. The alternative was apparently 2 buses + a 3km walk each way. Everyone (PAF) included has been very helpful and welcoming, with no unnecessary bureaucratic fuss created.

 

[dolabriform]

Many thanks to all who have provided helpful info. The short answer is that there has been no mention of the Préavis form here in Dunkirk. The very helpful gentleman at the Capitainerie (sp?) at the Yacht Club de la Mer du Nord was unaware of any such requirement. The Police Aux Frontiers passport stamping process was as described above. One visit had us stamped in for yesterday and stamped out for tomorrow.

The PAF station is 18km away from the marina. Taxi was helpfully arranged by YCMN and the return journey plus short wait at PAF was 50 Euro. The alternative was apparently 2 buses + a 3km walk each way. Everyone (PAF) included has been very helpful and welcoming, with no unnecessary bureaucratic fuss created.

Thanks for the report, much appreciated

 

[TwoFish]

Many thanks to all who have provided helpful info. The short answer is that there has been no mention of the Préavis form here in Dunkirk. The very helpful gentleman at the Capitainerie (sp?) at the Yacht Club de la Mer du Nord was unaware of any such requirement. The Police Aux Frontiers passport stamping process was as described above. One visit had us stamped in for yesterday and stamped out for tomorrow.

The PAF station is 18km away from the marina. Taxi was helpfully arranged by YCMN and the return journey plus short wait at PAF was 50 Euro. The alternative was apparently 2 buses + a 3km walk each way. Everyone (PAF) included has been very helpful and welcoming, with no unnecessary bureaucratic fuss created.

I can't seem to edit that post, so now that I'm back at a proper keyboard, here's a little more detail in the hope it will help others:

Dunkirk / France stuff

"The Police Aux Frontiers passport stamping process was as described above." - as kindly described by @Poecheng in post #26 above. The PAF police officer at Dunkirk ferry port was friendly, welcoming, professional and showed no interest in any documentation beyond our passports. I explained our situation in broken O Level French. He reappeared after a couple of minutes to ask, in English, where we were going to next (presumably to establish if it was another Shengen port - nope, back to the UK) and then a couple of minutes later with passports stamped in and out.

The (seemingly new and unmarked) Dunkirk ferry port PAF office is at:
Google maps link
W3W link
As stated above, Dunkirk buses are free and easy; just hop on and hop off, but the journey to the PAF would have involved two buses and a walk (hence a EUR 50 taxi). The journey from Gravelines would have presumably been a bit shorter, easier and quicker.

A chat with the capitainerie about (hypothetical) situations about (say) departure being delayed by the weather after stated 'stamp out' time led to a 'everyone is working out how the new rules work in practice . . . couldn't give any assurances but I'd be surprised if there was a problem . . . it would be an odd thing for the police to make difficulties about sailors in such a situation' type conversation (echoing comments in various threads here). My reading of the landscape is that a bit of French pragmatism around rules is being shown and that nobody seems to be trying to create trouble for otherwise reasonable people.

Returning to the UK

On return to the UK, we did the fully compliant (I hope) Submit a Pleasure Craft Report Service, fly the Q flag, then call the National Yachtline on arrival thing*; "Have you submitted a SPCR form? Anyone aboard need immigration clearance? Vessel and skipper name? OK, thank you, you may now take down your Q flag if you've not already done so". Ours was the only Q flag evident in the harbour. On seeing it, some Shengenese sailors came round for a chat. They'd tried to do the right thing and filed the SPCR thing, had been given email permission to enter the UK, but were given no instructions on Q, passport stamping, customs clearance, National Yachtline etc. so had done no more. I suspect they weren't alone in that approach. Again, reasonableness seemed to be prevailing.

*[Edit] And it seems it was not actually necessary to fly a Q flag or call the National Yachtline on arrival back in the UK (after filing an SPCR). As per the FAQs in a (promotional) Border Force 'Partner pack for pleasure craft reporting campaign' included alongside the gov.uk guidance on sailing pleasure craft to and from the UK.

Do I still need to phone Border Force or National Yachtline?​

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No. You only need to call National Yachtline if anything has changed since you submited your voyage plan and you have not been able to update this online. If you require immigration clearance to enterthe UK (i.e. you do not have a right of permanent residence in the UK) and you have not been granted such clearance since you submited your report, you must telephone Border Force. National Yachtline will be able to tell you how to do this.​

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That was not apparent from HMRC's Guidance on Sailing a pleasure craft that is arriving in the UK.