ATTN: Canadians - You now NEED a cruising permit to enter the US

[alctel]

New thing for 2016 - they also said I didn't need my customs decal anymore (after I'd paid for it a few days ago - 40 CAD I won't be getting back )

I am a member of the SVRS program so I can usually just call in from the water and avoid having to go to a port of entry, but this time I had to go into Friday Harbour, where I spent 90 minutes while the customs people figured out the forms needed (I guess I am one of the first Canadians to enter there this year)

So if you go to the US - be aware you now need a cruising permit (Before, Canadians were exempt)

[alctel]

More info here:

https://www.cbp.gov/es/node/98956

[jackdale]

Canadians have always needed a cruising permit in US waters.

This is what is new:

As part of this enhanced security, most yachts (including US and Canadian ones) are required to submit a float plan under the Small Vessel Registration Scheme (SVRS). See the offical US website for the details. This also applies to those boaters registed under the LBO and NEXUS schemes. This online system allows you to "pre-establish" yourself with the CBP and in many cases avoid having to physically report to a Customs office when you enter the US from a foreign country on a small vessel. For those returning to the US from the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, USVI's or Canada, this free scheme offers a much quicker and easier option for clearing back into the US.

For foreign boats, however, a face-to-face inspection is usually required and a Port of Entry must be used. Call 1 (800) 432 1216 or 1 (800) 451 0393. Procedures vary slightly depending on where entry is made. Current regulations regarding entry clearance and cruising licence are on the US government site. Cruisers recommend not arriving in the US on Fri/Sat/Sun as the phone line is permanently engaged.

USA —

[alctel]

Nope - I've crossed to the US many many times in the last 18 months and never needed a cruising license - I needed a customs decal and that was all. Now you don't need the customs decal but need a cruising license instead!

The SVRS is something different, it is a voluntary scheme that allows you to bypass physically visiting a port of entry when you enter the US, and instead call in from the water. For that, you need to have filed a float plan - this hasn't changed either.

[hpeer]

There was a long thread here some years back that detailed how different customs regions work on different interpretations of the law.

When I came in from Canada in a Canadian boat I was given a cruising permit. I surrendered that when I put her up on the hard and they have reissued it to me when I go in the water.

I'm a bit of a special case as I have both US and Canadian citizenship and that lets me keep the boat here.

BUT...the point is, I had to have a Cruising Permit, Marblehead, MA and Baltimore. Not having a permit may be a West coast or Great Lakes thing.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by alctel

Nope - I've crossed to the US many many times in the last 18 months and never needed a cruising license - I needed a customs decal and that was all. Now you don't need the customs decal but need a cruising license instead!

The SVRS is something different, it is a voluntary scheme that allows you to bypass physically visiting a port of entry when you enter the US, and instead call in from the water. For that, you need to have filed a float plan - this hasn't changed either.

We always called the customs decal cruising permits.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by alctel

More info here:

https://www.cbp.gov/es/node/98956

That's as clear as mud.

[Macblaze]

A cruising license may be available to boats departing from Canada and arriving in the Puget Sound area. A cruising license may exempt foreign flagged pleasure boats (from certain countries) from having to undergo formal CBP entrance and clearance procedures, except at the first CBP port of entry each and every year. Cruising licenses are normally valid for one year.

So now, even if you aren't a member of of a SVRS or Nexus, you won't have to report in person every time?

[Siberianhusky]

LOL just another reason not to bother with the states, that list is getting very long!

[Mirage35]

I'm just skimming the various parts of the CBP website - it would take serious reading and analysis to understand the whole thing - and here are two bits that seem relevant:

"SVRS is a voluntary effort that will allow eligible, frequent pleasure boat operators and passengers, who are U.S. Citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) of the United States, to register with CBP." (My emphasis)
Pleasure Boat Reporting Requirements | U.S. Customs and Border Protection

"Cruising licenses exempt pleasure boats of certain countries from having to undergo formal entry and clearance procedures and can be obtained from the CBP Port Director at the first port of arrival in the United States. U.S. pleasure craft and foreign-flag vessels without a cruising license, which are 30 feet or longer in length, must pay an annual fee of $27.50 for the user fee decal." (My emphasis)
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...uising-license

[alctel]

You can register as SVRS as a Canadian citizen, I'm a member.

A lot of the info on that website is contradictory or misleading :/

[Mirage35]

Originally Posted by alctel

-snip-

A lot of the info on that website is contradictory or misleading :/

-snip-

Now in the running for "understatement of the year."

[Scaramanga F25]

Once I had to explain to a USA Coastie that I was actually anchored in Canadian waters..." see officer you have crossed the dotted line over there! "
We also ran races every week and a junior officer objected that we raced back and forth across the line.
St Lawrence River east of Massena N.Y.

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by alctel

New thing for 2016 - they also said I didn't need my customs decal anymore (after I'd paid for it a few days ago - 40 CAD I won't be getting back )

I am a member of the SVRS program so I can usually just call in from the water and avoid having to go to a port of entry, but this time I had to go into Friday Harbour, where I spent 90 minutes while the customs people figured out the forms needed (I guess I am one of the first Canadians to enter there this year)

So if you go to the US - be aware you now need a cruising permit (Before, Canadians were exempt)

Alctel,

Sorry for the extra bureaucracy...

I posted this news release about this change in late December 2015 in case it has any additional information of use to anyone...

Cheers!

Bill

[PappysSailing]

Question for anyone with experience in deletion/ transfer of Canadian registry of vessels. American friend buying a Canadian flagged boat in Martinique this week. I meet him this weekend for return. U.S. National Doc Center is backed up four months for processing U.S. Doc requests. So, his plan is either (if he is ok w survey) we take orig Canadian document and new bill of sale with us (if we can clear Martinique with those), fly a Can flag into San Juan where we make entry into U.S. and ask for a cruising license. Or we try to get a temp endorsement from Consulate in Martinique, or more likely Barbados (way out of the way) under U.S. Code 46 12115 provision, which makes it easier for us to make landfall in foreign ports and into U.S. ports along the way, after still making formal entry in San Juan ...I guess? CBP attorney is unwilling to speculate on how we will be handled in foreign ports under these plans. Either no response from any of the French Embassies, consulates, or their custom people or we play ping pong by being directed to multiple non answered numbers or email addresses.
Question 1. Do either of the two plans above sound right? 2. How long does it normally take for Canadian registration/documentation of their vessels to be deleted? Any advice from experience here is welcome. Thanks, Pappy