reentry to US from Bahamas cruise

[John_Trusty]

Don't know what your 2 hours is for, but for others reading this, this CBP page states for private vessels over 30' LOA you need to pay a $28.24 fee annually. They'll either bill you at the border, or you can pay ahead and get a number to use on-line or in-person. You buy these from their DTOPS web-site like any on-line transaction, but you do have to register / create an account first so it's a two-step process. This was set-up originally for commercial vessels & trucks, so the site structure is that you're sitting in an office registering a dozen decals. In your case, you're both the authorized buyer and the individual decal owner.

Based on experience, and comments from others around the dock, having the decal number is easier for all concerned as the CBP agents don't like to stop their work to do $28 credit card transactions. They want to clear you fast.

https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/uftd-info

[skippy]

Well, we tried the app ROAM got all the info into it twice but it is failing on Custom’s side so after 2 attempted FaceTime calls from Customs they gave us the “you are good to go”.
Yeah!!!

[SSgtPitt]

Any new updates??
I just got my Global Entry card. My wife does not have one.
SVRS is no longer operable.
I had not assumed I would have to do anything other than cruise the Bahamas for a few months and then go home. I am an American citizen after all.
Really, what happens if I go cruise around and then just go home?

[billknny]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

Any new updates??
I just got my Global Entry card. My wife does not have one.
SVRS is no longer operable.
I had not assumed I would have to do anything other than cruise the Bahamas for a few months and then go home. I am an American citizen after all.
Really, what happens if I go cruise around and then just go home?

Nothing--if you don't get caught.

Your American citizenship does not give you the right to come back into the country without passing through immigration formalities.

Now, I know from experience that outside of ports that see a lot of traffic, like Miami and San Diego, the Border authorities in the USA are hopelessly incompetent at dealing with inbound recreational boats. The agents don't know the rules, and really don't care. You are outside their normal job description, and they prefer to just brush you off.

We ALWAYS check in by phone. We have ALWAYS been told, "You are good to go," even when we KNOW that the regulations require a face to face contact. The first couple of times we actually fought it through multiple phone calls to get a formal clearance number.

We have now given up. We still always check in, and we record the phone call. We get the name of the agent we talk to, and ask him clearly if there is anything else he would like us to do. Once he says we are done, we take him at his word. Even when we know it doesn't meet the rules, we figure it would be hard to find a judge to throw away the key after we made a good faith effort.

The only time we have been questioned on the water was coming into San Diego at 2AM. Since we had just come from Hawaii there was no reason to stop us, and they did not.

[a64pilot]

I downloaded CBP ROAM, a new app, filled out the blanks and gave it pictures of our Passports. It asked if I wanted to become a trusted traveler or something similar, I said yes, it asked if I would participate in a video chat with a CBP Officer, I said yes, it said standby and connected me to a CBP Officer who asked some simple questions.
He said we were accepted as trusted travelers or similar and that upon reaching the US all we had to do was report our arrival with the App, no need to do anything else. We had been personally interviewed and our identity confirmed.
Now I’m a little suspicious of that, so I asked a couple of times nicely, but getting very specific and he said no need to do anything except report my arrival with the App.
Now I’m sure they can contact you and tell you to go to whatever the nearest CBP station is, but he made it sound like that’s not going to happen.
I feel real sure that if you skip reporting that’s a felony.


Oh, your going to have to buy that $28 sticker and have that number to put into the app, all you need is the purchase number that you will be given when you buy it online, you don’t have to wait for the sticker to arrive

[SSgtPitt]

Thanks for the quick replies. I’ll do the right thing, just as I always do. Sometimes you just don’t know what the right thing is.

[nautical62]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

...
Really, what happens if I go cruise around and then just go home?

You risk having your boat confiscated, being fined and facing criminal charges.

https://iyba.yachts/news/understandi...nts-for-yachts

[SSgtPitt]

Originally Posted by nautical62

You risk having your boat confiscated, being fined and facing criminal charges.

https://iyba.yachts/news/understandi...nts-for-yachts

Thanks, I read this. Unfortunately it’s out of date as the SVRS option is no longer valid.
I paid my $100 to get the front of the line pass with Global Entry, I shouldn’t have to pay again just to be able to talk to the CBP because my boat is over 30’.......frustrating. Taxestaxestaxes and it’s still not enough. Now we have user fees to pay for gov’t programs that we’ve already paid for??

[Sea Lyon]

Has anyone used the ROAM app to clear into Puerto Rico or the USVI ? I had heard that in the past the SVRS was not always recognized .

[John_Trusty]

I cleared in using the ROAM app from Canada to US crossing Lake Huron a couple months ago. As a64pilot noted, it sounds too easy to be true, and I can understand his skepticism. We were already trusted travelers (Nexus), so we could skip the step of a video interview, just provided those numbers and a cell phone photo of the cards. I entered my boat info, and was theoretically good to go. When I was within cell phone range of Michigan, I fired up the app and said where and when we were planning to arrive. Within a half-hour, I got an email to my phone that said ...
"Thank you for your recent U.S. CBP ROAM trip submission, xxxxxxxxx. Your U.S. CBP ROAM Trip ID ##### has been approved. You and your reporting group are now cleared to enter the U.S.
Your PBRS Clearance Number is ##############.

Sincerely,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection


It can't get much easier than this. I'm sold.

[Bean Counter]

As non USA citizens we used the ROAM system, in fact they refused to issue a number over the phone. It all worked very well once we got an internet connection which was our first hurdle. After that we got issued with a number and then visited immigration, showed them printed email paid for a cruising license, stamped our passport and good to go (CBP West Palm Beach - all quite friendly). We still have to phone in to all major ports per the license.

[nautical62]

Originally Posted by SSgtPitt

Thanks, I read this. Unfortunately it’s out of date as the SVRS option is no longer valid.
I paid my $100 to get the front of the line pass with Global Entry, I shouldn’t have to pay again just to be able to talk to the CBP because my boat is over 30’.......frustrating. Taxestaxestaxes and it’s still not enough. Now we have user fees to pay for gov’t programs that we’ve already paid for??

I understand your frustrations and I'm not saying I agree with the increased costs and bureaucracy of clearing customs and immigration, but agree or disagree, the penalties for non compliance are what they are.

Customs and immigration has become more complex and costly, there are more limitations on anchoring, many secluded anchorages have disappeared, storage and insurance costs have risen dramatically. These are some of the reasons, I'm moving away from cruising and moving onto other, less costly and less regulated pursuits.

[dcareri]

Sea Lyon,

We've used the ROAM app multiple times in Puerto Rico (Fajardo) and the USVI (St Thomas) and it worked like a charm.

[Bean Counter]

We met an American cruiser who had failed to call in on arrival, he was subsequently severely bumped (his words "rammed") and boarded by the USCG and boat searched and taken apart and left in a mess. The guy was like Blackbeard with attitude - so not surprised.


We have been boarded by USCG a few times, they are very careful not to scratch our boat and are extremely polite, but edgy - so don't run inside the cabin looking for your passports, nice and slow, they will want to come with you inside (first question on the VHF and second question once aboard are the same "do you have guns on board?")

[SSgtPitt]

Well.....thank goodness for CF. Otherwise we most likely would have just sailed back to TX, ignorant of the requirements.
We don’t have to check out of the USA do we? I heard we didn’t. Land of the Free......not like it used to be.