Visa Problem for Crew

[xpfenech]

Dear All,

I am travelling now the Caribbean. I have good friend that could help me as crew from Dominican Republic and Haiti. They have visa problems almost everywhere.

• Do you know what are the problems of travelling with someone that needs a visa?
• For instance, if I go to European Islands, can they visit the islands?
• Do they have to stay aboard?
• Can a country refuse my entry because I have crew without a visa?
• If they can land, and then, they do not want to go sailing and prefer staying in the countries I visit, what is the responsability of the owner&captain?

Thanks,
merry xmas.

[ozskipper]

Why do they have visa problems?

[hellosailor]

If they can't obtain a visa, they should be detained and deported, possibly after fine and imprisonment. And there will probably be actions taken against you, for bringing them in illegally.

What part of that doesn't seem usual and proper to you?

Everyone has restrictions on where they may go. Violate them at your own peril.

[jstevens]

As ozskipper points out, if you don't share the nature of visa problem you won't get any useful responses. is he/she a card-carrying member of Al Queda? Does he/she have a passport? From what country?
If the crew is from a country that does not have a tourist visa agreement with some of the countries in the Caribbean and Europe then you will likely have to make arrangements for each such country you visit. I have no idea how difficult those arrangements will be.

John

[tg32879]

Some countries experience Visa problems as per their migration. Dominican Republic, most Caribbean, Central and South American and Asian countries have them with Europe (Schengen) and USA/Canada, Australia, New Zealand.

Consequences from carrying those people without Visa can go from "not leaving board them" to "stay on board Captain". Besides, some countries can request from you safety deposits up to USD 20´000, even in fair weather condition denying port.

[xpfenech]

About money: not at all. I have extended family (dominican) in dominican republic and friends from Haiti.

I just wanted to know if I get to a port, say Curaçao, Bonaire, It can go normal since they are normal people. However, after some research today: Bad news. T

hey can only stay 2 days in Bonaire. To go out of DR, is like one month of waiting and fighting to get them enrolled as crew.

So, basically: Unfair for these people: neocolonial laws still applying around the world. We can enter, they can not. They are jailed in a corrupt island and cannot move from there.

To reply to these comment:

If they can't obtain a visa, they should be detained and deported, possibly after fine and imprisonment. And there will probably be actions taken against you, for bringing them in illegally.

What part of that doesn't seem usual and proper to you?

Everyone has restrictions on where they may go. Violate them at your own peril.

I will basically say that it does not seem proper to me, but each one has differnet views on how the world is and how it should be.

Thank you.