Dutch flagged boat to the USA

[gtpinhei]

Hello,

I am buying a boat with Dutch flag in the Caribbean. I am Brazilian and my wife is Brazilian and Swiss.

Se are planning on sailing to the USA as my wife will study there for a year. We are getting residence visas as she will study there.

I would like to know from your experience, should I keep the dutch flag or register the boat in the USA?

Or any other Caribbean country flag is advised? I heard Cayman islands is a good place to register.

What are the expected costs for converting it to another country?

Do I have to pay taxes over the boat's value when getting to the USA?

Thanks! Gus

[JerseyJoe]

Resident visas are not the same thing as being a US citizen. To document a boat in US you either have to be a US citizen or document the boat under ownership of a US corporation if I am not mistaken.
USCG National Vessel Documentation Center, Fee Page

[Finistere]

You can register the boat in a state, however you cannot document federally unless you are a citizen. If you decide on a state registration you probably have to pay sales tax.


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[gtpinhei]

Thanks guys, but do I have to register it in a State, or may I just keep it as a foreign vessel visiting the US?

I will be there for a year, arrive around June 2015 in Florida than sail up to Boston. Spend the winter there and than departure back to the Caribbean in summer 2016, probably around July.

I rather keep the boat registered in the Netherlands if I may, or flag it in Cayman where they seem to be receptive. But if I do so, may I enter and stay a full year in US waters?

Thanks

Gus

[Dsanduril]

If you qualify (you'll have to figure that out based on the various flagging options you discussed) you can get a cruising permit that allows you to keep a foreign flagged vessel in the US for up to one year without paying import duties.

US Cruising Permit

To get another year, unless you are a resident, you have to leave the US for at least 15 days. So, if you can try to make the Bahamas fit in your schedule somehow...

Also note that you are talking about leaving for the Caribbean at the height of hurricane season.

[gtpinhei]

Hummm, 1 year... That might be a problem, anyways as I will be in Boston I would probably have to spend these 15 days in Canadá (closer).

Would be better to renew it for another year, wait for hurricane season and them move south to the Caribbean I guess.

Thanks!

[boatman61]

I'm interested to know... how as a Brazilian citizen... you are going to keep the Dutch flag.. most countries require de-registration when the boat is sold.

[gtpinhei]

Good question. I don't know. In fact I know nothing about foreign flagged boats. All boats I had before were Brazilian flagged and sailed in Brazil.

Should I have to open a corporation there? Then sounds better to register it in Cayman or BVI, doesn't it?

Flagging it Brazilian does not make sense as I will not sail it to Brazil, at least not in the coming couple of years.

My wife is Swiss, should I flag it Swiss? Anyone knows if Switzerland is a good flag to carry? Or would pirates come after the gold on the vault?

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by gtpinhei

Hello,

I am buying a boat with Dutch flag in the Caribbean. I am Brazilian and my wife is Brazilian and Swiss.

Se are planning on sailing to the USA as my wife will study there for a year. We are getting residence visas as she will study there.

I would like to know from your experience, should I keep the dutch flag or register the boat in the USA?

Or any other Caribbean country flag is advised? I heard Cayman islands is a good place to register.

What are the expected costs for converting it to another country?

Do I have to pay taxes over the boat's value when getting to the USA?

Thanks! Gus

The one easy answer (not based on specific knowledge of tehNetherlands but general principles in Europe) is that it is unlikely that you will be able to keep the boat in the Dutch register unless you either get a Dutch company or Dutch citizen or European citizen living in the Netherlands to acts as a front.

The other answers will depend on many things, including where was the boat made, what county and state will it be kept and the value of the boat. Immigration status may also matter; will you have a proper resident card aka Green Card or J or F visas? If you can provide that info I am sure you will get help.

[boatman61]

If when you buy the boat you get the bill off sale made out dividing the 64 shares equally between you and your wife as joint owners/operators she will be eligible for regitering the boat either in her home country or Belgium.. I'd go for Belgium myself.. if she has a Swiss address she can use for correspondence it may speed the process..
The other benefit is she can sail it when you cannot.. so one more possible port authority complication off the list..

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by boatman61

If when you buy the boat you get the bill off sale made out dividing the 64 shares equally between you and your wife as joint owners/operators she will be eligible for regitering the boat either in her home country or Belgium.. I'd go for Belgium myself.. if she has a Swiss address she can use for correspondence it may speed the process..
The other benefit is she can sail it when you cannot.. so one more possible port authority complication off the list..

Does her Swiss citizenship let her register in Belgium even though Switzerland is neither in EU nor EEA??

[Sand crab]

If the boat was made in the US or Canada (or Mexico) then you probably won't have to pay any import fee if you document it in the US. The law governing this is NAFTA. But the import fee is only 1.5%. Most states will levy a sales tax or use tax if you keep it there. A use tax is about the same as sales tax. If you document the boat and/or register it elsewhere and keep it in Boston then they will tax it like you registered it there. The only 2 states without a sales tax or use tax near Boston are Delaware and New Hampshire. Delaware is not really convenient but New Hampshire is.
Like others have said you can form a Delaware corporation and document and flag the boat in the US. In the purest sense this is illegal but those wily yacht registration companies have figured out a way to circumvent the rules.

[CHAZ]

Originally Posted by svlamorocha

Does her Swiss citizenship let her register in Belgium even though Switzerland is neither in EU nor EEA??

Yes...if she still has a Swiss address (as b61 said).
As for registering in Switzerland she will need two (2) Swiss licenses, the inland- and the ocean license.
The problem with Swiss registration is that you have to have a Swiss passport to sail a Swiss flagged yacht.
So without her on the yacht her husband could run into troubles.
It seems, as most often, boatman61 was right.
2 cents

Martin

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by svlamorocha

Does her Swiss citizenship let her register in Belgium even though Switzerland is neither in EU nor EEA??

Belgium registration is available.. I beleive.. to any European citizen who applies for it.

[dahshore]

Hi. You bought a boat, have bill of sale, going to do some sailing then return to home port [wherever that is] . Go sailing, up the US coast, to where your wife is going to school, go on the hard for whatever time needed 3 month etc.

The POINT is do what you want and have to do in your schedule. You will probably never be asked about all the things or comments you are given on this forum.

Opinions are like an as.......... everyone has one in the US. Don't worry/be happy mon !!!!!






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