Buy boat in Us for French citizen

[brunoo]

Hi there, i would like to buy a boat in Florida but im not a us citizen ( im French) i would like to sail to Mexico and then to Cuba.
Any advice for the papers needed in us , and if it is all legal?

[boatman61]

UK citizen.. bought a boat in NC, USA... did the deal in the owners bank with the Bank manager as witness.. flagged her UK..
All legal.. no problems..

[brunoo]

Great, what about the boat documentation? Its stays on the old owner name until new registration, is it a problem when taking the boat abroad during the travel for the authorities..? Thx for helping.

[goboatingnow]

From memory The French registry will issue a provisional registration.

Note that UK residents can avail of a simple user declared SSR registration. Other EU. Citizens are not so lucky and have to deal with more complex or more demanding national registration systems.

Time for a simple EU wide small vessel register methinks

Dave

[BandB]

Originally Posted by brunoo

Hi there, i would like to buy a boat in Florida but im not a us citizen ( im French) i would like to sail to Mexico and then to Cuba.
Any advice for the papers needed in us , and if it is all legal?

Are you wishing to flag the boat in France? Flagging with a flag of convenience could make it all simpler.

[Phoenician]

Brunoo
Probably much easier to keep her US flagged. For non US citizens, the easiest way to do this is to create a company (for eg in Delaware - you can do this on line, there are dozens of registered agents that do just that), and it is not very expensive. Then, the US company (owned by you) will buy the boat, which will therefore continue to be US flagged

[letsgetsailing3]

Do you really want a U.S. flagged boat if your destination is Cuba?

[BandB]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

Do you really want a U.S. flagged boat if your destination is Cuba?

Nooooooooooooooooooooo

[brunoo]

Thank you all for your reply, well i dont think it is a good idea to flag the boat with us flag, if i want to go to Cuba especialy, but the time i take it there how can i legally use the boat, i guess for registering it in France i need to go to France,or? I was also thinking to leave it in Cuba as i have a house there, so maybe register it in Cuba, is it possible? Thx

[SaltyTanned]

Originally Posted by brunoo

Thank you all for your reply, well i dont think it is a good idea to flag the boat with us flag, if i want to go to Cuba especialy, but the time i take it there how can i legally use the boat, i guess for registering it in France i need to go to France,or? I was also thinking to leave it in Cuba as i have a house there, so maybe register it in Cuba, is it possible? Thx

Buying a boat in a foreign country is a little more complicated but this is done all the time. I bought min in France and am Canadian. You must resiliate the registration and then register it in your country. A broker could help you through the paperwork. I don't know about France but it was possible for me to obtain a temporary (one year) Canadian registration.

The euro is strong at this time and yes this could make a difference.

Michel