De reg, re reg.

[John marven]

Hi guys.
It looks like I may be purchasing a lagoon 440 in France. Can anybody advise me on what I need to do to de register from being a French vessel to re registering as an Australian vessel including name change. Is it difficult? What forms do I need? Does it take a long time or is it quite straightforward. Any advice would be greatly received.

Kind regards

John.

[StuM]

Go here:
https://www.amsa.gov.au/vessels-oper...r-vessel#31371


and click on "General Register" at the bottom of the page for all the gory details of Aus registration.


I can't tell you how to de-register in France, but you will need evidence of the de-registration for AMSA.

[John marven]

We have dual nationality ( aus, Uk). Is Uk easier??

[Hesti]

If you want to sail in French waters (however short, you can not avoid this if you want to sail from France), check also the skipper certificate requirements for France. They do not recognise everything and even if they in principle recognise your certificates, you may still have to go through the trouble of a formal temporary (holiday) only recognition. This status is a few years old, but please check.

[John marven]

Hi. Thanks for your advise. Skipper requirements are not a problem. It’s more vessel registration I was chasing advise on.

[BM2023]

Originally Posted by John marven

Hi guys.
Can anybody advise me on what I need to do to de register from being a French vessel to re registering as an Australian vessel including name change. Is it difficult?

My advice would that you have the seller of the vessel supply the Certificate of Withdrawal. Make it part of the purchase agreement. You then have less to worry about.

In order to apply for a Certificate of Withdrawal in France, the original Certificate of Registry has to be attached to the application for the Certificate of Withdrawal. The Certificate of Registry is held by the present owner of the vessel.

How long it takes depends on the office were the application is submitted. Some offices will issue a Certificate of Withdrawal within a week or so, others it may take a month.

So either make sure that the vessel is delivered with a Certificate of Withdrawal, or that the original Certificate of Registry is handed over so you can apply for one.

Note that the vessel has a size which makes it subject to annual taxes in France. I am not sure, but I can imagine, that the authorities might not issue a Certificate of Withdrawal if taxes have not been paid. That could possibly mean, that if the owner hands-over the original Certificate of Registry and you apply for a Certificate of Withdrawal, that either they refuse to issue the document as long as the previous owner has not paid the taxes OR you are made liable for the taxes not paid. Mind you, this is speculation on my part. A fiscal specialist will be able to advice you on this.

So in conclusion : if the deal is not yet sealed........make the Certificate of Withdrawal part of the deal, that way you are sure all is cleared and you can not be made liable for anything.

[tarian]

Originally Posted by John marven

We have dual nationality ( aus, Uk). Is Uk easier??

Hi John for UK registration you will need a residential address in the UK for part 1 and 3 and must be renowed every 10 years for part 1 and 5 years for SSR number , were are planning on sailing

[Bob_a_p]

I have previously registered two boats as Australian and one as British under a Jersey flag which is available to UK citizens not resident in the UK.
I would certainly choose the Jersey option if you have paid the VAT on the boat.
Also at the moment when visiting other EU countries, the paperwork and other custom stuff is a lot easier under a EU flag. This might change post Brexit
AMSA is a bureaucratic nightmare, they are slow, pedantic and sometimes seemingly inept. Amongst other things they once sent all my boat paperwork to Sweden when I was in Slovenia.
Both Jersey and Australia require much the same paperwork, the most important being a deletion certificate for the previous registration. I would allow a minimum of six weeks for Australian registration and about two for UK Jersey registration.

[John marven]

Thanks for the advice guys. That’s a great help.
I will keep you posted on how I go.