US Cruising Permit ?

[youmeandthed]

OK, so we bought our boat in Florida in Dec, went home to Canada and left the boat there. We then registered our boat as a Canadian vessel, and came back down in Feb (a new year). We drove through a border crossing, showed our vessel registration and told them we would be cruising the Florida Waters. They never issued us a cruising permit. So as it stands, we have broken no rules, declared everything to homeland security, and now our boat and us are in the US without a cruising permit.

So if we are not issued a permit at the border what does this mean? How unforced are these rules? What are the penalties? Anyone with experience?

[GordMay]

I’d check directly with your local office of the US Customs and Border Protection
➥ U.S. Customs and Border Protection - Travel

Florida ➥ http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/pl...ns/florida.xml

See the CBP “Pleasure Boat Reporting System”
➥ Pleasure Boat Reporting Requirements - CBP.gov

[youmeandthed]

I phoned them up, and talk to a very helpful lady at the closest port of entry. She gave it to us sans fee because we weren't actually clearing in. But now we have to phone in every time we change port jurisdictions in Florida.

unreal.

I guess it is what it is. Thanks for the link.

[SunDevil]

That doesn't sound right. You should read this document:
http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/...g_brochure.pdf


"Canadian Border Boat Landing Program (CBP Form I-68)

The Form I-68 program, allows pre-registered operators of small pleasure boats to obtain a single boating permit for a 12-month period. With the I-68 form, boaters may enter the United States from Canada for recreational purposes by placing a phone call to report their arrival and without the need for further inspection."

[webejammin]

I think it has something to do with perminite morage for the boat and who you paid your taxes too Canada or Florida and do you have a Canadian boat sticker or equivlant saying you paid taxes. It's all about the money. If you paid as a Canadian boater taxes in Canada and plan on mooring it perminitely in Fla there is guidelines I'm sure.

[youmeandthed]

i dunno, the lady in the office said we need to call in at every new port jurisdiction, but maybe thats if we leave us waters... super confusing.. if i get asked i might just act like i know what i'm talking about because everyone here has a different story.

[DotDun]

It is my understanding that a cruising license allows you to proceed without having to get a 'permission to proceed' plus allows somewhat more freedom in moving around within a CBP jurisdiction. But, yes, changing CBP jurisdiction requires a phone call sans the normal paperwork.

I also believe the cruising license negates Florida collecting their registration fees for staying over their 90 day limit.

BTW, if you do leave US waters for 15 days or more, it's in your best interest to relinquish the cruising license on your way out and request a new one when returning. They are only good for 1 year, and leaving US waters is a requirement for renewal. IOW, they won't track you leaving and tie it to the cruising license, that' your responsibility.

[Nonsuch30C208]

I have just renewed my decal at this website

https://dtops.cbp.dhs.gov/main/jsp/termsAndConditions.jsp?flag=N

Required for pleasure boats 30 feet and over.

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by Nonsuch30C208

I have just renewed my decal at this website

https://dtops.cbp.dhs.gov/main/jsp/termsAndConditions.jsp?flag=N

Required for pleasure boats 30 feet and over.

Not required for foreign flagged vessels that have been issued a cruising license:

USER FEES. U.S. pleasure craft and foreign-flag vessels without a cruising license that are 30 feet or longer in length must pay an annual fee of $25 for the user fee decal. Contact your local customs office if you have any questions on this subject.

from:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...eus74tq1z5aHWg

[Nonsuch30C208]

If cruising in US waters for less than six months the decal may be simpler than a cruising permit. No need to surrender a permit when leaving US waters.

[Cheechako]

It's hard to believe anyone is looking really, but who knows. Isn't it wierd.... half the cars ont he freeway up here have Canadian license plates. They can go anywhere in the US they want and dont need to "check in". But a boat? all of a sudden you're a "Rum Runner"!

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by Nonsuch30C208

If cruising in US waters for less than six months the decal may be simpler than a cruising permit. No need to surrender a permit when leaving US waters.

This decal is a replacement for the foreign vessel cruising license with all the same benefits?

[Nonsuch30C208]

In Lake Ontario the decal system works well. It is my impression that this is to ensure that vessels are in the US system for reasons of Duty and Taxes. Staying longer than six months may require payment of duty.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...ruising-permit outlines some of the different reporting requirements between permits and decals.

My wife and I also belong to the trusted travellers program - NEXUS - and have registered for the SVRS (Small Vessel Registration System) https://svrs.cbp.dhs.gov/ which makes entry into US simpler by allowing the filing of a sail plan with the ability to use a web-based system for arrival check-in.

[AiniA]

The first thing to clarify is that the rules are enforced differently in different parts of the US. If you are on the north side of Long Island Sound (and up into New England) you are supposed to call when you move. If you are on the south side of the Sound (in New York state) you only need to call when you enter the district and when you leave - so you are good from east end of Long Island to Cape May, NJ.

So the rule vary and so does the enforcement. We were in Plyomouth, MA and the local police reported us and another foreign boat (German-flag) to the local Customs/Immigration guys who gave both of us something of a hard time - we had recently entered in Connecticut and had no problems with the entry but the guys in Massachusetts had issues and ended up giving us a new cruising permit.

As I understand it, you get your permit for one year and then you have to take the boat out of the US for 15 days (in the case of Florida, the obvious spots would be the Bahamas and Cuba). When you reenter you can get a new permit. Here is a useful wrinkle though. We left our boat in Fort Pierce for about 5 months - during this time our permit would have expired. We talked to the official at the local Customs office (at the local airport) and they said they would keep our boat registration and cruising permit in their vault and it would stop the clock on the cruising permit, since legally we should not leave the dock (not did we intend to) without the paperwork. So that was a nice, and common sense solution.Whether you can make a similar arrangment I have no idea.

As to decals, we had always had them when we were on Lake Ontario so I bought one for the new boat which we bought in Rhode Island. I showed up at the local customs office where we living on the boat (container port in Newark) and they did not know what to do about the fact that we had a decal - they had never heard of a foreign boat having one. Nicely they did not charge for clearance, which would have been more than the cost of the decal. Anyway, we have not renewed the decal since we are long gone.

I no one has given it to you, if you want to call into Customs (daily or whenever - and we did not call in going from Fort Pierce to Lake Worth because no one told us we had to) their 24/7 number is 1 800 987-2867. That hooks you up with a central office and they will connect with your district office.