Any other Canadians stuck in the US with an expiring cruising permit?

[Montanan]

How to Count Your Days in the USA

There are two different rules that Canadians need to understand.

U.S. Immigration allows Canadians to visit the U.S. for up to 182 days during any rolling 12-month period.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Agency, allows you to visit the U.S. for up to 182 days within a calendar year. How you calculate those 182 days is where it gets confusing. This calculation is called the Substantial Presence Test and factors in how many days you have spent in the U.S. during the past 3 years. If you exceed 180 days in the U.S. over 3 years, you need to file IRS Form 8840 to prove a closer connection to Canada and avoid paying US taxes.
Note days spent aboard a foreign boat do not count towards the Substantial Presence Test. Great news for foreign cruisers who spend a lot of time in US waters.

Canada and US border protection now share information so that they know exactly when you enter and exit each country.

You can access your information online with your passport number here:

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home

[Dsanduril]

Originally Posted by Montanan

If the vessel remains in USA waters after the specified period of time it will be immediately subject to customs duty (if any are applicable) as it is deemed an imported vessel and it will need to enter and clear customs at each port of entry and obtain permits to proceed before leaving a port, i.e., subject to all the things that the cruising license provides waiver from.

This part is inaccurate. A foreign-flagged vessel, if in the United States for personal, non-commercial use may remain nearly indefinitely without becoming dutiable. This was actually a topic of discussion when the cruising license was extended from 6 months to one year back in 1983. A cruising license can only be issued to vessels from other countries that provide similar license to US-flagged vessels. Canada does allow free movement, but a US-flagged vessel becomes immediately dutiable when their entry expires - generally one year but there are conditions that can change that. It was argued that this was not reciprocal with the US where a Canadian vessel can remain after a cruising license expires without becoming dutiable.

a foreign vessel may remain in the United States once its cruising license expires, the reciprocity discussed in 46 U.S.C. 104 is addressed to the initial treatment a United States yacht receives in a foreign country.

Concerning lack of an enforcement mechanism, it is true that a Canadian vessel, as well as any other foreign pleasure vessel, is permitted to remain in the United States once its license expires. However, at that time the Canadian vessel would become subject to U.S. vessel entry and clearance requirements, and failure to enter and clear when required, would subject the vessel to certain penalties.

Finally, whether a foreign vessel has a cruising license has no effect on whether the vessel is dutiable. Pursuant to Schedule 6, Part 6, Subpart D, Headnote 1(i), TSUS, there are no duty consequences for a yacht or pleasure boat brought into the United States by a nonresident for his own use in pleasure cruising. This would apply regardless of whether the vessel possesses a cruising license.

Federal Register, Volume 48, No. 204, pp48654-48655

TSUS 6/6/D has been replaced since that was written by HTS (2020) R13 Chapter 89 that still carries the note:

Vessels if in use in international trade or commerce or if brought into the customs territory of the United States by nonresidents thereof for their own use in pleasure cruising shall be admitted without formal customs consumption entry or the payment of duty

There is no time limit on this exemption, only a condition that it be personal use.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

This part is inaccurate. A foreign-flagged vessel, if in the United States for personal, non-commercial use may remain nearly indefinitely without becoming dutiable. This was actually a topic of discussion when the cruising license was extended from 6 months to one year back in 1983. A cruising license can only be issued to vessels from other countries that provide similar license to US-flagged vessels. Canada does allow free movement, but a US-flagged vessel becomes immediately dutiable when their entry expires - generally one year but there are conditions that can change that. It was argued that this was not reciprocal with the US where a Canadian vessel can remain after a cruising license expires without becoming dutiable.



TSUS 6/6/D has been replaced since that was written by HTS (2020) R13 Chapter 89 that still carries the note:



There is no time limit on this exemption, only a condition that it be personal use.

Thank you for that clarification. Got to read those sub-notes.

So no duty on the vessel while it remains in personal use, then that kind of just leaves the entry and clearance of customs issues for a vessel without a valid license to continue to cruise, and the usual implications of avoiding being offered to sell, sold or chartered, resulting in the license being invalidated, and if the boat is sold before duty is paid then the yacht itself or its value (to be recovered from the importer) is subject to forfeiture.

Much less of a concern.

So that kind of just leaves the potential separate visa matters as to being in the USA for more than 182 days in any 12 rolling months for any Canadian onboard. Shorter period of time for non-Canadians.

[thannever]

I have a similar problem with a foreign wife on a tourist visa expiring soon in the US. US immigration allows you to apply for an EOS, extension of stay on expiring visas for various reasons, and appear to be making special efforts to accommodate people with COVID related issues. we have friends who have already been successful with this and we have just started our application effort. while your application is pending, you are not penalized if your visa expires before you get the decision or during your appeal of a bad decision. good luck. I am in Lake Superior which is a great place for a boat in the summer.

[Dsanduril]

For those with expiring cruising permits, the director of the district where issued does have the discretion to extend the validity of the permit. They tend not to use that discretion, it is frowned upon, but one would hope under these circumstances....

If not, a vessel without a U.S. cruising license can still cruise U.S. waters. The difference is that it must clear into each port by filing form 1300 with the local office of Customs and Border Protection. Each office will then take the yacht’s Certificate of Registry and return a receipt, or Permit to Proceed.

When the vessel leaves the port, its certificate of registry is returned and the vessel is given a clearance out, which can be presented at the next port of call.

There is a $37 fee (check this value for current rates) at each port for this clearance, unless the vessel applies for an annual D/TOPS decal. This decal allows vessels to clear in and out of each port without paying an additional fee.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by thannever

I have a similar problem with a foreign wife on a tourist visa expiring soon in the US. US immigration allows you to apply for an EOS, extension of stay on expiring visas for various reasons, and appear to be making special efforts to accommodate people with COVID related issues. we have friends who have already been successful with this and we have just started our application effort. while your application is pending, you are not penalized if your visa expires before you get the decision or during your appeal of a bad decision. good luck. I am in Lake Superior which is a great place for a boat in the summer.

Good luck with the visa extension, hopefully since your request is for an extension of a valid visa and if she is in country an extension could be granted priority and without the usual bureaucratic reviews and delays. I know the offices are backlogged.

We miss not having our kind Canadian visitors here in Montaña. Perhaps in 2021 things will reopen for cross border flow. One thing is for certain, neither I nor my business associates will be traveling to China again anytime soon, nor the Chinese business associates traveling to Montana.

The Covid-19 issue resulted in the suspension of visa processing as the consulates and embassies closed and the requisite face to face interviews were discontinued so as to mitigate disease transmission exposure. Obtaining a new visa for entry for citizens of other than Canada or the Visa Waiver Program countries must be very delayed.

State Department Notice.

Suspension of Routine Visa Services
Last Updated: March 20, 2020
In response to significant worldwide challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of State is temporarily suspending routine visa services at all U.S. Embassies and Consulates. Embassies and consulates will cancel all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments as of March 20, 2020. As resources allow, embassies and consulates will continue to provide emergency and mission critical visa services. Our overseas missions will resume routine visa services as soon as possible but are unable to provide a specific date at this time.

Individuals interested in the operations of a particular post should contact that embassy or consulate directly. Contact information for embassies and consulates worldwide is available at usembassy.gov.

Applicants with an urgent matter and need to travel immediately should follow the guidance provided at the specific Embassy’s website to request an emergency appointment. Examples of an urgent matter include air and sea crew, and medical personnel, particularly those working to treat or mitigate the effects of COVID-19.

This does not affect the Visa Waiver Program. See https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/faq?focused...20Proclamation for more information.

Although all routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments are cancelled, the Machine Readable Visa (MRV) fee is valid and may be used for a visa appointment in the country where it was purchased within one year of the date of payment.
We are aware of the importance of the H-2 program to the economy and food security of the United States and intend to continue processing H-2 cases as much as possible. For further information about the H-2 program, please visit: https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...-h2-visas.html

Services to U.S. citizens continue to be available.

[fire3869]

We had a similar situation. We had to get a permission to proceed document and check in every time we landed on US soil. We also had to leave our boat in March at a marina and fly back home because of the pandemic. Before we left our boat we checked in with CBP and told them our situation. The officer was great and said it was no problem. It seems different offices have different interpretations of the rules. If someone offers you a new cruising permit take it and keep going. The permission to proceed document is easy to obtain just more work every time you touch US soil.

[Emouchet]

Another option is to ask for a Permit to Proceed. A Permit to Proceed will allows you to "proceed" from port to port until you leave the country. It is a bit of paper work, but that should work for you. Not all custom CBP officer are familiar with this.

I am in the same boat so to speak, but had a different experience:

Back from the winter in the Bahamas, we cruised up to upstate New York, where we hauled out the boat at Catskills early May. Final destination is Lake Champlain, but locks C12 at Whitehall, won't open at least till mid august.

Our cruising permit expired June 15th. Before leaving the boat, we called the CBP office in Albany (the last reporting point before lake Champlain) to surrender the cruising license as the boat was hauled out.
Officer has no problem with that, understood the reason and even told us that there will be no problem issuing a new Cruising License to finish the trip later in August. Hopefully, that will still be the case when we will be back to the boat should the locks and the borders open.