Expired U.S. Cruising Permit

They sieze the boat and arrest the captain.

The good side is that whoever buys the boat at auction won't have to get a cruising permit because the boat can then be flagged American.

Seriously though, it just means you don't have a cruising permit and have to comply with the odious arrival and departure procedures and associated costs that a cruising permit reduces.

You can get a new one by leaving the country and applying on reentry ... unless the boat is American built then you don't have to go foreign first.

Cruising permit

Too much false info.

It depends which Port Captain you ask, each has different opinion, the LAW does not allow continuous permits for US built boats unless owned by US resident. Must go offshore trip.

If you don't want to cruise outside your current jurisdiction, no permit required, ( Ft Lauderdale opinion)

If you want to cruise outside current jurisdiction, you can get individual "permits to move" 37.50 Ech. (FT Myers opinion)

Some go by the US CBP site for enforcement.

YMMV

A friend let his cruising permit lapse by a couple of days while the boat was on the hard near Stuart FL waiting out the hurricane season. An inquiry was made that a new permit could be obtained at a nearby airport for not much money, time, or hassle.

This friend is fantastically wealthy, and so has to try to find challenges in life, rather than just trivially solving them with a small check. Therefore, he did not renew the permit, just to see what would happen.

We launched the boat, left the ICW for the Bahamas, cruised through the Bahamas, T&C, PR, SVI, USVI, BVI, St Martin, and St Barts without clearing in or out anywhere. When we got to Antigua, where the owner also owns a house where he intends to keep the boat, we did clear in. And we had a problem for a couple of days as the owner, purely for his own amusement, kept us essentially captives onboard unable to leave the boat, while the owner visited various governmental agencies to try and bluster his way through the red tape. He did succeed in getting the head of immigration to personally agree to allow us to clear in to Antigua, all without paying any extra fees or fines of any kind. A fair amount of lying was utilized to achieve this goal.

You might notice the above descriptions shifts from calling this fellow "a friend" to "the owner."

It is quite possible for them to want to tax the boat on sales tax if it stays here after it's cruising permit has expired.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/de...ning-a-cruising-license-after-old-one-expires

Permits

A US cruising permit is not required to enter the Bahamas. A vessel purchased in Florida and operating under an annual cruising permit is sales tax exempt, the caution comes during the period when the permit has expired and the vessel stays in the State, if stopped without a permit, sales tax is due.

All vessels owned by non US residents are foreign vessels and need annual cruising permits, foreign flagged vessels owned by US residents, require annual cruising permits but do not need to go offshore annually.

A vessel in Stuart Florida would be directed to the US customs office in West Palm Beach for permit jurisdiction, not the airport.

All vessels cruising under permit must check in (by phone) at each Port where a customs office is located unless cruising through that jurisdiction and not stopping overnight.

Failures to conform can be costly including vessel seizure and heavy non appeal able fines...

The system is defective as far as security goes, the boat is forced offshore into possible unfriendly territory and subject to maybe strange infectious diseases may then come back to the US with foreign nationals who are potentially dangerous, a very odd law.
A few Customs agents have agreed with me on that point but are governed by policy. Other vessels may not have the capability to do the offshore trip, i.e. San Francisco to ??, and same for many other jurisdictions, this law was supposed to be in concert and similar to other laws in listed friendly Countries, this is not the case as my research has proven.

Permits

If one reads in detail the reference to 3130-006 as it relates to "successive" cruising licences, one can see that a successive licence can be granted to foreign flagged vessels which have duty paid and reciprocal agreements and US made, this is in conflict with current CBP rulings in some ports, some will accept that ruling but CBP has ruled that this will only apply to US residents.

I have a letter from the "chief" who disagrees with the CBP 's unfavorable ruling re 3130-006 (successive licenses to US built vessels) but it is in PDF format so I cannot copy and paste. Why they want to "punish" the vessel is really curious.

I was informed by one office that if I made application to that "chief" and got a favorable ruling they would abide by it, seems not so...

You don't need a US cruising permit to enter Greece, Thailand, Brazil, or Norway either. What has that got to do with anything?

That is patently absurd. No one is required to obtain a cruising permit. A cruising permit exists in order to avoid having to pay for clearances and fill out manifests. It is a courtesy offered by CBP to vessels of certain countries. Not having one does not preclude a boat from moving from port to port in the US.

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/g...geCache/cgov/content/.../v1/pleasureboats.doc

"CRUISING LICENSES. Cruising licenses exempt pleasure boats of certain countries from having to undergo formal entry and clearance procedures such as filing manifests and obtaining permits to proceed as well as from the payment of tonnage tax and entry and clearance fees at all but the first port of entry. These licenses can be obtained from the U.S. Customs port director at the first port of arrival in the United States. Normally valid for one year, a cruising license has no bearing on the dutiability of a pleasure boat."

permits

As usual Marmot has his knickers in a twist, a previous poster indicated that a Stuart Florida vessel did not get his permit renewed before leaving for the Bahamas, that' why I referenced no permit required for US vessels to enter Bahamas.
If people would actually read the regs they would see that a foreign flagged vessel, or foreign owned vessel in order to cruise from Port to Port must have an annual cruising license and clear in by phone at least as I previously mentioned, if one were to read the document then it does become clear.
AS Below

46 U.S.C. App. ? 104 authorizes the issuance of cruising licenses to exempt
pleasure vessels of foreign registry from these formal entry and clearance
procedures. That exemption, however, is limited to pleasure vessels of
countries that extend reciprocal privileges to United States pleasure
vessels. Countries that have satisfied this reciprocity requirement are
listed in section 4.94(b) of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR ? 4.94(b)).
Great Britain is listed in 19 CFR ? 4.94(b); therefore, vessels of British
registry may be issued a cruising license. Please be aware that a cruising
license does not exempt the master or owner of a foreign vessel from the
requirement that a report of arrival be made immediately upon arrival at a
port in the United States. 19 U.S.C. ? 1433.
end.

Note that this reporting is a requirement even if under a cruising license

In addition, the master of any foreign vessel arriving in a United States port, whether from a foreign port or another United States port is required to make vessel entry under title 19, United States Code, section 1435 (19 U.S.C. 1435), and section 4.3 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 4.3). Such vessels are also required to clear when bound for a foreign port, and must have a permit to proceed from one United States port to another.

The Customs Regulations provide under section 4.3, footnote 9 (19 CFR 4.3 n. 9) that, "Every undocumented vessel of 5 net tons or over owned by an alien, whether or not such alien is a resident of the United States is a foreign vessel". (Consistent with this position, see also The Chiquita, 19 F.2d 417 (192

No, Marmot just doesn't have much sympathy with idiots who post nonsense.

There is no "requirement" for anyone to have a cruising license. The CBP has a program whereby a cruising license is available to certain vessels and holding one allows a simplified means of clearance. If you don't want to get one, you don't have to. Not having one just means more work and expense moving between ports, that's all.

So what if someone did not renew a cruising license before leaving for the Bahamas or any other nation on the planet ... it has zero relevance where a boat with an expired cruising license goes. There is no requirement to hold one, no requirement to obtain one if you don't want one and no problem if one expires.

It really reads like you got your butt kicked by CBP over having a boat in US waters illegally or something and so are now trying to make it sound like there is some conspiracy surrounding cruising licenses because you feel you have been "punished" or something.

CBP is screwed up enough without people in another country 3000 miles away telling local boaters in Florida what terrible things are going to happen to them. Geez man, if you don't have anything more than a bad attitude to contribute just keep out of it.

It's the holidays guys. Nog it off.

Careful.. All this effort to avoid taxes might cause occupy Wall Street to make a trip down the marina!

Most of those guys can't swim, so they don't go near the water! hehehe....plus there isn't enough room at the marina for their tents and 30 tons of garbage! hehehehe

I agree, why do some guys on here have to go from quoting or even argueing facts to then personally attacking the other person.

All you have to do to show that the statement "If people would actually read the regs they would see that a foreign flagged vessel, or foreign owned vessel in order to cruise from Port to Port must have an annual cruising license ..." is correct and I will apologize. That is one apology I know I will never have to make and I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for one from my detractor either.

The OP's question was answered correctly in my first post and I stand by that. It is up to the poster who called my information wrong to show that it is. So far all that has been shown is proof of a fundamental lack of knowledge about the subject.

My entire point is that it is idiotic to state that a cruising license is a "required" or "must have" document and that having one or not is somehow linked to taxation or duties.

Show me the reg, that's all you have to do. Unless Dennis can cite such a regulation then I suggest he find another subject on which to pontificate.

It appears that some people are simply incapable of reading regulations. A PM regarding this issue included (quoted below) what the sender believes is the "clincher" that shows him "who is the idiot"

"Such vessels are also required to clear when bound for a foreign port, and must have a permit to proceed from one United States port to another ..."

First off you have to know the difference between a permit to proceed and a cruising license. I suggest that the doubters look up CBF forms 1400 and 1401, then take a look at a crusing license -unfortunately the form doesn't seem to be one of those available online. Just to make life easier for the research impaired who started this slugfest here is the verbiage that explains what benefits a cruising license brings to those who elect to obtain or maintain one.

"If a foreign-flag yacht is issued a
cruising license, the yacht, for a stated
period not to exceed one year, may
arrive and depart from the United States
and to cruise in specified waters of the
United States ... without filing manifests and
obtaining or delivering permits to
proceed, and without the payment of
entrance and clearance fees, or fees for
receiving manifests and granting
permits to proceed, duty on tonnage,
tonnage tax, or light money.
Upon arrival at each port in the United States,
the master of a foreign-flag yacht with
a cruising license must report the fact of
arrival to the appropriate CBP office."

It really is difficult to make it much more clear. Why some people feel they have to try and scare others about a subject that is so easily researched is beyond me. I am no fan of the CBP or its byzantine rules and regulations that seem to vary so much depending on the office and the officer and the time of day or amount of cloud cover but the basic regs are posted on the CBP website in plain English. The cruising license is well understood (at least in the SE USA) and there should be no need for anyone to post misinformation based on their own inability to read and comprehend US regulations or their own bad experiences based on that inability.

Marmot, your statement is not true. Here in Florida if a foriegn flagged vessel does not have a cruising permit and is here is subject to state sales tax

• Florida use tax is due on any vessel imported into Florida from any foreign
country for operation on Florida waters, regardless of the period of use in that
country, unless the vessel is operating under a “Federal Cruising License/Permit.”

The Department has recognized that a boat flying a foreign flag is exempt from use tax if
it receives a temporary cruising license from the United States Customs Service in
accordance with 49 U.S.C. 104, and the boat is used consistently with such license and
federal law. A boat brought into the United States under cruising license from United
States Customs is not considered imported under federal law. The States of the United
States are bound by the Supremacy Clause to respect this federal statute.

Therefore, a yacht or pleasure boat is dutiable if imported into the United States by a
nonresident through Customs without a cruising license. Florida would consider any such
boat brought in by a nonresident to be subject to Florida use tax at such time as it is
required to be registered in Florida, pursuant to Chapter 328, F.S., unless another
exemption provision within Chapter 212, F.S., is applicable.

http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/taxes/sigs/boat_external.pdf see page 11

That' s nice J, but the topic is a cruising license, not what the State of Florida or any other State wants to do to fill its coffers.

There is no requirement for any vessel to hold a cruising license. Period.

A cruising license is not required to move a yacht between US ports. Period

A cruising license is a "courtesy" that is not even available to all yachts and exists solely to make life easier for foreign flag pleasure yachts cruising between American ports.

If you don't have a cruising license then the following applies:

"A foreign-flag yacht which is not in possession of a cruising license shall be required to comply with the laws applicable to foreign vessels arriving at, departing from, and proceeding between ports of the United States."

Attempting to hijack the thread or divert the question doesn't change those facts or the answer to the original question. If you have knowledge about the subject and can provide information to support Dennis's contention that a cruising license is required, then say so. Otherwise you are just contributing to the signal to noise ratio for reasons only you can explain.

Expired U.S. Cruising Permit

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If a foreign flagged vessel has been in the U.S. but not moving around and has let it's cruising permit expire, what has to be done to get it renewed?

Also what are the likely consequences to having let the permit laps?

Haven't gotten an answer from Customs as of yet to these questions so I was wondering if anyone here had ever dealt with that before.

THIS IS THE ORIGIONAL POST!

Marmot, I am not hijacking anything. The poster asked "also what are the likely consequences to having let the permit lapse?" I would imagine getting a heft tax bill from the tax man would be a consequence for anyone. If you want to avoid paying FL 6% sales tax up to $18,000 you need a cruising permit on a foriegn flagged vessel if it's going to stay here and not be in a yard getting repaired where you can get an exemption.

I am quite familiar with getting a notice to proceed from US Customs everytime you move a foriegn flagged vessel that does not have a cruising permit and the pain in the butt of clearing it in every US port you stop in and then getting another notice to proceed to the next port. I'm dealing with a yacht registered in Spain right now. But, that is not the only consequence for not having a cruising permit on a foriegn flagged vessel, tax money is as well.