What's the Real Deal w/Customs charges.

[traveler22]

Let's see, as Moe of the Stooges once said
"1 for me and 1 for you'
"2 for me and 2 for you"
When the custom people retire, they get jobs at banks!

[bobcside]

Well, being the facts finatic I am, I have been in contact with The BVI Government having been refered to them by the UK Govt. as the BVI are tecnically a Crown Colony of the UK.as I'm sure many of you already know.They have their own government much like the USVI. From the information I have garnered, what the bvi tourisim supervisor told me is indeed factual, I had no reason to believe otherwise. I am awaitng other info from the BVI Govt. I don't think it will take very long and I will advise asap. I was hoping for some input from a few business owners who may be able to offer some insight. Ya Know, when you factor all the visitors in it's a lot of $ were talking about so I have a feeling and hope most of it is ligitimate. We'll see..

[traveler22]

Has anyone paid a customs fee anywhere else? I do recall paying one once in the Dem. Republic ($10 entry fee)and they stamp a visitors card and you returned upon leaving but other than that I can't think of any.

[bchbum82]

Who controls vessels just pulling up to White Bay and hanging out for a while? There is no port or anything there.

[ScubaGirl]

I can describe what we have to do on a bare boat charter.

When sailing a US registered vessel, we have to clear both the boat and persons thru British customs, when we enter British water. There is a wack of paper work to fill out and the charges consist of Immigration fees, cruising fees, (so much per person per day), if you clear on a Sunday there is an extra fee for overtime. This past December we cleared in and out twice, same boat, with 4 people aboard. It was just around $100.00 the first time for 4 days and $120.00 the second, because we cleared in on a Sunday.

The nice thing is you only have to go to British Customs once, they clear you out at the same time, however we have to tell them what day we are leaving, and it’s put on the paperwork, and charged accordingly.
As soon as we leave British waters we are supposed to go directly to US customs on either STJ or STT. This is all on an honor system, but I wouldn't want to ever take the chance of being caught for not doing the right thing. Have the boat seized, would cost way more.

Here’s another kicker. If the bare boat is a Canadian registered vessel, and being Canadian, the fees and taxes are cut by less than half.

[bobcside]

An update, I have been assured by BVI Officials that there are no fees for an individual entering the BVI unless they have items to claim, If they arrive on a tour or charter vessel the vessel owner/operator must pay a fee of .75 cents, $2.00 or$4.00 pp depnding on season and length of stay. The vessel itself and any other vessel cruising BVI waters must obtain a cruising permit and that fee is based on the tonnage. That is not a "customs" fee but a permit fee for the vessel. The person I dealt with was concerned about the Agents or others charging customs fees, under the authority of BVI, when in fact none are required and passed my information and concerns to the relevant Customs Authorities. Here is some up to date info on Pvt Yacht and Charter Boat fees,

Private Vessels
Private boats are automatically given up to 30 days to cruise around the BVI. A 30 day cruising fee is charged which is based on tonnage (e.g. a 30 ton boat would be charged $20). For more information call Customs on (284) 494-3475.

Charter Vessels
A cruising permit is required for all charter yachts cruising in the British Virgin Islands.
Seasonal Rates (December 1 - April 30): All recorded charter boats - $2.00 per person per day. All non-recorded charter boats - $4.00 per person per day.
Out-of-Season Rates (May 1 - November 30): All recorded charter boats - $0.75 per person per day. All non-recorded charter boats - $4.00 per person per day.

Visiting crewed charter boats also have to pay a departure tax of US$4 per person. Charter licence annual fee from $400 (under 40 ft (12 m)) to $800 (over 50 ft (15 m).

Overtime must be paid for customs clearance outside 0830-1530 Monday to Friday, 0830-1230 Saturdays and on public holidays.

Last updated November 2008
above info from;http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Briti ... ormalities

Info on the bvitourisim site is also up to date.
http://www.bvitourism.com/GettingHere/Entry/

Take from all this what you will. In my opinion One thing is very clear, If you pay a "CUSTOMS" (cash) fee to an agent for the privledge of visting the BVI you are being ripped off. Further the fee charged to Charter vessels is a fee/tax charged for the passenger load on board. It has nothing to do with Customs. If you take the ferry to Jost, for instance the charge includes the arrival/departure TAX/FEE and is clearly stated as such on their price schedule.That is $2.00 pp each way (in & out) Could be $4 in some instances like Holidays but I don't know if that applies to Ferry Service.. I know we did not pay any customs charges last Feb when we went to Jost by Ferry and cleared Customs on our own at the dock.

Bottom line, I have done my best to reolve this issue. There apparently is confusion/misunderstanding over the customs Fee issue. Perhaps I have helped someone, other than myself that is, understand what is going on. That was/is my intent..

[California Girl]

So maybe charters are making up their $400 - $800 charter license fee by charging their passengers $20 a head? It certainly seems like there would be a pretty fair amount of "profit" in that!

You may be the first person to question the customs fees, and the rest of us are lemmings just doing what we've been told. It would be interesting to see what would happen if a person were to challenge the fees at the customs office!

[Gromit]

Bob this is REALLY interesting!!

Ok so clearly there is a disconnect because it seems that everyone on this board who has traveled on a bareboat or private charter (including those private charters that advertise on this forum) customarily charge a $20 fee IN ADDITION to the cost of the charter.

Now I assume that they are passing these fees directly onto the customs officials when checking in their passengers and have no reason to think otherwise since when doign a barebaot we paid a similar "fee."

But based upon the information you received there is CLEARLY something that doesn't fit.

I believe everything that you are saying to us but anyone can see that there's a disconnect.

I don't want to assume anything untoward here but I think you have raised an important issue that warrants further discussion.

I don't know what the "fee" is technically called but as far as I can remember the fee is called a "customs fee" by every charter company I have ever booked.

Not to call anyone out or put them on the spot-- but can Capt Brandi or someone else who runs this kind of business provide their input and clarification on the issue???

Otherwise someone needs to contact the British Government and ask, "What the hell??!"

[bobcside]

Gromit, I want to be clear, It is not the British Govt. They have no control over fees collected by a Charter Company. Particularly US licensed Vessels. They were quite surprised as a matter of fact. One other noteworty fact, I have always had to pay CASH for the "customs" fee. While most times charging the tour cost. I do hope someone has a factual, logical explanation. I do think that the Charter vessel permit fee is part of the cost of running a Charter Boat business and it is/should be factored into the tour/cruise cost just as insurance and vessel cost are. No? Why call it a "Customs" fee when there are none. The Ferry Service includes the "arrival/departure tax", not cutoms fee, (there are none) into the cost of a ticket. It's not billed extra as CASH.

[California Girl]

I would love to hear Capt. Brandi weigh in on this. There's got to be a logical, realistic explanation, right?

[Gromit]

Bob I understood, I was saying (or trying to say)that if there's something being collected at the customs office that shouldn't be then we either need to contact someone in charge like the BVI government or someone else to seek further clarification.

I'm seriously interested in what the charter co's have to say on the issue. $20 per person is NO small amount!

To be clear -- my request for the input should NOT be construed as calling them (charter co's) into question on this issue.

Until I hear otherwise I assume that they are actually collecting and paying this $20 fee in good faith to the BVI customs office.

My question is why is it being charged at all if the fee structure is as you describe?

Thanks for doing so much work on this!

[Captain John]

Hi All,

This Customs and Immigration stuff is sure confusing.
First it makes a difference if you are a private boat or a for hire (charter) boat. Secondly it makes a difference if you are a term or day charter.

I’m a day boat so that’s what I’ll talk about.

If my wife, Sue and I and a few of our friends are going to Jost for the day the Customs charge is $10.00 for “Other Ports” and $5.00 for “Customs Services”
$15.00 total.

When I go for hire is when the fees start to add up.

$10.00 “Other Ports” for the boat
$5.00 “Customs Services” for the boat
$4.00 “Cruising Permit” per person
$5.00 “ Sea Passenger Tax” per person
$7.00 “National Park Trust Permit” per person

Upon returning to St John the VI Port Authority charges us another $4.85 per person dock fee.

To really confuse matters, if we go on a Sunday or Holiday BVI doubles the “Customs Services” fee and Immigration charges $16.00 extra for overtime charges.
When returning to St. John, Customs and Border Patrol collects an extra $15.00 per boat (my size, more for bigger boats) for overtime.

I hope this helps.

[California Girl]

Yikes! Confusing for sure! Thanks Capt. John! I knew you'd be able to clear some of this up. I'd never be able to keep track of all that, so I'd better not try starting a charter service! (like I could, anyway! LOL!)

[bobcside]

Capt John, Thanks for chimimg in. I don't think this should be confusing at all. Are those fees specific to a day cruising permit for the BVI or are some of them levied by the USVI or National park Authorities? Or do they all apply to Crusing to the BVI and USVI. I think it would be most helpful if you could/would explain what fees apply for you to take passengers to the BVI and back same day. That may well clear this up for others and me. If you feel I'm prying or asking a bit too much, please accept my apology and ignore the request. It was very nice of you to try and help.

[Xislandgirl]

Bob-Capt John does take his passengers back and forth the same day. He has a great boat but it is not an overnight charter.

I know that you want a definitive answer,but I really think you are searching for a buried treasure. I remember renting an Ocean Runner and stopping in Tortola to check in. The customs agent took forever reviewing everything to the letter and charged us every possible fee that he could. 2 weeks later, same boat, same day of the week, same amount of people, same agent. Big smile, no charge.

The bottom line is you will have to pay a fee.