TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Sailing between bvi and usvi

We are doing a 14 day charter in May. How much of a hassle is it to check out and back in to the BVI? I believe there is an app for checking into the USVI?

It's a bit of a hassle, but really depends on the day and how busy customs and immigration is. May is historically a much slower month in the BVI (kids still in school, many people just traveled for Spring Break, etc). So, I don't think it would be troublesome in May at all.

It’s been a fairly long time but we had no problem checking in at Great Harbor JVD. The skipper had to go ashore with documents for everyone if I recall right so it is easier if you have them onboard at the start of the charter.

You can use the ROAM app to check into the USA. You will need the vessel registration and all crew (not passengers) passports. You may be able to skip the face-to-face C&I stop in Cruz Bay. Going back to the BVI, you will need to check in using SailClear with the vessel registration and all crew (not passengers) passports. Check with your charter company for the vessel registration documentation.

If any of your crew are not US citizens or permanent residents you will need to check visa requirements for the country that issues their passport.

Cheers, RickG

I have done it several times and was never a big hassle. Make sure you have all your documents ready and be courteous.

To add to what Rick shared, the customs officers in the US are pretty stringent on meat and produce coming in from the BVI. We also charter for 14 days and typically spend a day or two in St. John. However, on our last trip, after experiencing scrutiny about our food the prior year, we decided not to visit the USVI. We have heard a few stories where boats were called into the customs dock to be searched. Obviously, if this is important to you, you can research what the restrictions are and make sure you do not have any of the restricted foods onboard. Good luck!

I can share first hand experience with this. The last time we came back to the USVI from the BVI I checked in via ROAM and checked the box that asked if we had animals, meat...etc. on board because we had our dog with us. We do this quite frequently and usually either get approved online within about a half an hour to an hour or I've also had to call and then they quickly approve us. This time we were already on the mooring ball at Honeymoon and hadn't heard from them. I called and asked about it and he said they had some questions about what kind of meat we had on board. We had cooked bacon, breakfast sandwiches (with cooked breakfast sausage), lunch meat, etc. All of these items we got in the USVI and took over to the BVI, which I explained to them. They told us that we were going to need to bring the boat to the customs dock in Cruz Bay. We did this and they had 2 agents come aboard and had me take everything out of our fridge/freezer. They confiscated all pork products but let us keep a roti (with cooked chicken). They were extremely friendly and told us we did the right thing by claiming the meat so that they could dispose of it properly. So, what we learned is that you can't bring any pork products into the USVI, even if it was bought in the USVI. If it goes into another country it is considered contaminated. You also can't bring raw chicken from another country but you can bring it in if it is cooked.

Very helpful - thank you!

The US side of things is easy when you have the CBP roam app. We entered all the info for the boat occupants (including two Canadians) and we got the message back that we were cleared into the US in less than 15 minutes.

BVI customs is always interesting. I've never had it take less than an hour. Last time the guy went to lunch while we were waiting. When he returned 45 minutes later, he brought his lunch back with him to his desk and ate it while we were doing our stuff. No fewer than four people we had to visit on Jost to get processed.

Ron, that has been my experience in general on the English islands - immigration, customs, agriculture, health. Someone always comes in late, is out for lunch, and leaves early.

Cheers, RickG