More joy with BVI Customs & Immigration
RAVEN - Atlantic Circuit 2021-22
Richard Foulkes
Sat 26 Mar 2022 09:24
After being threatened with prosecution by Customs when we arrived in the BVIs 3 weeks ago, it was with some trepidation that I went to the Immigration office on Wednesday to get my 30 day stay extended by a couple of weeks. I gaily thought this would be a fairly straightforward evolution. How wrong!
The first obstacle was when I was told it couldn’t be extended until nearer the expiry on 3rd April. I dodged that one fairly easily by saying I would be sailing the previous week, but was thrown by the news that RAVEN would have to be “imported “ into the BVIs before my stay could be extended. This sounded complicated, but wasn’t too bad in theory. A trip to Customs explained the process. Forms had to be filled, documents provided including uk registration and insurance documents, proof of marina berth etc and then I trekked back to Customs to be told it would take a few days, potentially sabotaging the sailing with Amy next week.
The good news e mail on Thursday afternoon that the permit would be ready for collection on Friday proved to be hollow…….it took 6 visits yesterday to two different Customs offices and several hours of queuing and trekking backwards and forwards before I got the permit, which is at least a suitably grand looking document!
That was not the end however as I then legged it to Immigration, getting there 5 minutes before they closed to applications, waited over an hour before being taken to an interview room to be quizzed on why I wanted to extend. Finally SUCCESS - the passport was duly stamped!
Another $ 215 into the BVI coffers for the 2 transactions.
P.S Jon - don’t be alarmed, the UK registration or VAT etc is not affected any way by the import!
