Visa policies differ when arriving by sea?

[osprey877]

Originally Posted by Paul L

I really can't follow your logic here. If you enter by sea on a private yacht you can be turned away by Immigration. If you don't have B1/B2 visa and you are not Canadian, you will be turned away.
Getting a B1 visa is expensive and time consuming.

I assume the logic is that the US authorities want people to either have a visa or to arrive by a commercial carrier who is legally responsible for removing any ineligible passengers they have brought to the US. I live close to the us border and when my brother in law from the UK wants to cruise with us in the US they have to either cross at the land border crossing or take ferry from Sidney and then join us after we have cleared customs on the boat. If we arrive at the customs dock from Canada with any non Canadians onboard we will be turned back. This is fairly common knowledge amongst the local boating community.

[evm1024]

I don't have a problem sailing with my Ukrainian wife. But that is because she became a US citizen and had a green card before that.

Before we were married we did get turned loose in Amsterdam for a layover on the way to the US. She was granted permission to leave the airport with the strict provision that she got on the airplane the next day.

That of course is not applicable to cruising. But the takeaway is that she was granted permission because we had reservations for 1 night in a guest house, a ticket for a flight out and a sincere promise to leave. Our ducks were in a row...

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by Paul L

I really can't follow your logic here. If you enter by sea on a private yacht you can be turned away by Immigration. If you don't have B1/B2 visa and you are not Canadian, you will be turned away.
Getting a B1 visa is expensive and time consuming.

B1/B2 Visa is specific to the United States. That is not the scope of the OP's question/discussion, whichi is not limited to entry into the US. There are 195 countries in the world. The United States is just one of them. Try avoid thinking so geo-centrically, as the earth doesn't revolve around the US.

Incidentally, B1/B2 are Visa's for Business and do not apply to Tourist Visa's.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Shrew

B1/B2 Visa is specific to the United States. That is not the scope of the OP's question/discussion, whichi is not limited to entry into the US. There are 195 countries in the world. The United States is just one of them. Try avoid thinking so geo-centrically, as the earth doesn't revolve around the US.

Incidentally, B1/B2 are Visa's for Business and do not apply to Tourist Visa's.

Actually, you pretty much misinterpreted my intent. Firstly, since I posted about foreigners getting into another country, hard to calll it geocentric. Many posters on CF like to make out how difficult third world countries are to deal with their officialdom, but in reality first world is just as bad. That is why I pointed out how tough the US is on foreign cruising boats. If I was really being geocentric I wouldn't mention the US as I'm currently sitting on my boat in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

[belizesailor]

One of the few places I know of with a different visa for mariners is Panama. They offer a "mariners visa" which just simply syncs with the dates of the cruising permit. This is more convenient than countries where the two are not synced

However, it has no bearing on normal visa requirements for immigration, all rules still apply otherwise.

[nolakennedys]

Originally Posted by Shrew

B1/B2 Visa is specific to the United States. That is not the scope of the OP's question/discussion, whichi is not limited to entry into the US. There are 195 countries in the world. The United States is just one of them. Try avoid thinking so geo-centrically, as the earth doesn't revolve around the US.

Incidentally, B1/B2 are Visa's for Business and do not apply to Tourist Visa's.

US VISA B1 is for business. B2 is tourism. A combination B1/B2 allows for either entry. A separate or combination VISA is available.

All foreign cruisers entering the USA on a private vessel (except Canadians) are required to have a VISA (FOIL not ESTA).

ESTA (electronic system for travel authorization) is only for commercial or charter/private vessels or aircraft that are party to the VISA waiver program.

If one flies into the USA with ESTA and joins a vessel and travels the country or even visits an adjacent country such as the Bahamas, that is permitted. However you must show round trip tickets under ESTA and depart via commercial air otherwise you will show as an overstay if you leave by private vessel and that will greatly hinder any subsequent trips to the USA.

Just speaking about the US regs.