US Registration.

[Pot899]

I'm in Australia and wish to register a 48 Cutter in the Keys. What is the requirements and best method for doing this. Does the yacht have to be there to get the registration done or can I do it from here and sail over?

[Sailmonkey]

Are you looking for state registration, or U.S. Federal documentation?

I don't know the specifics of your circumstances, but I do know the path will be different for both of the above directions.

[belizesailor]

A foreign entity, you can't federally document the boat (register at the federal level) and I don't think you can register at FL state level either.

There is a loop hole in Delaware which allows a foreign entity for form a corporation there and then register in Delware in the name of the corp. This is the only way I know of for a foreign entity to register a boat in the USA.

[FLLCatsailor]

Delaware corporation is really the only way to go. Any reason why you want to document the boat?

[Pot899]

Thanks. The reason I wish to do this is so I can leave the yacht there and fly over to sail. I know Bare foot is an option but I wish to have my own there.

[Sand crab]

Foreign Yacht Registry Resources - MarineTitle.com

[denverd0n]

You can sail the boat to Florida and then you will have 90 days to register it here. It doesn't have to be registered before you get here.

But I'm not sure if that helps, because I'm not completely clear on what it is you are trying to accomplish.

[Teknav]

US taxes, maintenance, parts and upkeep are lower than Australia's.

Mauritz
Going to behave now!

[savoir]

Why not just do Florida state registration ? With that you can then travel anywhere in USA and Canada. Some here say that you can also get into Bahamas and Mexico with state reg only.

Florida registration comes with a once only tax of 6% and you may have 90 days from closure of the purchase to pay. The annual fee is $134.50. You might need to get on top of this pretty quickly. If you enter Florida with no US registration then you only get 30 days to pay. If your PO cancelled the old registration in some other state then this time limit might apply to you.

If you bought in Florida then you get 90 days to pay or leave because you are a foreigner. Confused yet ?

[svseachange]

My wife and I were discussing state registration on a new dink roday, we are cruisers on the way out of the country with an Aussie registered vessel but the state authorities still harass us for state rego.

Our last state of residence, Minnesota, requires boats to be registered in person. You are probably better off getting the boat here first then dealing with state registration. No point in paying the Florida sales tax until you get here. Non-US citizens are not eligible for US federal documentation.

[skipmac]

No problem at all for a foreigner to register a boat in Florida. They wouldn't care if you came from Mars as long as you pay the fee, which is not much. Helps to have a mailing address in Florida but you can even get around that.

You can use the FL registration in the US and Bahamas for sure as I have done it. Canada and Mexico I don't know. Caribbean could be a problem in places.