Coming to Florida by boat from abroad: what do I need?

A visa, not ESTA

Under the Visa Waiver Program applicants arriving by air and sea must arrive on a carrier that is signatory to a Visa Waiver Program Agreement. The same part defines a carrier as the owner, charterer, lessee or authorized agent of any commercial vessel or commercial aircraft engaged in transporting passengers to the United States from a foreign place. A private yacht is not such a carrier, so the Visa Waiver Program does not cover an arrival on your own boat.

ESTA or a visa, as for any air arrival

Arriving on an airline, the Visa Waiver Program works as usual: a valid passport from a designated country and a travel authorization obtained through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization. Leaving and re-entering by boat changes the question.

Coming back by boat: the balance of your admission

An alien admitted under the Visa Waiver Program may be readmitted after a departure to foreign contiguous territory or an adjacent island for the balance of the original admission period, if otherwise admissible, with the exception of arrival on a signatory carrier. That is the balance of the original period, not a new one. Whether the country you sail to counts as an adjacent island is not settled by this regulation, and the officer decides; a visa avoids the question.

{flag} is named in the list

A cruising license may be issued for up to one year by the CBP port director. It waives entering and clearing between ports, manifests and permits to proceed, and the entrance and clearance fees, and it exempts the vessel from the annual user fee decal for the term of the license. You still report every arrival. Offering the boat for sale or charter to a US resident makes it dutiable.

{flag} is not named in the list

A cruising license may be issued only to a yacht of a country named in 19 CFR 4.94(b). Without one, a foreign-flag yacht complies with the laws applicable to foreign vessels arriving at, departing from and proceeding between ports of the United States: formal entry, clearance and a permit to proceed.

Report at once, with CBP ROAM

Upon arrival in any port or place within the United States from a foreign port or place, the master of the vessel must immediately report that arrival to the nearest CBP facility or other location designated by the port director. CBP offers ROAM, a free mobile application, for that report; the Small Vessel Reporting System is no longer in service.

The annual user fee decal

On first arrival in a calendar year the person in charge of a private vessel tenders the annual user fee, the sum of $27.50 in the regulation, as adjusted in accordance with the terms of paragraph (k) of that section. CBP determines annually whether an adjustment is necessary and publishes the amounts, as adjusted, in the Federal Register; no adjustment is made in a year in which the calculated change is less than one percent. Private pleasure vessels of less than 30 feet in length are exempt so long as they are not carrying any goods required to be declared to CBP, and so is any private pleasure vessel granted a cruising license, during the term of the license.

No boating card needed

Florida requires the card only of a person born on or after 1 January 1988 operating a vessel powered by a motor of 10 horsepower or greater.

Your licence is accepted

Alongside the Florida card, the statute accepts photographic identification together with a temporary certificate issued or approved by the commission, an International Certificate of Competency, a boating safety card or certificate from another state or United States territory, or a Canadian Pleasure Craft Operator Card. Carry it with photo ID.

Get an ICC or the Florida card

A national licence on its own is not among the documents the statute lists. The options: an International Certificate of Competency, the Florida boating safety identification card, or a temporary certificate, which is valid for 90 days after the date of issuance; the commission may charge $2 for either card. You are also exempt if you are accompanied by a person who holds a card or is exempt, who is 18 years of age or older and who is attendant to and responsible for the operation of the vessel.