Sailing
Clearing in and out by boat
What CBP wants when you arrive in Puerto Rico, Culebra or Vieques, and what changes when you sail on to the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands or the Dominican Republic. From the official pages, each with its date. Not legal advice: rules change, so check before you go.
- CBP 1-877-529-6840
- CBP ROAM app
- Decal $38.04, 30 ft and up
- BVI: SailClear, 72 h ahead
Arriving in Puerto Rico
Every pleasure boat arriving in Puerto Rico, Culebra or Vieques from the U.S. Virgin Islands or from a foreign port, and every boat arriving in the USVI from a foreign port.
CBP expects a face-to-face inspection at a designated site unless you are enrolled in an alternative inspection program, CBP ROAM or a Verified Traveler number, that lets you report by app or phone.
- Call on arrival. 1-877-529-6840 or (787) 729-6840, staffed 8:00 to midnight every day. After hours, leave the boat's name, registration, date and time of arrival and a call-back number; with no number or an international one, call again after 8:00.
- Or report in CBP ROAM. The free app (Apple App Store, Google Play; it needs a free login.gov account): enter the crew, the boat and the trip. An officer may start a video call; the answer comes as a push notification and an email.
- Go where CBP says. Report to the inspection site CBP names, with everyone aboard, unless CBP clears you by app or phone.
Have ready when you report
- Name, date of birth and citizenship of everyone aboard, with passport numbers and visas where needed
- The boat's name or registration number, and its nationality
- The CBP user-fee decal number, for a boat 30 ft or longer
- The cruising-license number, for a qualifying foreign boat
- A call-back number
The app does not replace the visit for anyone who needs an I-94 or owes duty on goods, and CBP may call any boat in for a physical report.
Designated inspection sites
| Port | Site | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| San Juan | San Juan Bay Marina, Club Náutico de San Juan, Cangrejos Yacht Club | 1-877-529-6840; (787) 729-6840 |
| Fajardo | Puerto Real municipal pier, in front of the Custom House | (787) 863-0950; (787) 863-0102 |
| Culebra | Dewey Dock, Ensenada Honda | (787) 742-3531; alt. (787) 863-0950 |
| Vieques | Mosquito Pier | (787) 741-8366; alt. (787) 863-0950 |
| Ponce | Ponce Pier, Caribbean Image Marina | (787) 841-3130; 841-3131 |
| Mayagüez | Mayagüez Seaport | (787) 831-3340, 3368, 3369, 3370; airport (787) 882-3556 |
- Not reporting $5,000 for a first failure to report, $10,000 for each one after, and the boat may be seized; up to $2,000 and a year in jail for a master who breaks the rule on purpose (19 USC 1436).
The CBP user-fee decal
$38.04a year
From Oct 1, 2026, CBP's fiscal-2027 fee, for boats 30 ft and longer.
Private boats 30 ft and longer need CBP's decal, a sticker showing the year's user fee is paid. Buy it online through DTOPS or on paper form CF-339; a boat without one applies and pays when it reports. User Fee Help Desk (317) 298-1245, decals@dhs.gov.
To the U.S. Virgin Islands
U.S. territory CBP's reporting list for the two territories names arrivals in the USVI from a foreign port, and arrivals in Puerto Rico from the USVI or a foreign port. Coming back from St Thomas, St John or St Croix, you report to CBP as above.
- Arriving in the USVI from a foreign port. St Thomas 1-877-305-8774, St John 1-877-305-8775, St Croix (340) 773-1011 by day, (340) 773-1490 after hours. The same after-hours message rule applies.
- USVI inspection sites. Edward Wilmoth Blyden Marine Terminal (St Thomas), Cruz Bay CBP Terminal (St John), Gallows Bay (St Croix).
To the British Virgin Islands
Foreign Clear in with BVI Customs and Immigration as soon as you arrive, at a port of entry, with every crew member's passport and the boat's registration papers. The captain can clear the whole crew only with every document.
| Port of entry | Island | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Road Town | Tortola | 8:30 to 20:00 daily |
| West End | Tortola | 8:30 to 16:30 Mon to Thu; to 18:00 Fri to Sun |
| Great Harbour | Jost Van Dyke | 8:30 to 16:30 daily |
| St. Thomas Bay | Virgin Gorda | 8:30 to 16:30 daily |
| Gun Creek | Virgin Gorda | Reopening; no date given |
Port hours as the BVI Tourist Board lists them; its list of customs offices gives other hours, so call ahead.
- Before you go: SailClear. Register on SailClear, upload the boat's and crew's documents, create an entry notification and fill in the online Immigration and Customs form up to 72 hours before arrival. Give the SailClear ID at the port.
- On arrival: VHF 16. Call the port of entry's office on channel 16; the Ports Authority may ask you to switch to 17 to give the reason for your visit.
- Then pay. Present the passports and the SailClear ID to Immigration and Customs, then pay at the Treasury cashier and the Ports Authority cashier.
- After hours. Arrange it in advance, for an extra fee: Customs (284) 468-6800 to 6803; Immigration (284) 494-3701 ext. 4700.
- Leaving and coming back. Clear with BVI Customs and Immigration for each exit and re-entry, and stop at a BVI port of entry again when you return.
- Charter boats from Puerto Rico. Since 2025 only BVI-licensed commercial boats may trade between BVI harbors, ports or anchorages. A boat from elsewhere needs a minister's waiver: up to 14 days, at most twice a calendar year, and a $1,500 Port State Control inspection first.
To the Dominican Republic
Foreign Coming back to Puerto Rico from the Dominican Republic is an arrival from a foreign port: report to CBP by phone or in ROAM, and expect an in-person inspection unless CBP clears you remotely.
- No official guide to clearing in. We found no Dominican government page that sets out how a yacht clears in (the Navy, Customs and Migration sites, October 2026), so we give no Dominican ports, fees or steps. Ask your marina before you sail; Noonsite keeps sailors' recent reports.
Words you will hear
- Clear in, clear out
- Reporting the boat and everyone aboard to customs and immigration when you arrive (in), or leave (out). CBP's word is "report"; the BVI's is "clear in".
- Port of entry
- A harbor where officers clear arriving boats: CBP's designated inspection sites here, the BVI's five listed ports there.
- Q flag
- Code flag Q. In the International Code of Signals it says: "My vessel is 'healthy' and I request free pratique."
- Crew list
- Everyone aboard by name, date of birth and citizenship, with passport numbers and visas where needed: what CBP asks for when you report.
- Cruising license (U.S.)
- CBP's license for a qualifying foreign pleasure boat. Its number goes in your arrival report; CBP ROAM can apply for one and report each move between U.S. ports.
- Cruising permit (BVI)
- The BVI's permit under the Cruising and Home Port Permit Act, 2021, whose fee schedule changed on June 1, 2025. Ask HM Customs whether your boat needs one.
- SailClear
- The online system the BVI uses to take a boat's and crew's details before arrival.
- Despacho
- Spanish for a clearance. A 2012 yacht bill in the Dominican Congress used it for the Navy's paper that lets a boat move from one point to another in Dominican waters; a bill is not a rule, so ask locally.
Sources (8)
- CBP, pleasure boat reporting requirements (Mar 4, 2024) (opens in a new tab)
- BVI Tourist Board, Arriving by Sea (opens in a new tab)
- CBP, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands pleasure-boat reporting (Sep 29, 2025) (opens in a new tab)
- NGA Pub. 102, International Code of Signals (U.S. edition, rev. 2003), p. 103 (opens in a new tab)
- CBP, CBP ROAM app (Sep 16, 2025) (opens in a new tab)
- Virgin Islands laws, Cruising and Home Port Permit Act, 2021 (opens in a new tab)
- Government of the Virgin Islands, Limited-Time Access for Commercial Vessels (Oct 16, 2025) (opens in a new tab)
- Cámara de Diputados, Proyecto de ley de incentivo al turismo marítimo privado (2012), art. 2 (Nov 27, 2012) (opens in a new tab)
The boating law itself (licenses, 5 mph zones, life jackets): the boating rules. Distances and hours to each island: passages.