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Fiji: Changing Formalities for Visiting Yachts

Fiji is one of the most popular cruising destinations in the South Pacific, but skippers heading to these islands need to ensure they are aware of immigration requirements for crew changes and biosecurity restrictions on cats and dogs on board visiting vessels. Here is an update on the new requirements for crew changes and pets on board.

Published 3 months ago

Crew Joining the Boat in Fiji – Facilitation Letter

Crew or guests joining a vessel in Fiji and arriving on one-way air tickets are advised to travel with a “Facilitation Letter”, issued by Fiji Immigration. Without this, airline officials may stop them from boarding their flights to Fiji, according to recent information provided to Noonsite.

Cruiser Stefan Jeukendrup told Noonsite that he had personal experience of this requirement, after he had sailed from Tonga to Fiji where he now has his boat on the hard at Vuda Marina.

“My crew member left from Nadi, Fiji, on a return ticket to Australia for a two-week stay,” Stefan said. “Despite passing all the clearance and immigration requirements, Vuda Marina office told me the Facilitation Letter was needed to ensure she wasn’t stopped from boarding her flight in Melbourne on coming back to Fiji. I was told that airline officials could perceive it as a one-way flight, as the passenger would be departing Fiji by boat.

“Thankfully my crew member arrived back without any problems. She had the Facilitation Letter (Example attached) which was provided by Vuda Marina, but was not asked for when boarding her flight in Melbourne. She just put her passport in a machine and it produced her boarding pass. Border control did not ask any questions and on the flight, she just had to fill out a form and state that she was staying on a boat.”

Fiji is one of the South Pacific’s most popular cruising destinations. Image sourced from Fiji Tourism website.

New Zealand sailor Grant McNamara, who is also a regular Noonsite contributor and keeps his boat in Fiji, said he had also experienced this issue when returning to Fiji on a one-way ticket.

“It is definitely recommended to have a Facilitation Letter, but even then there may be issues if the airline staff have no knowledge of such permissions,” he said.

“If travelling with Fiji Airways and the check-in is staffed with Fiji Airways personnel, then there are usually no problems. However, I have experienced problems when there have been questions and no senior official from Fiji Airways has been available. So while you might never be asked by airline or immigration officials, it is best to have this Facilitation Letter for “just in case”.

Crew members arriving into Fiji should also be aware that the skipper needs to sign them on to the boat, which is done at Immigration. After that, if anything that the crew member does invalidates their visa then it is the skipper’s responsibility to get that person out of the country ASAP.

Maata Veita from Vuda Marina said that to get a Facilitation Letter, crew members need to provide copies of their passport, flight details/tickets and boat papers which state ‘Authority to Disembark’.

“The marina charges $50FJD for the Letter and require a minimum of one week’s notice to have it (the letter) prepared,” said Maata “and because it is a legal letter signed off by immigration we can only provide it for vessels that are berthed in Vuda Marina.”

Biosecurity Fiji Suspends Importation and Quarantine of Cats and Dogs on Vessels

Cruisers have provided information to Noonsite which was received from the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji (BAF) and which will be of concern to any vessels heading to this popular cruising destination with either cats or dogs on board.

The advice was received from an Animal Permits Officer with BAF and states:

“BAF is currently reviewing import conditions for cats and dogs on board vessels due to a rising number of non-compliance issues, BAF have temporarily suspended the importation and quarantine of cats and dogs via vessels. Importation can be only considered via air freight if all import requirements are in order before departing from exporting country and complete mandatory quarantine in post entry quarantine station.

“In the Fiji context, it is uncertain that we can maintain an appropriate level of protection from the biosecurity risks if we allow pets to be imported onboard a vessel, quarantined onboard, and then released. In this regard, importation components of in any existing biosecurity notice is not valid until we have updated version of the biosecurity notice. ”

Noonsite contacted Biosecurity Fiji and received confirmation from a Biosecurity officer that the suspension is correct and applies to all pets on vessels. However, the officer stated that pet owners “can still apply for the permit and bring your pet via air freight by fulfilling import requirements stated in the permit then complete seven days mandatory quarantine in BAF post entry quarantine station.”

Our thanks to cruisers Stefan Jeukendrup, Grant McNamara and Michelle Shultz for sharing this information with Noonsite.

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Note: Noonsite is currently waiting on a response from BAF to verify this information, but are publishing in the interim to make cruisers aware of the current difficulties.

Any cruisers planning to head westward to Fiji from French Polynesia, or north from New Zealand should contact BAF prior to departure, if planning to enter with a cat or dog on board.

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Fiji: Changing Formalities for Visiting Yachts

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