At the start of the migration season for sailboats bound for the South Pacific, the following information is very important for skippers planning an extended stay in French Polynesia.

Published 12 years ago, updated 6 years ago

Update April 19th, 2013

On March 27th, 2013, the length of stay for French and foreign yacht crew was modified from a maximum of 185 days per calendar year to 18 months (as long as their visa or visa extension permits this length of stay).

This is renewable after an exit from the Territory of 6 months minimum.

Previous Report as follows:

In 2009, the French Polynesia (FP) government amended the decree regulating the temporary importation of foreign-flagged vessels, in order to authorize visiting leisure crafts to stay up to 24 months in FP waters (instead of 12 months previously), without having to pay importation taxes and duties.

However, since then, several cruising skippers have been charged hefty fines by the FP Customs for staying over a period of 12 months only. After many irate cruisers complained, FP Customs admitted their website was misleading and they modified it (in November last year) in order to better inform visiting yachts of the law regulating the temporary importation of leisure boats.

All well and good, but unfortunately cruisers that arrived with their boats in FP prior to the date of modification of the FP Customs website, November 2nd, 2012, continue to be fined. All believed, in good faith, that they were abiding by the law, since they had been informed (either by visiting the website of the High Commission in FP, or by local authorities upon their arrival in FP) that they may stay up to 24 months in FP without paying taxes on their boat.

This is not the case.

French Polynesia Law regulating the temporary importation of leisure boats

The law pertaining to the length of stay by yachts and their crew in FP is complex and not easy to interpret, but this is the position as Noonsite understands it.

Length of Stay by Yachts

Foreign-flagged yachts (of any country) may remain in FP for a period of 24 months without having to pay import taxes. However, this is only true under certain conditions, one of which being that the owner/user does not exceed their permitted stay in the country.

Length of Stay by Crew

Yacht crew are permitted to stay in FP for a maximum of 185 days per calendar year, and a maximum of 12 months in 24 months as long as their visa or visa extension permits this length of stay.

The periods of permitted stay for the crew is the maximum accumulated time they may spend in FP, without being subjected to taxes and duties on the boat: i.e. they may fly out of FP then back in again, but that will not reset the clock. The clock will just be on hold while they are out of FP.

In practice, this means if you want your boat to stay in FP for the permitted 24 months, the yacht must be laid up (in total) for a minimum of 12 of the 24 months it is in the country and not used in any way during the lay-up period. For this to be authenticated, Customs require the Ship’s paper to be deposited with them.

Citizens from EU countries are mainly affected by this latest crackdown, because they do not require a visa (see Noonsite Immigration for further details). The confusion for all who are confronted with this regulation, is that the maximum stay for the boat is not related to the maximum stay for the crew (very much like the Schengen Visa regulations in Europe).

Overstaying

If the permitted stay rules are broken, not only is a substantial fine imposed, but import taxes on the yacht also become due (understood to be about 25% of its value for French-flagged yachts and up to 35% for other foreign-flagged yachts).

Overstaying the boat is classed as a criminal offense and skippers that do so are liable to have their boat confiscated, be fined 2X the boat’s value and be given a jail term of 11 days to 1 month.

Customs have made it clear that the law will be fully enforced, i.e. one can expect to be fined if overstaying 185 days per calendar year, and it has been reported that the new Chief of Customs is very zealous in chasing overstaying yachts.

One French cruising yacht currently facing a fine, has told his story to the Association des Voiliers de Polynésie (AVP):

Charles Leonard arrived in FP in May 2011 on his sailboat MOJITO, and had planned to stay 24 months, until May 2013, in order to safely leave FP after the end of the hurricane season. He planned his 24 months stay in good faith, on the basis of the information he got before arriving in FP, and also upon arrival in FP. However, he was targeted by Customs on December 14th, 2012, for overstaying. They have agreed to drop all criminal charges if he pays 38.000 Euros in taxes (25% of his boat value), and a fine of 4.000 Euros for overstaying. This skipper is totally in despair because the boat is his residence and his life, and he quite simply doesn’t have the money to pay such fine and associated taxes.

Outcome

The only way to reset the clock is to leave FP with the boat, sail to a foreign port then back to FP. However the nearest foreign ports are either in the Cook Islands, which means a 600 NM beat against the prevailing wind and current to come back to Bora Bora, or Pitcairn Island, which means sailing 300 NM upwind from the Gambier islands (the remotest archipelago of FP, located 900 NM South East of Tahiti)! Both options are extremely arduous for most sailboats.

Leaving your boat for 2 years in French Polynesia so you can enjoy 6 months out of each year cruising, might work for some. However, it does require a substantial cruising budget, not just for laying your boat up for 12 months but also for very expensive long-haul flights in order to not overstay the permitted time.

As a consequence, many cruisers have changed their plans and will either leave FP earlier if they are already cruising in FP, or shorten their planned stay if they are en-route.

Footnote

Since September last year, the Association des Voiliers de Polynésie (AVP) has been lobbying the FP government in order to get the article concerning length of stay amended to allow a stay of 24 months without any restriction for both the boat and its crew.

Reference

The FP Customs website gives you (in French only) all the information, including the full text of the law (again in French only) in a free-download PDF document, just follow the link:

http://www.polynesie-francaise.pref.gouv.fr/Douanes/Section-Particuliers/A-Importation/Navigation-de-plaisance [BROKEN LINK]

Note The Customs clearance form, available to download free from this website, has now been corrected and (in both French and English) and states the conditions under which the boat may stay in French Polynesia without paying taxes:-

The boat

• Must be French or Foreign-flagged and registered outside the customs territory of French Polynesia
• Must be owned by a natural or legal person established outside the customs territory of French Polynesia
• Cannot be loaned, rented or sold.

The owner/user

• Must not be a French Polynesian resident
• Must not stay longer than 185 days in any civil year
• Must not work in French Polynesia

FP Customs can be contacted at: secretariat@douane.pf

Our thanks to the AVP for alerting Noonsite to these on-going problems and for assisting with in-depth background information.