UK Pre-Arrival Procedures for Yachts

Ports of Entry:

The UK is unusual in that it no longer has any official ports of entry. The responsibility for entry and exit is shared between HMRC (Customs) and the Home Office (Border Force).

All yachts – British, EU and Others – must follow entry and exit procedures.

Arriving into Great Britain:

You must tell HMRC if you’re arriving into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) from anywhere other than Northern Ireland.

Report arrivals from:

• EU countries
• rest of the world
• the Channel Islands

Arriving into Northern Ireland:

You must tell HMRC if you’re arriving into Northern Ireland from anywhere other than Great Britain or the Isle of Man.

Report arrivals from:

• EU countries
• rest of the world
• Ireland (you do not need to report passenger or crew details)
• Channel Islands

How to report to HMRC and Border Force:

If you are entering, or leaving, the UK on a pleasure boat, you must submit a PLEASURE CRAFT REPORT (sPCR) to provide information about the voyage and individuals on board to HMRC and Border Force in advance of travel.

This must be done within 2 to 24 hours before arrival or departure – and can be done in advance online.

Go to: https://www.spcr.homeoffice.gov.uk/. This form works equally well on both a phone or a tablet/laptop, but it is not an App, therefore it requires an internet connection.

Guidance on how to complete the form can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/submit-a-pleasure-craft-report

You will need to provide:

• your pleasure craft details, including registration if applicable
• the skipper’s details
• the passport or travel document details for all people on board
• a voyage plan with date and estimated departure and arrival times

You will need to create an account to use this service, which is only required once. The account can be created way before you actually sail to the UK.

Once you have submitted the sPCR you will get an e-mail receipt and possibly further instructions.

It is possible to go back into the sPCR after submitting it, and change your voyage details or even cancel it/abandon the voyage, without any problems.

It is possible to submit all forms by e-mail or post on arrival/departure if internet is not available – see details further down.

UK Immigration Requirements:

Returning UK citizens only need to fill in the online sPCR declaration.

Any crew members other than British or Irish citizens, must fill in the declaration and also obtain Border Force permission to enter the UK from a place other than Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands. As the pleasure craft owner/skipper, you must make sure that any crew requiring a visa must have one arranged in advance. Before anyone disembarks from the yacht they must have permission to enter (this may be granted remotely without physically seeing a Border Force officer). See Immigration for more details.

An electronic travel authorisation (ETA) will soon be a requirement for people who do not need a visa to come to the UK. It will give you permission to travel to the UK, and it will be electronically linked to your passport. This requirement began in November 2023 for Qatar nationals and has continued since for more nationals from middle eastern countries. Further nationalities will be added to the scheme later with EU countries expected to be needing an ETA later in 2024. Decisions should take 3 working days. See this UK government page for more details.

UK Customs Requirements:

Be aware of what the Customs rules are in advance: how long your yacht can remain in the UK; customs arrival and departure procedures; spares etc. More details in the Customs section.

UK Arrival Procedures for Yachts

All yachts, other than UK yachts with UK citizens on board, must fly the “Q” flag where it can readily be seen, as soon as you enter UK waters (the 12-mile limit) – this includes if coming from the Channel Islands. At night the flag should be illuminated.

On arrival call Border Force on the National Yachtline.

National Yachtline: 0300 123 2012
Opening times: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

All crew must remain on board until given either verbal clearance over the phone, or after a visit from Border Force.

If you have been unable to submit an sPCR prior to arrival due to no internet, this can be done once you arrive in the UK, but you must use the sPCR fallback form available with instructions at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/submit-a-pleasure-craft-report and call the National Yachtline.

Do not take down the “Q” flag until instructed by the National Yachtline.

If you are arriving from an EU member state into Northern Ireland, there is no need to fly the ‘Q’ flag.

• Immigration:
  Any crew members other than British or Irish citizens, must obtain Border Force permission to enter the UK from a place other than Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands. As the pleasure craft owner/skipper, you must make sure that any crew requiring a visa must have one arranged in advance. Before anyone disembarks from the yacht they must have permission to enter. This may be granted over the phone without physically seeing a Border Force officer, or, Border Force will want to visit the yacht. For info. on passport stamping see Immigration for more details.
• Health:
  If there are animals or birds on board or any illness, health clearance must be obtained. The captain should contact the port health authority or local authority responsible for port health control by radio, 4 to 12 hours before arrival and, if this is not possible, immediately on arrival. Until health clearance is given no one, except officials, may board the vessel nor anyone leave.

UK Departure Procedures for Yachts

UK Domestic Yacht Clearance:

If you are going directly to another UK port, you won’t need to make a sPCR unless specifically asked to do so by an officer.

Immigration does not have to be notified when leaving the UK if the destination port is in the Channel Islands.

UK International Yacht Clearance:

When leaving the UK (other than going to Northern Ireland), yachts must tell HMRC by using the online sPCR which must be submitted 2 to 24 hours before departure.

You must do the same when leaving Northern Ireland to go anywhere except Great Britain and EU countries, including the Channel Islands.

Go to https://www.gov.uk/guidance/submit-a-pleasure-craft-report

If a planned departure is delayed by more than 48 hours or abandoned, this must be reported immediately via the sPCR.

There is no other action needed if you have submitted the sPCR properly online, before departure from the UK.

See UK Government Guidance on Departure from the UK.

Pleasure Craft Unit of Expertise
E-mail: pleasurecraft.lcsouth@hmrc.gov.uk.
Telephone: 03000 516 864

Last updated:  May 2024

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