Customs & Immigration may require a Letter of Explanation.
If you visit us when we are in only one island country and there is no passage to another country, you will not need any special preparation for Customs and Immigration. In this case you will fly into and out of the same country without visiting any other Island that is another country. You will clear-in customs at the airport when you arrive and you will clear-out customs at an airport in the same country when you depart. Your visit with us is no different than visiting a hotel. On your Customs and Immigration declarations, where it asks for your local address or hotel just put: "Pleasure Yacht-Family Affair" . You can specify our initial port where we will meet you (shown in our itinerary) as your destination location if they ask for a specific location. You can even supply our exact GPS coordinates (also in the itinerary) if they think your port location needs an "address".
However, the more common situation is that we do make passage to another island that is a separate country. This passage creates a special Customs & Immigration abnormality usually referred to as: "Fly-in, Sail-out or Sail-in, Fly-out". This situation is abnormal because there is no documentation to explain how you got from one island country to the other since you did not make passage on a common carrier like a ferry or airflight. Without explanation documentation, when you enter the first island at the airport, they may ask for an explanation for why you are not returning from the same airport? Likewise, when you attempt to exit the second airport, they may ask for an explanation of how you got to the island since you did not arrive there by air? Both of these situations can be solved with one letter of explanation from the captain who transported you.
I have written and signed a general example letter explaining your plans and our itinerary. Just click here to download a Microsoft Word document: Letter of Explanation. I have written a sample letter for the case of Week 04 where guests fly into St. Barths and fly out of St. Maarten. All you have to do is download (Use save, not open) the Word file to your PC then edit each red field with your own data. If you do not have Microsoft Word you can "import" the Word file into the word processor of your choise. You can get the data for port names and dates from the itinerary for the actual week of your visit and the weeks before and after. Once you edit each red field in the document with your info, print at least 6 copies to carry with you. If you use a color printer, be sure to change the red to black before you print. In addition you need to attach the edited letter file to the Guest Details e-mail with the other attachments.
Be sure that the full names match exactly with those on the passports. You will need a separate letter for each family traveling together. In case your group is made up of more than one family, you will need to edit a letter for each family. Each family should go through Customs and Immigration together at one time as a group. If you have a minor child with you who is not a family member, they should be listed with the family with which they are traveling. Be sure you have copies of your Travel Consent Form ready for any minors without both parents present, in case they ask. In general I do not supply anything other than my passport(s) and declaration unless I am asked. If you provide too much documentation before they ask, it might confuse them and you end up waiting in another line to talk to their supervisor. Keep it simple, but be fully prepared.
Copyright (c) 2009 Family Affair. All rights reserved.