Entering the USA by Yacht Without a B1/B2 Visa
Information Clarified by US Customs and Border Protection
The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has confirmed that it is possible to enter the United States by private yacht without holding a B1/B2 visa, provided you first enter the U.S. by a commercial carrier under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).
As per 8 C.F.R. § 217.3(b),CBP has clarified that if a traveller is initially admitted to the U.S. by air or other approved commercial carrier using the VWP, they may then travel to Canada, Mexico, or designated adjacent Caribbean islands, return to their yacht, and sail into the United States while remaining on that same VWP admission.
The term adjacent islands means Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Barbuda, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Marie-Galante, Martinique, Miquelon, Montserrat, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Christopher, Saint Eustatius, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Maarten, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and other British, French and Netherlands territory or possessions bordering on the Caribbean Sea.
Key points:
- The initial U.S. entry must be by a VWP-approved commercial carrier.
- Re-entry by private yacht is permitted when returning from Canada, Mexico, or listed “adjacent islands” in the Caribbean.
- If your yacht is in Panama, or Colombia, or any other countries not considered contiguous foreign territory nor adjacent islands to the US. , you will not be permitted to sail into the USA under this scheme and may face a substantial fine for not arriving with the correct visas.
- The traveller is not granted a new 90-day stay – admission is only for the remaining balance of the original VWP period.
- All standard VWP conditions still apply (passport eligibility, ESTA approval, admissibility, etc.).
- This interpretation applies uniformly across all U.S. jurisdictions, including the mainland U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
This clarification provides an important legal pathway for eligible yacht owners and crew from Visa Waiver countries who wish to enter the U.S. by sea without obtaining a B1/B2 visa in advance.
Our thanks to Jeffrey Quinones – US Customs and Border Protection – for taking the time to explain this interpretation.
Useful Links:
Visa Waiver Program Details – 8 C.F.R. § 217.3(b)
ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization)
Cruisers Experience of Using this Method
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This law is badly worded, or not adhered to:
217.2 (c) (1) Applicants arrive by air and sea. Applicants must arrive on a carrier that is signatory to a Visa Waiver Program Agreement and at the time of arrival must have a round trip ticket that will transport the traveler out of the United States to any other foreign port or place as long as the trip does not terminate in contiguous territory or an adjacent island; except that the round trip ticket may transport the traveler to contiguous territory or an adjacent island, if the traveler is a resident of the country of destination.
217.3 (b) Readmission after departure to contiguous territory or adjacent island. An alien admitted to the United States under this part may be readmitted to the United States after a departure to foreign contiguous
territory or adjacent island for the balance of his or her original Visa Waiver Program admission period if he or she is otherwise admissible and meets all the conditions of this part with the exception of arrival on a signatory carrier.
If you take 217.2 (c) (1) literally, as a non-resident of the contiguous territory or adjacent island (CT/AI) you CANNOT legally book a return trip to the USA from a CT/AI taking you back to the CT/AI (first sentence applies).
My reading is that the CBP personnel does not know the law and allows you in anyway. Then when you return you can legally go back by boat. It does not say, but I get the impression you cannot visit other territories in between. E.g. you cannot take an aeroplane return trip to the USA from Aruba and then sail to Mexico and then the USA.
The adjacent island requirment is for the last port before the USA entry? Sailing to other Countries before calling at these approved islands cancel the entry eligibility ?
Yes. You are only eligible to use the previously acquired visa-waiver if your trip to the USA by yacht originates from a contiguous foreign territory or adjacent island to the US.