 |
| Innocent Noel with BVI background |
On the initial plan,
we were prepared not to stop in the former British colonies. We knew that
sailing with dog onboard to their territories would be troublesome and costly,
almost the same as carrying a gun! We left St. Thomas, United States Virgin
Islands to the East Caribbean and the only thing we knew was that we didn’t
want to sail long distances in one time, so we decided to stop over in Tortola
after bypassing St. John islands in USVI.
45.81 USD was what we
paid for clearing in and out in BVI in less than 24 hours and we didn’t even
step our foot on their waters! The immigration process was going smoothly until
the official asked us if we had guns or dogs onboard. We want it to do be done right,
but we know that some people carry animals and they just keep quiet about it
and never had any problems. After we declared we have a dog on board we had to
wait for the veterinary to arrive for almost 1 hour. I was expecting the vet to
be a generous person as we know that they all love animals. The first
impression after we wait to see him for an hour was of a man in military
uniform from the customs, not a civilian. We showed our documents where he
could see that Noel went thru Europe, America and arrived in the Caribbean. He
didn’t even care! He asked if we had the rabies blood test (it only can be done
is two places in the world; one is in Kansas University in the States and
another in Brit side at Cambridge University). We didn’t do that blood test
since it was not necessary in Macau but it could be done by the company in Hong
Kong, getting the blood samples and sending it to UK but the cost was around
1000 USD. At that time was one year before we start our trip, and the tests are
only valid for one year so we didn’t do it.
What they call “Vet”
said he could go to see the dog in our boat and waive that blood test by paying
a 100 USD fee. This fee was not including the Customs, Immigration, annual
tonnage, and the other services that we must pay for a BVI visit. I told him
directly that we don’t have that money and we are poor sailors, asking if we
could just leave within 24 hours. He told me that they could deport us since we
arrived without permission! I think he then realized we really don’t have money
and we have a baby, so would be no use to send us to jail. After that they filled
their report for us to leave the island because we didn’t have the complete
documents! Sometime later we met another family with dog onboard after we left
BVI and asked them how their experience was. They have that rabies blood test
which they did before they left America. However, they told us that the
official said that they have to pay 60 USD otherwise their dog could be
arrested! So what!!
 |
| The receipt |
We skip our plan that
we would like to visit Anguilla because it’s also one of the British
territories and keep going more East until we arrived in the next destination, Sint
Maarten.
To visit BVI, please
check for your Visa first. I listed the countries below that require the visa
before arrival. The visa must be issued by a British Embassy to enter BVI. A UK
visa is not valid in the BVI. I hold Thai passport but since I have a 10 years
US visa, there have some kind of agreement between the Virgin Islands, the visa
is not required in this case. However, most of the sailors in this area are
American, Canadian and European, so they are always safe!
Visas are required by
nationals of:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria,
Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia
& Herzegovina, Burkina, Burundi, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape
Verde Island, Central African Republic, Chad, China (except Hong
Kong) , Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Gabon, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran,
Iraq, Israel, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea (North), Kuwait,
Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mali,
Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique,
Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Oman,
Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Republic, Rwanda, Sao Tome
& Principle, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Somalia, Sudan,
Surinam, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Turkish
Republic of North Cyprus, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates,
Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen
*Information referred
to BVI Marine Guide 2014*
Sailing with a Dog Through the British Virgin Islands in 2014
we were prepared not to stop in the former British colonies. We knew that
sailing with dog onboard to their territories would be troublesome and costly,
almost the same as carrying a gun! We left St. Thomas, United States Virgin
Islands to the East Caribbean and the only thing we knew was that we didn’t
want to sail long distances in one time, so we decided to stop over in Tortola
after bypassing St. John islands in USVI.
paid for clearing in and out in BVI in less than 24 hours and we didn’t even
step our foot on their waters! The immigration process was going smoothly until
the official asked us if we had guns or dogs onboard. We want it to do be done right,
but we know that some people carry animals and they just keep quiet about it
and never had any problems. After we declared we have a dog on board we had to
wait for the veterinary to arrive for almost 1 hour. I was expecting the vet to
be a generous person as we know that they all love animals. The first
impression after we wait to see him for an hour was of a man in military
uniform from the customs, not a civilian. We showed our documents where he
could see that Noel went thru Europe, America and arrived in the Caribbean. He
didn’t even care! He asked if we had the rabies blood test (it only can be done
is two places in the world; one is in Kansas University in the States and
another in Brit side at Cambridge University). We didn’t do that blood test
since it was not necessary in Macau but it could be done by the company in Hong
Kong, getting the blood samples and sending it to UK but the cost was around
1000 USD. At that time was one year before we start our trip, and the tests are
only valid for one year so we didn’t do it.
said he could go to see the dog in our boat and waive that blood test by paying
a 100 USD fee. This fee was not including the Customs, Immigration, annual
tonnage, and the other services that we must pay for a BVI visit. I told him
directly that we don’t have that money and we are poor sailors, asking if we
could just leave within 24 hours. He told me that they could deport us since we
arrived without permission! I think he then realized we really don’t have money
and we have a baby, so would be no use to send us to jail. After that they filled
their report for us to leave the island because we didn’t have the complete
documents! Sometime later we met another family with dog onboard after we left
BVI and asked them how their experience was. They have that rabies blood test
which they did before they left America. However, they told us that the
official said that they have to pay 60 USD otherwise their dog could be
arrested! So what!!
we would like to visit Anguilla because it’s also one of the British
territories and keep going more East until we arrived in the next destination, Sint
Maarten.
check for your Visa first. I listed the countries below that require the visa
before arrival. The visa must be issued by a British Embassy to enter BVI. A UK
visa is not valid in the BVI. I hold Thai passport but since I have a 10 years
US visa, there have some kind of agreement between the Virgin Islands, the visa
is not required in this case. However, most of the sailors in this area are
American, Canadian and European, so they are always safe!
nationals of:
Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia
& Herzegovina, Burkina, Burundi, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape
Verde Island, Central African Republic, Chad, China (except Hong
Kong) , Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Gabon, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran,
Iraq, Israel, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea (North), Kuwait,
Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mali,
Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique,
Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Oman,
Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Republic, Rwanda, Sao Tome
& Principle, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Somalia, Sudan,
Surinam, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Togo, Turkish
Republic of North Cyprus, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates,
Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen
to BVI Marine Guide 2014*