Customs Formalities 

If customs and/or immigration clearance are required, the crew must remain on board the vessel until the skipper has completed the formalities and the Q flag has been taken down.

Customs Notice 8 explains the Customs requirements for private individuals who sail their pleasure craft to and from the UK. It includes Customs procedures for arriving and departing the UK, details on temporary importation (for pleasure craft from outside the EU) and details on proving the VAT status of your vessel.

The notice can be downloaded from the HM Revenue & Customs web-site or alternatively contact their National Advice Service on Tel 0845 010 9000 to request a copy by post.

Departing the UK

If you are departing the UK and going directly to another EU country, you are free of formalities with UK customs.

If you are departing the UK and going directly to a non-EU country (which includes going to the Channel Islands), you must advise customs of your intentions using form C1331. The address to which the form must be sent can be found on the form.

RYA members can read further guidance on using form C1331.

Arriving in the UK

If you are arriving into the UK directly from another EU country there is no need to fly your Q flag or notify customs of your arrival unless you have goods to declare or non-EU nationals onboard.

If you are arriving into the UK directly from a country outside the EU (which includes arriving from the Channel Islands) you must fly the Q flag from the 12 nautical mile (territorial waters) limit and report to Customs by telephoning the National Yachtline on 0845 723 1110. Again Notice 8 details the requirements for the completion of form C1331 and the address to which the form must be sent can be found on the form.

RYA members can read further guidance on using form C1331.

Elsewhere

Outside the UK on a UK registered vessel similar rules will apply i.e. whether you need to fly the Q flag and contact customs and/or immigration will depend whether both your departure and arrival ports are within the EU.

If you are remaining within the EU and do not have anything to declare (goods or non-EU nationals) you do not need to fly the Q flag, but should still be prepared to present your paperwork (including passports for all those on board) when asked.

When outside the EU practices vary, but if in doubt you should fly the Q flag on first entering territorial waters, and ensure that you obtain customs and immigration clearance for both the boat and crew, before either you or your crew leave the boat on any other business.

Schengen Treaty

Although a member of the EU, the UK is not a party to the Schengen Treaty which has essentially abolished checks at common borders between many of the EU and EEA countries. Anyone entering the Schengen area from a non-Schengen country may be subject to a passport check. 

When entering the Schengen area via either Belgium or the Netherlands, vessels from non-Schengen countries are required to complete and submit a crew list. Links to samples of the forms are available under downloads on the right hand side of this page.

However, please note that you may be presented with different forms for each region in the Netherlands and in Belgium you may be given a self carbonating triplicate form or in some places an older version of the form.

In reality skippers are finding it increasingly difficult to comply with the requirements as in many ports the authorities are simply not interested in the form.