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Procedures and Requirements for Clearances for Inbound YachtsAnd Other Information of Benefit to Cruising Yachts Entering Fiji |
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| Although we go through every effort to keep this page current and relevant (as
well as other cruiser information boards), Fiji is a country whose government is very much in a transition period.
Thus, we cannot promise that any of this will be true or factual when you actually come to Fiji, so please use this
information as merely a guide, and strictly at your own risk. Inland Revenue FAQs for Yacht Entry. Yacht Movement Within Fiji Duty Free Length of Yacht Stay Within Fiji Fees and Charges Assessed on Yachts Entering Fiji in Savusavu Tourist Visa's For The Crew of Yachts Entering Fiji About the Fiji Cruising Permit(s) Importation of Spares and Repair Parts | |
| As follows are the procedures of entry of a yacht into Fiji, downloaded from the FIRCA (Fiji Islands Revenue
and Customs Authority) website as of 28 June 2007. Please Note: There is no sense of humour about drugs, pornography, or weapons! Please be a considerate guest (we love to have visitors) by not putting yourselves and ourselves in a situation we would prefer to avoid! Please also note effective 1 July 2007, the form C.2.C (download here) must be on file at FIRCA a minimum of 48 hours in advance of arrival in Fiji, via fax to FIRCA at the port you would like to enter. Please note the word minimum means that you can fax it in before you depart your last port in order for it to be on record upon your arrival. This requirement was forced on Fiji by the G-8, don't blame us! Vinaka vaka levu. | |
| 1) Where do I have to go to enter my yacht if I am coming to Fiji ? | |
| You can enter at any of the following sea ports of entry: | |
| 2) What authorities do I have to see in Fiji upon my arrival? | |
| You have to see Ministry of Health, Customs Department, Ministry of Agriculture (Quarantine Dept), and Immigration. (If you choose to use a Waitui Marina Mooring, we will see to bringing the officials to your vessel at no extra charge to you.). | |
| 3) What are the papers that I have to submit to Fiji Customs? | |
| Papers that you have to submit are: |
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| 4) What is the procedure of high dutiable stores which I have in my yacht? | |
| 5) I am carrying arms and ammunitions on my yacht. What authorities do I have to see upon my arrival in Fiji ? | |
| You have to declare to customs upon your arrival which will be detained and handed over to the police for safe keeping. | |
| 6) How will I obtain my arms and ammunitions from police when I finally want to depart from Fiji? | |
| You have to give customs 24 hours notice for your departure so that arrangements can be made from Fiji Police to place them on board. (Not to worry, this really is true, you will get them back, but I'd give them a bit more than 24 working hours to do so.) | |
| 7) What is the procedure of bringing animals and birds on my yacht? | |
| Animals and birds should be caged until seen and cleared by Quarantine Department of Fiji. (Dogs and cats are no problem; they are quarantined on your vessel. I don't know about 'exotics', I'd suggest you consult with Quarantine before you arrive if you have them. | |
| 8) When I finally leave Fiji with my yacht, what do I have to do? | |
| You are required to obtain out ward clearance from Fiji Customs at the port of entry. | |
| 9) What if I have some problem with my yacht and cannot leave the port? | |
| Inform the customs authority within 24 hrs from the time of your clearance. | |
| 10) Do I have to obtain another clearance for my departure? | |
| Yes. (Top) |
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| Movement from Fiji Port of Entry to Fiji Port of Entry (as of 26 May 2008) |
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| Even if you do not intend to stop at any destination within Fiji (which requires a Cruising Permit, see below) and
intend to only move between a Port of Entry (Suva, Levuka, Lautoka, Savusavu), you STILL must clear with Customs
before departure from YOUR port of entry, and check in with the next port. The documentation you have to
complete for this type of movement is identical to that of departing the country. Failure to do so will result
in a F$5000 fine, with, strictly at the officials discretion, be reduced to 25% (F$1250) at the first offense, 50% (F$2500) at the
second, etc.. You have been warned! (Top) |
| Length of Yacht Stay (As of 26 May 2008) |
| As of 26 March 2008, yachts were allowed a duty-free import (subject to restrictions) for a period of
nine (9) months from time of entry. On 26 May, Circular 3 of 2008 was issued, retroactively
to 1 April 2008, supporting the previous announcement by the Minister of Finance, but with some very important
changes. First, you cannot re-enter Fiji with your vessel, regardless of previous length of stay, for a period of 9 (nine) months after your vessels departure without incurring import duty. This is of particular note to any vessel desiring to visit Fiji, spend the cyclone season in NZ, and then returning to Fiji to cruise further. Second, no mention was made of the possibility of applying for a three (3) month extention to the 9 month duty-free stay. In a memo, the Minister of Finance committed that, upon application, 'will be granted except in the most extreme cases'. As per a memo issued by FIRCA, the import duty, VAT and fees will be assessed on vessels returning in less than 9 months as follows: You might want to enquire how long it takes to process the refund before paying the deposit. We will keep this site posted with futher developments as they become available. (Top) |
| Fees and Charges (As of 14 October 2008 in Savusavu) |
| We distinguish Savusavu from the other three ports in Fiji, as it is the smallest and does not
have round the clock officals available and is thus likely to be the most costly. In addition, since we are here,
it is easy for us to verify the charges. To make this simple, if you enter Savusavu 0800-1600 Monday-Friday and it is not a national holiday, it will cost you a total of F$53.50 to enter, if you enter on a week-end or a holiday, it will cost you a total of F$225.84. Now, if you'd like to know this is broken down for other hours... If you enter Fiji at Savusavu 1/2 hour after sunrise, or 1/2 hour before sunset, the three agencies concerned with clearing yachts, Health, Customs, and Agriculture, must be informed. If you enter between 0800 and 1600, the charges that you will be assessed are a F$33.50 Hospital Fee (to be paid at the hospital) by Health, and a F$20 incineration fee by Agriculture for any garbage (food scraps) you may have on board, whether or not you actually HAVE any food scraps. If you enter during a normal working day, but between 1/2 hour after sunrise until 0800, or after 1600 hours and 1/2 hour before sunset, Health will assess you an additional fee of F$11.46/hour with a 3 hour minimum (total F$34.38) in addition to the F$33.50 Hospital Fee. If you enter on a week-end or a national holiday, you will also be assessed fees: (Top) |
| Tourist Visa (As of 26 March 2008) |
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| Most nationalities will be granted a 4 month tourist visa upon your arrival. You may apply
for an extention for an additional 2 months (total of 6 months) for a nominal fee (as well as filling out a
long form!). At the end of six months, you may apply for 'Temporary Permanent Residency', which is valid for an additional 6 months. This fee is not nominal, but you do not have to post a bond, either. If you need to leave your vessel and fly out (or crewing on another), merely go to Immigrations FIRST and get a letter from them explaining what you are doing. If you fail to do this, you will have a very large problem when you try to return without a round-trip airline ticket to another country. Immigrations is, as a rule, very courteous and helpful, provided that you talk to them first about anything out of the ordinary. 'Act in haste, repent at leisure' is a very poor idea. 'Tourist' does not mean doing a little work 'on the side' or starting your own ferry service! The Republic of Fiji welcomes new, legal, business ventures at all times, contact the FTIB for more information. If you are caught doing any work, even if not for profit, you will have a large fine levied on you before you are expelled with a penalty re-entry period assessed on your passport (yes, Immigrations have networked computers and they know how to use them!). If you need/want to take on Fijian crew or to act as a pilot, make sure that (again) that you speak to Customs FIRST to ensure that there isn't any misunderstandings or anxieties. (Top) |
| Cruising Permit (As of 26 March 2008) |
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| If you want to visit anyplace besides the Ports of Entry, you will need to obtain a Cruising
Permit from the Ministry of Fijian Affairs. There is no charge for this document, but the agents may charge you
a nominal fee to cover expenses (Waitui charges F$5.00). The Cruising Permit is in the Fijian Language and is an introduction of you and your vessel to the village mayor (Turanga Ni Koro) and is requesting him/her to extend courtesy to you. It IS NOT to the village 'chief', the Turanga Ni Vanua; frequently the mayor doesn't even have a title. A little bit of the Fijian culture here: The titles in Fiji (and Polynesia) are up to 2000 years old and are family/clan based, little different than the pre-Christian Nordic culture. The presentation of sevusevu to the Turanga Ni Vanua of kava is a request to him/her to allow you to (temporary) reside in his/her lands (the qoliqoli, the water, you can think of as the aquatic version of the village commons). During your period of time there, you are in essence pledging your allegiance to the family and becoming a vassel. They, in turn, allow you priviledges, including the use of, the commons. In literally English: Sir John Clayton, Lord Greystoke (Turanga Ni Vanua) has a village on his lands, Smallshire. You have a letter from PM Pitt in London in your hand to give to the Lord Mayor (Turanga Ni Koro) of Smallshire explaining that you are a legal visitor. If you would like to use the village commons, you must speak with Lord Greystoke to obtain his permission. He does have other knights of the noble class on his lands, also addressed as 'Sir' (Ratu) or 'Dame' (Adi, pronounced 'ahndee), but he is the sole Lord of the land. In the more 'touristy' areas, this process is considered nothing more than a source of free grog (kava), in others, it is taken very seriously and don't do it if you don't mean it! (Although you may not be permited to stay: You're not in Kansas anymore Toto!). (Top) |
| Importation of Spares/Repair Parts (As of 26 March 2008) |
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| Although the merchants of Fiji far prefer that you buy from them (and remember, they have
to cover very large duties and VAT, which are included in the shelf prices), you may import, duty, VAT and service
charge free, spares for your vessel.
After you clear, on the upper right hand corner of the Customs document, you will see a number referred to as a 'Rotation Number'. If you have your shipper include that number on the face of any parcel addressed to you, you will only be charged a clearance fee of F$2.40 (not the service charge, an importer has to pay a total of four fees!). You will also need a copy of the document and a photo ID to pick up the package. If the spares (or gifts) include electronic media (CD, DVD, etc.), Customs will verify to ensure that you are not importing pornography. The agents enforce the rules, they don't make them. Please don't be rude to them for doing their job! If you intend to have spares shipped in prior to your arrival in Savusavu, a caution to you about the inbound courier services. Only DHL and EMS (Express Mail) comes directly to Savusavu, regardless of any claims that an agent may make to you. If you choose to utilise any of the other services, it will be delivered to 'someplace' in Viti Levu, and then you will have a frustrating, and possibly expensive, time trying to get the parcel re-routed up to Savusavu, assuming that you can find it. We have no affiliation with any of the services, however, Bebi Electronics is Savusavu's largest exporter, and if we have problems, imagine what you will go thru. You have been warned! (Top) |
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