Clarification on US Visa requirements for large yacht crew

Following incorrect information passed by a US government CBP official at an event during the Palm Beach International Boat Show 2025, clarification was sort by British Superyacht via US based UK government officials and partner member organisations. Our British Superyacht Ambassador, Jo Assael has also been monitoring the situation.

We are very grateful to Ami Ira, President of Blue Oceans Yachting and Director of the Yacht Management division for publishing the synopsis and content of a follow up meeting which sought clarification of the original information given at PIBS.

The summary follows:

During the Palm Beach Boat Show, the Marine Industries Association of Florida invited Customs and Border Protection to come and speak at a seminar, answering questions from the audience. Some of the questions caught the officer off guard, and he answered incorrectly, but no one else in the audience knew, and the discussion was recorded then shared on Facebook as if it were correct.

This resulted in a follow up visit to CBP attended by many maritime lawyers, yacht managers, Captains, MIASF administration, and Ami Ira as President of Blue Oceans Yachting and director of the Yacht Management division. This meeting was very productive, and gave the yachting industry a voice in Washington DC to discuss the few sticking points such as whether crew are allowed to work on board during yard periods, and whether non American crew are eligible to work on board US registered vessels.

In summary, nothing has changed. The Trump administration has not changed the B1 / B2 applicability towards yacht crew, nor have they changed the eligibility for non American crew to work on board US flagged yachts.

There have been reports of crew being interviewed at greater depths, and apparently, some who have overstayed their Visas, have been "requested to leave the country." But, no one has been deported.

One of the main mistakes made in the original meeting in Palm Beach was the agent said that foreign crew working on foreign flagged yachts, could NOT carry out their normal duties, while the vessel was in 'dry dock.' He went so far as to say that they could only supervise the work being done. This was not true, and as always has been the case before, foreign crew on a B1 visa, can work on the vessel inside the US whether in a shipyard or not.

The other main point of discussion that needed clarifying, is that foreign crew CAN work on board US Registered vessels. This changed in 2019 when the Foreign Affairs Manual, in regards to the defining whether the B1 visa applied to yacht crew, the words 'foreign flagged yacht' were removed from the advisory. This removal of 'foreign flagged' opened the door to any flag of vessel.

Here is the exact language:

"f. (U) Yacht Crewmembers May be Classifiable as B-1 or D Crewmember:

(1) (U) In General: Yacht crewmembers may provide services on board a recreational or commercial yacht. Yacht crewmembers who will provide services on board a recreational vessel traveling to the United States are classifiable B-1. Those who will provide services on board a commercial vessel and who meet the requirements under INA 101(a)(15)(D)(i) above are classifiable D.

(a) (U) A recreational vessel is primarily used for pleasure by the owner or a guest of the owner. Some private yacht owners maintain crews year-round even if the owners and/or the owner’s guests only use the yacht for periods of the year.

(b) (U) A commercial vessel is primarily used for commercial purposes, such as for transporting passengers or cargo for payment or other consideration.

(2) (U) Holding companies: Yachts may be owned by an individual or a holding company, such as an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation). If the vessel is primarily used for pleasure by the owner or a guest of the owner, the vessel is a recreational vessel. Similarly, many of the yacht crew are not directly employed by the owner, but by staffing companies contracted by the owner. In some cases, for various reasons including privacy or security, owners of recreational vessels may not wish for their identities to be widely known. For these reasons, it is possible that a legitimate employee of a recreational vessel may be unable to verify who the de facto owner is.

(3) (U) Chartered versus Non-Chartered Recreational Vessels: Whether a recreational vessel will be chartered in the United States, or has previously been chartered, whether in the United States or elsewhere, is irrelevant for visa classification purposes. For B-1 visa eligibility, you must determine whether an applicant will be providing services on a recreational vessel based upon the applicant’s proposed purpose of travel at the time of entry into the United States.

(4) (U) Yacht Crew Providing Services on Both Recreational and Commercial Vessels: If the applicant can demonstrate that they regularly provide services on a recreational vessel and is also a crewmember, pursuant to 9 FAM 402.8-3 above, on a commercial vessel, you may issue both a B-1 and D visa (as well as a C-1 visa if the applicant qualifies pursuant to 9 FAM 402.8-5, below) to that applicant, assuming they are otherwise qualified in all respects for the visa classifications. You should likewise adjudicate private aircraft crew who are also crewmembers on commercial aircrafts on the same principle. Two MRV fees are required when issuing separate B-1 and D visas or B-1 and C1/D visas."

And here is another excerpt from the US Foreign Affairs Manual:

"(U) Yacht crew who will provide services on board a recreational vessel who are able to establish that they have a residence abroad which they do not intend to abandon, regardless of the country of registration of the yacht, are classifiable B-1. You should be aware that privately owned yachts may be chartered while abroad but used for personal use while in U.S. territorial waters. Websites related to the charter business may not reflect this. See 9 FAM 402.8-3(A)(1). "

In short, if the US flagged yacht is documented for Recreational use, pays their crew from a non-US entity, and travels regularly outside the US, then they can employ a Non-US resident or citizen, so long as that person maintains a tax home abroad and honors the time limits of his B1 visa.

As for paying taxes to the US Internal Revenue Service, anyone spending more than 183 days inside the US is meant to file, and employers are meant to match withholding for social security and workman's compensation. However, the process for non-US residents to obtain a Tax ID number is virtually impossible, as is their ability to get a social security number to apply these withheld taxes to, so this is the grey area that remains.

Maritime Attorney Laura Knolls with Alley Maas suggests that a rotation where the crew will be working only 6 months per year inside the US is a suitable workaround, and I'm sure one that most crew would love to see more of going forward.

See below letter from Washington, DC shared by MIASF.

"From desk of:

Assistant Director, Border Security

Miami and Tampa Field Offices

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Noting that time was of the essence I worked with the local CBP team on the below statement which summarizes our conversation on April 3, 2025. Because the admissibility of every applicant for admission is based on the facts unique to that applicant at the moment, they present themselves for inspection it is difficult to prepare a document which states a person is admissible as long as the following occurs. With this caveat, this is what we drafted.

CBP assess each applicant for admission on a case-by-case basis. A foreign national with a valid unexpired passport and B1 non-immigrant visa (unless otherwise exempt) who maintains a foreign residence may be admitted to the U.S. to serve as a private vessel crewmember (see 9 FAM 402.2-5(C)(5)), providing:

• The individual has a contract to work on a private vessel.

• The crewmember maintains a foreign residence they do not intend to abandon.

• The crewmember will perform “traditional” crew duties necessary for the normal ongoing operations of the vessel.

• The crewmember’s movement onboard the vessel is connected to the vessel’s international arrival, departure, or both. For example, the crewmember is serving or joining a private vessel which is arriving from foreign or departing foreign during their period of admission to the U.S.

Non-immigrant crewmembers may not perform any major repair, refits, or shipyard work while their vessel is undergoing dry dock maintenance at a U.S. shipyard unless otherwise permitted.

While a private vessel is in dry dock crew members may perform the routine repairs and maintenance to the vessel they would normally undertake in the course of their duties when the vessel is not in a shipyard."

Credit & Source - https://www.blueoceansyachting.com/