US Customs - Small Vessel Reporting System

January 13, 2012

Today we traveled to Key West to register with US Customs under the Small Vessel Reporting System (http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/pleasure_boats/boats/svrs.xml).   This is a relatively new system which allows you to 'preestablish' yourself with customs and in many cases avoid having to physically report to a Customs office when you enter the US from a foreign country on a small vessel.  This will hopefully expedite our return to the US from the Bahamas later this year.

The program is relatively new and as we proceed it will be clear that they have not worked out all the kinks in the program, although almost all the Customs personnel that we interacted with with very nice -don't want to get on their bad side - but seriously they were. 

The saga began in November when I (Tom) went through an online registration of the boat and myself. You were supposed to receive a confirmation with a registration number after your application was reviewed, which I never received.  After a little anxiety that I was being 'rejected', I talked to a dock neighbor who had a similar response (or lack thereof).  When they later reported to a Customs office near Tampa, they were told 'We can't access any information from that system' and proceeded to get all the required information again and processed the application.

So I ignored the lack of response until we were in Marathon and could report to Customs in Key West.  When I called Customs in Key West, I was asked if I had made an appointment online - I responded that I couldn't because I never got my confirmation and registration number. He asked 'When do you want to come in?' - I said how about Friday - he said 'We'll be here'.  I wasn't sure if that meant I had an appointment or not, but thought that additional questions were not productive at that point.

So on Friday we drove our 1-week rental car to Key West and reported to the Customs house on Simonton Ave which was listed as the SVRS office in Key West on their website.  When the security guards established why we were there, they said 'They (Customs) are not here today, you need to go to the airport', which is across town.

So we got back in our car (with our 5 hour paid parking slip) and headed to the airport.  When we arrived at the airport and found the Customs office, we faced a set of sliding glass doors like you find in stores that should open automatically - but these were not opening.  Searching in vain for a button or buzzer to request entry, we were about to make yet another call to Customs when a gentleman that had exited through the doors shortly before we arrived said 'Pull the doors apart with your hands'.  Although breaking and entering into a Customs office seemed like less than a stellar idea, we did what he said and found ourselves in an unattended reception area.   As we were calling out for someone to notice us, the same man came back in (we believe he was somehow related to the Customs office) and found someone to help us.

After yet another explanation about why we did not have a confirmation/registration number nor appointment they took our passports and boat documentation and told us to have seats in a waiting area near the counter.  As we were sitting there a buzzer kept going off - I thought it was a telephone ringing or some other type of notification.  After a few minutes, the officer that took our papers came back and said that the fingerprint machine was warming up (yes you get fingerprinted) and would be ready shortly and please stop pushing the button on the counter that was supposed to be used to tell them that you have entered the reception area; apparently I had been leaning on it as I leafed through our papers - how to win friends and influence people.

Well shortly thereafter, they took me back for fingerprinting and then the same for Joyce.

Apparently, we 'passed', because he returned to give us back our papers and presented each of us with a plastic identification card for the program with our names and numbers written on with a 'Sharpie' pen; does this qualify as a 'government issued' ID?

After talking to several other couples that have gone through the process, we found out that many did not suceed in registering both individuals in a single visit, so I guess we made out pretty well.

Tips to anyone that goes through this process:

• Your registration number is your online confirmation number preceded by 'BR'. If we knew this we could have scheduled our appointment online even though we never received a formal confirmation.
• Be patient - if you will laugh about it someday, you might as well laugh about it now.
• Don't lean on the Custom's office buzzer.

Tom
Harbor Cay Club
Marathon
Monroe County, FL






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