Crossing the Channel: Customs, Immigration and Paperwork

gov.uk requires the departure of a pleasure craft from Great Britain to any destination outside the UK to be reported to Border Force and HMRC. That includes France, Belgium and the rest of the EU, and also the Channel Islands, which are outside the UK for customs purposes.

The report is made online through the service 'Tell Border Force and HMRC you are sailing to or from the UK in a pleasure craft', at least 2 hours and no more than 24 hours before departure. It records the boat, the skipper, the crew and their passport details, and the planned departure and arrival. If the plan changes or the voyage is cancelled, the report is amended or cancelled.

Where the online service cannot be used, gov.uk accepts the sPCR fallback template by email, or the paper form C1331, sent to Yacht Reports, Freight Clearance Centre, Lord Warden Square, Western Docks, Dover CT17 9DN. At Dover, the marina’s berthing masters hold copies of form C1331.

The RYA lists the documents a UK boat carries abroad. The first is proof of registration: either Part 1 of the UK Ship Register or Part 3, the Small Ships Register. The RYA’s guidance for France notes that original registration papers are needed to prove the boat’s nationality.

The boat also carries its Ofcom Ship Radio Licence (the Ship Portable Radio Licence is valid in UK territorial seas only), its insurance documents, which some countries want translated, and evidence of the boat’s VAT status. Some harbours set minimum third-party cover: Guernsey Ports requires at least £2 million. A dinghy or tender is marked with the parent boat’s name, such as 'T/T' followed by the name.

French rules for boats built after 2008 with toilets require a holding tank, and discharge is not permitted in ports or within 3 nautical miles of the coast, with fines of up to €4,000. Red diesel may not be used for propulsion in France or Belgium.

Everyone on board carries a passport. British citizens can spend up to 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen area without a visa. The RYA advises carrying a Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) and travel insurance, and notes that the EU’s ETIAS travel authorisation for visitors from outside the EU is expected to start in late 2026.

The skipper’s qualification depends on the country. The International Certificate of Competence (ICC) is issued under UN ECE Resolution 40 to show that the holder can helm a pleasure craft. The RYA issues it to applicants aged 16 or over who hold a qualifying RYA certificate or pass an ICC assessment; it is valid for five years and free to RYA members. The RYA reports that a UK-registered boat under 24 metres needs no specific qualification in French coastal waters, while Belgium accepts the ICC and requires evidence of competence for vessels over 15 metres or capable of more than 20 km/h.

The VHF operator needs a Short Range Certificate or equivalent, which the holder must produce if asked by an overseas authority.

France is part of the Schengen area, so a yacht arriving from the UK crosses an external Schengen border. Under the current French procedure you either arrive at an official border crossing point (point de passage frontalier, PPF), where the skipper and crew report to the Police aux Frontières or the Douane with passports, boat papers and the entry form, or at one of the marinas on French Customs’ approved list, which forwards your form to its PPF. The French Customs form must reach the marina at least 24 hours before arrival, or at the latest when you leave the non-Schengen port if the voyage is shorter than 24 hours. The RYA’s understanding is that a Q flag is not required in France unless you have items to declare.

The entry form is French Customs’ 'formulaire déclaratif contrôle aux frontières — entrée / sortie'. At a border crossing point it can be handed in on arrival or emailed in advance. Leaving France for the UK, the boat departs through a border crossing point or approved marina in the same way.

French Customs’ July 2026 list of approved marinas includes, on the Channel coast: Dunkerque Marina and Gravelines (linked to the Police aux Frontières at Dunkerque), Calais, Boulogne, Dieppe and Saint-Valery-en-Caux (linked to the Douane at Dieppe), and Cherbourg Port Chantereyne, Carentan and Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue (linked to the Police aux Frontières at Cherbourg).

Belgium is in the Schengen area too. According to the Belgian Federal Police, a pleasure boat arriving from outside Schengen must enter a port that is a border crossing point, during its opening hours, and present itself without delay to the Maritime and River Police with a document listing the boat’s details and everyone on board. The coastal crossing points are Ostend, Zeebrugge, Nieuwpoort (via Ostend) and Blankenberge (via Zeebrugge), and the declaration can be filed online through the Federal Police website. Departure for a non-Schengen country is reported in the same way.

The Federal Police advise keeping a certified copy of the declaration with the ship’s papers. Nieuwpoort’s marina offers online check-in, and Nieuwpoort is served through the Ostend border crossing point.

The Channel Islands are British Crown Dependencies with their own customs rules. In the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes Alderney, Braye Harbour is an approved port of entry: arriving boats fly the Q flag and complete Guernsey customs form GC27 before anyone goes ashore, posting the white copy in the yellow Customs box at the top of the dinghy pontoon walkway. Beaucette Marina on Guernsey has its own customs box.

The Q flag is the plain yellow code flag Q. In the International Code of Signals it means 'My vessel is healthy and I request free pratique', and it is flown by boats arriving from abroad until they are cleared. For arrivals in the UK, gov.uk requires it to be flown from entering UK waters at the 12-mile limit until reporting to the customs authorities is complete. At Dover, the Port of Dover asks boats to fly it until Border Force has boarded. In the Channel Islands it is flown on arrival.

In France, the RYA’s understanding is that the Q flag is not required unless there are items to declare.

Coming back to Great Britain, gov.uk requires the yellow Q flag to be flown as soon as you enter UK waters (the 12-mile limit), and kept flying until you have finished reporting to the customs authorities. Anyone on board who is not a British or Irish citizen needs a Border Force officer’s permission to enter the UK before leaving the boat. Goods over the personal allowances, goods bought abroad worth more than £270 in total, animals and restricted foods must be declared, and gov.uk states that pets can only be brought into Great Britain on a private boat when travelling from Ireland or Northern Ireland.

Arrivals are reported through the same online pleasure craft report service. Border Force may grant permission to enter remotely, and Border Force and HMRC need to be told of any change to the reported plans.