VisaPleasure boats arriving in French Polynesia face new customs limits by length
The declaration introduced for September arrivals distinguishes smaller yachts from larger vessels. Owners must also complete separate immigration and health formalities.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Check the September declaration before planning a long stay
Owners and captains bringing pleasure boats to French Polynesia should use the official declaration for arrivals from 1 September 2026. Its French instructions specify twelve consecutive months of temporary admission for vessels under 24 metres and thirty-six months for vessels over 24 metres entering after that date. The form cites article A361-14 amended on 28 July 2026.
The new declaration says force majeure can justify three additional months. That is a conditional possibility, not an extension every owner can add to the sailing calendar. Its public wording describes vessels below and above 24 metres without explicitly assigning a vessel measuring exactly 24 metres. Ask Customs to determine the applicable category rather than choosing the longer allowance yourself. Prepare the vessel nationality document and skipper’s passport for the electronic file; owner and crew passport fields also appear in the form.
Temporary admission depends on the owner and the boat
The Customs navigation guide explains that this arrangement suspends import duties and taxes while qualifying boats visit. The owner or user must normally reside outside the customs territory, must not become resident during the stay, and must not undertake locally remunerated activity. The vessel must be registered outside the territory and belong to someone established outside it. Commercial use, lending or rental is excluded. Breaching these conditions can end tax relief early.
At the limit, the boat must leave or undergo customs clearance. Selling it to another nonresident does not restart the admission period; sale to a resident requires prior Customs authorisation and the relevant tax formalities. A further admission requires evidence of at least six months outside, measured from the exit declaration, together with entry into a foreign territory. No universal clearance price is published here; request a Customs assessment before importation.
The older declaration still describes a different arrival period
The separate older pleasure-boat declaration remains publicly accessible and still describes twenty-four consecutive months, with a possible three-month force-majeure extension. Customs deliberately links different forms for arrivals before September and those from September onward. A bookmark to the older form consequently cannot establish that a newly arriving smaller yacht has two years. Establish the arrival date first, then select the corresponding declaration through the Customs guide rather than through an old saved link.
The older form also shows why submitting an entry record is not the end of administration during a visit. It allows updates when crew embark or disembark and when the boat travels between islands. It instructs the captain to update the final departure date and complete police formalities before leaving abroad. Preserve the file access details so changes can be recorded against the existing visit. Neither its twenty-four-month description nor an electronic filing receipt establishes how long an individual crew member may remain under immigration rules.
Arrange the first port and health report separately
The maritime authority DPAM directs vessels arriving from abroad to an authorised first port, including Papeete, Moorea, Raiatea and specified ports in other island groups. Its arrival page provides the complete list for route planning. For Tahiti or Moorea, immigration formalities involve the border-police service at Faa’a; at other authorised first ports, the territorial gendarmerie performs the checks. Have every crew member’s passport and any required visa, vessel registration and the declaration filing acknowledgement ready.
DPAM separately requires a maritime health declaration forty-eight hours before arrival, covering pleasure boats as well as larger ships. Send it to the health-watch address published on its arrival page. Do not unload food, plants, wooden objects, animals or animal products before the relevant biosecurity authorisation. The same page requires passports valid for six months after intended departure and explains that visa requirements depend on nationality, purpose and duration. Its general customs paragraph still says twenty-four months; use the newer dated declaration and Customs arrival-date split to resolve that discrepancy for a September-or-later arrival.
