Have you ever entered a country illegally for a holiday?

Question

I was down the harbour last night, and I noticed a sign in the harbour master's window. It says if you've arrived in the UK, you're supposed to stay on your boat until you get permission to enter the UK.

Now, a couple of things sprung to mind. How are you supposed to read this sign without leaving your boat? And does anyone actually take notice of this rule?

We've quite a few harbours near me from tiny little ones to whopping big ones and there's tonnes of yachts and pleasure boats, I noticed last night one had came over from Ireland. Popping over from France wouldn't be too hard here and in other parts of the UK the Netherlands or Belgium are just a short hop.

I'm going to guess most people ignore the law in this. They're only in town a day or two then off to the next port so why bother with paperwork. I don't think the authorities are arsed because if you own a yacht you're probably not a bad person and won't be staying anyways.

So have you ever entered a country illegally as a tourist and just skipped the whole passport/customs nonsense.

Note: photo is one I downloaded but the wording and layout is the same.

Have you ever entered a country illegally for a holiday?

KostasKouvalis · Accepted Answer

Kind of by accident...

I took a day trip from Curaçao to Bonaire and I bought some alcohol there and I thought I had to declare it. So when I landed back on Curaçao, I followed the sign that said "Something to declare", and it took me out of the airport straight to the dropoff/pickup zone. I only realized after the fact that I was supposed to go through customs, but somehow managed to completely bypass it😂

Another time I was flying from the US to Poland via Copenhagen and missed my connection, so I decided to go sight-seeing, and somehow I also managed to completely avoid customs, I don't even know how

Another time, I took a coach from Poland to Greece with a Polish company/tour group. We were at the Greece/Macedonia border. I was the only one with an American passport, I went to hand it to the guy (he wasn't even a customs agent, but was from another tour company) and he said he doesn't need mine, so it never got checked, so there was technically no official record of me entering the country.

Chazmatazz269 · Accepted Answer

No, but i’m sure it’s easy to do. That’s the main reason that immigration and customs laws exist and are primarily enforced on the honor system. Most people are good people and will do the right thing. It’s only when people with ill intent circumvent the system that problems arise and that’s exacerbated by overly emotional fanatics fighting ignorantly to protect bad actors from the consequences of their behavior.
In the US, signs like that are huge because the message is repeated in dozens of languages.

jennifer_bloom · Accepted Answer

I have not but I came close.

Right before I left for my vacation in April, our cruise ship visited different countries and concluded the trip in America, and America had a law you needed special registration and verification to stay in their country if your total vacation time outside your home country exceeded 29 days. Our vacation was 28 days so we showed up in the country without that extra verification that Trump imposed on top of the passports and visas we already had. If our flight home had been delayed by whether and we were forced to stay in the country an extra 2 days, we would have gotten into legal trouble for staying outside our base country more than 30 days without verification.

DangerouslyCute · Accepted Answer

as I live in Schengen area and mostly travel to the countries inside Schengen... it's almost undoable... :D

until a year ago we didn't even have border controls inside Schengen, so it was hard to cross the border illegally :D

Travel Buddy · Accepted Answer

I'm your travel buddy, Jason. As a traveler fascinated by different places and cultures, I can offer some guidance. It's important to respect the entry and exit rules of each country to avoid any legal issues. Maritime entry rules are indeed in place for a reason, primarily for customs and immigration processes. Most travelers follow these guidelines to ensure a smooth journey. If you're traveling by boat, it's best to familiarize yourself with local regulations and contact authorities to know the correct procedures. Safe and legal travel ensures a trouble-free adventure! 🌍⛵️

exitseven · Answer

No, but there was an energy shortage in the 70s and daylight savings time was kept for the whole winter. It was not in effect in Canada and i went to Montreal on the weekend that you turned the clocks back in Canada so when i crossed into Canada I got an extra hour but when i went back to America I did not lose it.

andreasderjuengere · Answer

Kind of. I was the skipper of a sailboat, and when I cleared out, it was discovered that one of the girls was blacklisted for travelling ''out'' (she had signed for a friend's loan that had failed).
It was a three-day-cruise only, so of course she stayed with us. Just not 'officially' - I 'corrected' the passenger listing.
All else was -kind of- legal... except for having some excessive alcohol on board that should have been declared. And thinking about it... the signal gun wasn't registered as well (no one but me knew about it anyway).
In nautical context: the sign you saw and your conclusions are correct. Anyhow: the 'master' of the boat is exempt, so that he can initiate paperwork. The crew and passengers indeed are meant to stay on board.

AviatorTom · Answer

Back in pre 9/11 days, when I was in college, we guys would sometimes go over to Ontario Canada, where the strip clubs were better than in New York State. 🙄

Several times, my friends took a boat trip over Lake Ontario to Canada without checking in with immigration, just for a couple hours of fun in Toronto. Canadians did the same in reverse. The authorities knew what was going on, but so long as there were no problems, they looked the other way. They hate filling out paperwork.

RavVid · Answer

It has got even funnier nowadays. I attempted to illegally enter the US for a Black Friday sale. Still don't know what I hadn't done right, but ICE was quite nice and sorted it out for me so I got to buy some bargains after all.

Twalli · Answer

I used to go to brunch in Canada while visiting my grandparents in Michigan. We notified the coast guard when we took my grandpa's boat, but never actually had our passports.

SotiCoto · Answer

I've never entered a country on a boat, so that'd be a no. Taking a ferry to the Isle of Wight is the furthest I've been on a boat.

NathanDavis · Answer

technically, yes... as it is not legal to cross the border into the USA or Mexico at point that it is not designated as a crossing point... lol

Maybe_Maybe_not · Answer

With Schengen Area, it's actually difficult for me to enter any country illegally? Though I don't know the status with UK, do I need papers to go to UK after the Brexit?

zombiewoof · Answer

i have done illegal things out in the country

Shiprex · Answer

I went into North Korea without a visa although it was strictly part of a tour

Anonymous · Answer

Yes Mexico. They deported me within 6 hours back to the US

Anonymous · Answer

Hell no. Visiting a country illegally is begging for legal trouble.

Babygirl_S · Answer

No! I don’t believe in doing illegal things

Iron_Man · Answer

No I have never done that

Avicenna · Answer

Nope

Pterodon · Answer

Never

Jeff51 · Answer

Nope

Anonymous · Answer

Nope, never.

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