Crew information for New Caledonia
Entry by plane - departure by yacht
If you plan to arrive in New Caledonia by plane and depart as crew on a yacht you will need proof of this BEFORE you leave your country of origin. In fact, you will be asked for this - or a return air ticket - when you attempt to board your flight to New Caledonia.
The captain of the vessel you plan to join needs to go to the immigration office (the Frontier Police) located on the south side of the Port Autonome about 100 metres west of the main entrance to the port (almost directly north of the Maritime Museum on Avenue James-Cook).
The immigration officer in charge will require the entry papers for the yacht and two copies of a letter stating that you will be flying in (on a specific date) to join the vessel as crew and will be departing New Caledonia aboard the yacht. The letter can be in English.
Something like this:
"John Doe" an "Australian" citizen, passport number "xxxxxxxxx" will be flying to New Caledonia on "01/09/05" on "Air Caledonie flight xxx".
"John Doe" will be signed on as official crew aboard Yacht Whatever and will be departing New Caledonia aboard the vessel en route for "Australia".
Signed by the captain of the yacht
The Immigration officer will stamp the letter and alert immigration at the airport that John Doe will be arriving and will become a crew member aboard a foreign yacht.
The Captain will get one stamped copy that needs to be faxed to the crew member before departure.
This happens reasonably quickly (he will normally stamp the letter immediately) but the sooner done the better.
The crew member will then have an officially stamped letter authorising arrival in New Caledonia without a return air ticket.
Entry by Yacht, departure by plane
If a crew member leaves a foreign yacht by airplane, the Captain and crew must go together to the immigration office after buying the airline ticket and officially remove the crew member from the crew list.
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