How long can a non-EU yacht stay in the EU?

When a yacht owned or registered outside the European Union arrives in EU waters, it would normally have to be imported. Importing a yacht means paying EU import duty and VAT on its value, which for a superyacht is a very large sum.

Temporary Admission, often shortened to TA, avoids this for qualifying visitors. It lets a non-EU yacht spend time in the EU and be used privately without being imported, with full relief from import duty and VAT, for a limited period.

Think of it as a visitor's permit for the yacht. It runs for a set time, it comes with conditions, and it has to be properly closed when the yacht leaves.

Three moments define every Temporary Admission stay:

1. Entry. The yacht arrives in EU waters and the procedure opens.
2. Private use. The owner and guests use the yacht with no paid charter. Commercial use follows different rules.
3. Discharge. The procedure is formally closed, normally because the yacht genuinely leaves EU customs territory. This is called re-export.

The 18 months is the maximum time between entry and discharge. It is a ceiling, not an entitlement, and the conditions must be met throughout.

Italy's Customs Agency clarified this in Circular 11/2026, published on 15 May 2026. Entering the territorial waters of an EU member state, within 12 miles of the coast, is in principle enough to place a non-EU private yacht under Temporary Admission.

The Circular also allows the owner to file a verbal declaration of entry, known as Form 71-01, which records the yacht's arrival date. That date is the starting point of the 18 months, so documenting it clearly makes everything that follows easier to prove.

The same Circular confirms that a non-EU commercial yacht with no charter contract in force may enter Italian waters under Temporary Admission for private use, on the same conditions as a pleasure yacht, including that the people using it are established outside the EU.

This is the question owners ask most, and where the myths start. One note circulating around the Summit claimed the period could be "stopped for 18 years". That is not a legal rule, and it should not be repeated to anyone.

What the rules actually provide is simpler. A Temporary Admission procedure must be properly discharged. If the yacht later re-enters the EU and the conditions are met again, a new period may begin. Nothing resets automatically.

Non-EU destinations such as Montenegro, Albania or Turkey can play a genuine role in an itinerary. A real exit from the EU, properly documented, can be relevant to how Temporary Admission is managed.

A token trip across the border just to restart the clock is a different matter. Without evidence of a genuine exit and re-entry, speakers were clear that owners should not treat it as an automatic reset. And remember that Monaco is treated as French territory for EU customs purposes, so a stop there is not an exit from the EU.

A GPS track shows where the yacht went. It does not show how customs treated it. For each season, your file should hold:

1. When and where the yacht entered EU waters, including any Form 71-01 filed.
2. How the yacht was used: private only, or any commercial activity.
3. How and when the procedure was discharged.
4. Proof of any genuine exit from, and re-entry to, EU customs territory.

If you are not sure how much of your 18 months remains, find out over the winter, not in the middle of next season.

Add Temporary Admission status, and the evidence behind it, to every new-business and renewal file. A customs problem can affect an insurance claim, so the two should be reviewed together. Never tell a client that leaving EU waters automatically restarts the clock.

Syndicate Risk Management Group helps owners organise their customs evidence alongside their cover, and brings in customs specialists where needed. To review your yacht's Temporary Admission position in confidence, contact us at connect@srmg.co or +1 (305) 500 0844.