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Red tape
Clearing procedures for
Suriname
are the strangest of all. On arrival, the procedure we went through was:
fill in a form for visa at Consular Affairs of External Affairs (30 USD,
copy of
passport, copy of exit-stampl last visited country, 2 passphoto’s and 2x
crew list), pick the visa up in the afternoon and we had to go to the
Military Police to get a permit for one month (stamp), plus the
announcement that after one month we had to renew the permit at the
Immigration Police Obedient as we are, we went there a few days before
the renewal date. By bus to
Paramaribo and with another bus to the Immigration Police at the other end
of town. Unfortunately the Immigration Police could not renew the by MP
granted permission, as MP was not at all authorized to issue the permit
they had issued! Reason: we arrived in Suriname by boat and in that case
you do business with the Immigration Police as of the date of arrival.
(If you arive by car, MP is your first stop.) |
We
had to return to MP to invalidate their issued permit (stamp), so we
returned by bus to Paramaribo city center. After we had convinced two
officials at MP (in which we succeeded only after they made various
phone calls to Immigration Police and their superintendant), and we
received the stamps declaring the first permit was void. Again by bus to
Immigration Police and at an other counter we finally received renewal
stamps for 1 month. In Suriname you are allowed to stay for six months. If you want to extend your stay, you have to leave for a few hours. First buy new visa at External Affairs (otherwise you are not allowed to enter anymore as the trick of arrival without visa is only successful if you arrive by boat), then to Albina (on the border with French Guyana), get an exit stamp at the local MP, cross the Maroni by ferry to St. Laurente, get an entry stamp at the gendarmerie, walk around for one day, exit-stamp at the gendarmerie, ferry, MP Albina for a new entry stamp on the new visa. To renew after one month at Immigration Police... |
No trouble with the French.
Nor with the Spanish custom's officers (we expected worse). But the
Portuguese... The biggest problem along the Portuguese coast is the lack of anchorages, so most of the time one has to stay overnight in a marina. First of all: the Portuguese are very friendly people. Our problem is not personal, it is a result of the system. They are bureaucrats. Behavior of officlas is annoying and one feels like hitting them, hard. Immediately upon arrival a custom's officer appears, complete with cap, stripes and gun. Sometimes it is only one man, often there are three of them. Brigada fiscal, customs. I have to come here and NOW (and no mercy at happy hour), and I have to bring along the ship's papers and passports. And then we are going to fill in a form. I.e. HE is filling it in while I'm seated on a small chair against a wall. They are particularly interested in who the captain is. Because in fact they had expected HIM handling customs, not his female assistant. Do we have animals on board? "Yes, lots of cockroaches." But it's better to keep your mouth shut. I even do not answer "Miep" upon the question what the name of the boat was before she was baptized "Witte Raaf". Half an hour later, it is time to see the guard and fill in a new form with guess what information??? Exactly: the same. Next step is the payment of 25 euro's deposit for a key to be able to get into the marina again, and first thing tomorrow is: apply to the marina office for the payment of harbour dues. Enough is enough so Miep has been shrinking, and as of now she is
measuring only 10.25 meters. Officials believe this immediately, because it is
written on our Letter of Measurement which is a special attachment to
our Sea Letter. It is printed and authorised by Dutch government, so it is
true. |
Updated 11/2006
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