Rotuma was supposedly an official port of entry for Fiji, so we were intending to clear out of Fiji from there. The government facilities are not near the Oinafa harbor, rather they are on the other side of the island at the village of Ahau. We were planning to just walk there (or hitch a ride) when we were ready to clear out. However, one day while on shore near Oinafa we were visited by some officials, and we made arrangements for them to come to the boat a few days later to clear us out. That seemed easy enough.
But then the drama began. True Blue V emailed us from Savusavu and told us that the customs office in there was now saying that Rotuma is not an official port and that the customs official had been recalled, however, immigration was still operating on the island. We decided to take no action, because the officials we had talked to on shore had said nothing about there being any issues clearing out, and we didn’t want to start asking questions only to be told that we had to go back to Savusavu to clear out.
So, the day we cleared out and the officials came to the boat we noticed that Immigration and Bio-Security were represented but no Customs. They were pleasant, told us to be sure to tell other cruisers that Rotuma is an official port so more people come there, gave us some clearance paperwork, and stamped our passports. I noticed that the paperwork they gave us was only immigration. So, I asked if this was all we needed for our next port and they said yes. So, I decided to get more specific and asked if there was anything we needed from customs in order to clear out, and they all said no. In the end we clearly departed Fiji without completing all of the official outbound clearance requirements. Luckily, we didn’t have any trouble clearing into Tuvalu, but that’s only because the customs official in Funafuti wasn’t too much of a stickler. Of course, we don’t know if this will impact us if we ever want to clear back into Fiji.
Gresham Family Exodus 