If you visit any country, one of the most common practice is to fill in an arrival card, departure card and sometimes a separate customs declaration card. If you travel to Australia, it is no different, you need to fill out an arrival card and it is called as “Incoming Passenger Card”. It serves as arrival card and customs declaration card, it has all of the details in one card. Below is the step by step guide to fill the same and sample as well.
Guide to filling Australia Incoming Passenger Card :
The incoming passenger card for Australia has two sides. On the front side you would need to fill out your basic information and do the declaration, on the back you need to fill out your contact info, purpose of visit, etc. You need to use Blue or Black Pen to fill the card.
Step by Step guide to fill out front side of Australia Incoming Passenger Card
Below are the various fields in the passenger card. You will have boxes, makes sure you write in capital letters in the respective boxes. If it exceeds, just leave out that part that does not fit in the boxes.
- Family Name/ Surname : You need to fill out your Surname or Family name as it appears in your passport. If longer than the number of boxes, you can leave the last letter that do not fit in box.
- Given Names : In this field you need to fill out your first name or given name in your passport. You can add middle name here, if it fits or the initial of the middle name
- Passport Number : Your passport number
- Flight Number or name of the Ship : You need the enter the Flight number that appears on your boarding pass of the flight or your ship that you have taken to arrive in Australia
- Intended Address in Australia : This is the address, where you plan to stay during your visit in Australia.
- Question : Do you intend to live in Australia for the next 12 months : If you are traveling for tourism or shorter stay you need to put in X in the No, unlike if you are coming to Australia for study or work, then you would need to write X in the box, next to Yes
- Health Declaration :
- If you are not Australian Citizen
- Do you have Tuberculosis : You need to select Yes by placing X in the box, next to it, if you have TB, if not, you select No. It is very important to declare it correctly, if you do wrong declarations, then you will be in trouble later.
- Do you have any criminal Conviction/s : You need to also mention, if you have been arrested or have any criminal convictions in the past, again it is important to declare it correctly. Select Yes, if you have ever been convicted for anything.
- If you are not Australian Citizen
- Customs Declaration Section – Incoming Passenger Card : You will need to answer to the customs declaration questions appropriately in the incoming passenger card, depending on what you are bringing in to Australia. Below are the questions in sequence.
- Are you brining into Australia :
- “Goods that may be prohibited or subject to restrictions, such as medicines, steroids, illegal pornography, firearms, weapons or illicit drugs? “: You need to declare by saying Yes, if you are bringing in any of these things like restricted medicines, steroids, or weapons by putting X next to Yes. In most of the cases, you would answer No.
- More than 2250mL of alcoholic beverages or 25 cigarettes or 25g of tobacco products? : If you have purchased something in duty free by mistake, which is more than allowed like here of 2250ML of alcohol, you need to select X in the box next to Yes. If not, you select No by putting X in the box next to No.
- Goods obtained overseas or purchased duty and/or tax free in Australia with a combined total price of more than AUD$900, including gifts? : If you are getting any expensive gifts that are over Australian Dollars of $900 you need to declare that by writing X next to Yes. If you are not sure, then just select Yes. It is better to declare than get caught and be in trouble.
- Goods/samples for business/commercial use? : If you are a business traveller and bringing in any commercial samples or goods, then you need to declare that by selecting X next to Yes.
- AUD$10,000 or more in Australian or foreign currency equivalent? : If you are carrying Cash that is valued of more than 10,000 Australian Dollars, you need to declare it by saying Yes. If you are carrying your home currency like USD/Euro or even traveller’s checks when converted gets valued at 10,000 AUD, you need to declare that.
- Note: If a customs or police officer asks, you must report travellers cheques, cheques, money orders or other bearer negotiable instruments of any amount
- Meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, dairy, fruit, vegetables?: If you are bringing in any food items that has meat, poultry, fruit, vegetables, you need to declare that by selecting Yes. It could be even processed food, you should declare that. The customs officer will check and let you carry in general, if it is food items that you consume.
- Grains, seeds, bulbs, straw, nuts, plants, parts of plants, traditional medicines or herbs, wooden articles? : If you are carrying any dry fruits, grains, buts, plants, traditional medicine, etc. you need to declare that as well by selecting Yes. Many people do not declare as they are worried that it will be thrown out. But, it is better to declare than get into trouble. Usually the officer will check and let you carry most of the times.
- Animals, parts of animals, animal products including equipment, pet food, eggs, biologicals, specimens, birds, fish, insects, shells, bee products? : if you are getting any animals or animal product, even honey, birds, etc as listed, you need to declare and select Yes. If not, select No.
- Soil, items with soil attached or used in freshwater areas e.g. sports/recreational equipment, shoes? : If you are bringing in anything that has soil attached to it, then you need to declare that, even the ones that is used for recreation like Shoes that is used there by selecting Yes.
- Have you been in contact with farms, farm animals, wilderness areas, or freshwater streams/lakes etc in the past 30 days? : If you live in farm land or in forest areas or in close contact with farm animals in the previous 30 days before your travel date, then you need to declare and select Yes, if not then select No.
- Were you in Africa, South/Central America or the Caribbean in the last 6 days? : If you are traveller or have done volunteering in any of the African or Caribbean in the last 6 days before your travel to Australia, you need to select Yes, if not you select No.
- Declaration : You need to declare that all you have entered is correct and complete and you are responsible for the consequences, if something wrong and sign in the white box, where it says Your Signature and put in the date next to it.
You will see text saying “Turn Over the Card” in red to fill out the other side.
Step by Step guide to fill out Back side of Australia Incoming Passenger Card
The backside of the incoming passenger card has information around your contact details, your occupation, your reason to visit, etc. It is recommended to write in capital letters, but there is no specific instruction to use upper case.
- Your contact details in Australia : You need to fill in your contact information that you have in Australia. Phone number you use and Email that you use. Or you can fill out the full address where you intend to stay in Australia. If you are traveling for tourism, you can fill in your hotel address and your email / phone number.
- Emergency Contact Details ( Family or Friend ) : You will need to provide your emergency contact info to inform, if something happens to you in Australia for emergency purposes. It could be your spouse, father/mother or friend. You need to fill in their Full Name, Email, Phone or Mailing Address.
- Other Information Section: You need to answer few questions as listed below in this section
- In Which country did you board this flight or ship ? : You need to name the country, where you boarded the flight or ship.
- What is your usual occupation ? : You need to write your current occupation. If you are a house wife, you mention the same. If you are software guy, you write your job title. Similarly for others.
- Nationality as shown on Passport ? : You need to write your nationality/ citizenship as it is shown on your passport.
- Date of Birth : You need to write your date of birth with Day, Month and Year in their respective boxes.
- Purpose of Visit – Migration, Visitor or Resident : In this section, you will see three questions named with letters A, B, C, you need to choose the correct one and put in X in the right box. Only one needs to be selected.
- A . Migrating Permanently to Australia : If you have applied for Permanent Residency from abroad and entering Australia as Permanent resident, then you would write X under this question.
- Visitor or Temporary Entrant : If you are traveling to Australia for temporary stay as a tourist or for education, business meetings, employment, then you would select X in this box and you need to mention the amount of your planned stay in Australia, in days/ Years or Months based on what is on your visa and your plans.
- Selecting the reason for entering Australia : You will also need to select your purpose for travel as listed : Convention/Conference, Business, Visiting relatives or friends, Employment, Education, Exhibition, Holiday and Other by selecting that box and putting X next to it.
- Resident Returning to Australia : If you are an Australian resident returning to Australia, then you will need to select X under this question and enter the details of which country you spent most of your time, when you were out of Australia. Also, you will need to indicate the main purpose of your travel to Australia under that.
Check out and Download Sample Australian Passenger Incoming Cards in PDF format