Incoming passenger card Australia: how to fill it in

Incoming passenger card Australia: write in English with a blue or black pen and sign the card. Complete both sides and answer all 11 numbered questions. If you are unsure whether to declare something, mark Yes.

You are given the card before you arrive in Australia. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) says most travellers must fill one in, Australian citizens included. The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources calls the card a legal document. Agriculture officers check the food, plant and animal items you declare.

Sources for this section: DIBP, English card sample; DIBP, Passenger cards; DIBP, Arriving into Australia; Agriculture, Declare it!

What the card asks

The card has two sides, and DIBP says you must give accurate answers on both. Travellers leaving Australia use a separate outgoing passenger card. The front asks for your name, passport number, flight number or ship name and intended address in Australia. It asks whether you plan to live in Australia for the next 12 months. If you are not an Australian citizen, it also asks if you have tuberculosis and if you have any criminal convictions.

The front then has 11 numbered questions, shown here in short form. The first nine ask what you are bringing in, and the last two ask where you have been.

1. Goods that may be prohibited or restricted, such as medicines, steroids, firearms, weapons or illicit drugs
2. More than 2250 mL of alcoholic drinks, 50 cigarettes or 50 g of tobacco products
3. Goods obtained overseas or bought duty or tax free in Australia, with a combined price of more than AUD$900, gifts included
4. Goods or samples for business use
5. AUD$10,000 or more in Australian or foreign currency
6. Meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, dairy, fruit or vegetables
7. Grains, seeds, bulbs, straw, nuts, plants, parts of plants, traditional medicines or herbs, or wooden articles
8. Animals, parts of animals, animal products including equipment, pet food, eggs, biologicals, specimens, birds, fish, insects, shells or bee products
9. Soil, or items with soil on them or used in freshwater areas, such as sports gear and shoes
10. Contact with farms, farm animals, wilderness areas or freshwater streams or lakes in the past 30 days
11. Time in Africa, South or Central America or the Caribbean in the last 6 days

The back asks which country you boarded in, your date of birth, usual occupation and nationality. It asks for your contact details in Australia and an emergency contact. You then choose one of three sections, A, B or C: migrating permanently, visitor or temporary entrant, or resident returning. Visitors and temporary entrants add their intended length of stay, country of residence and main reason for coming.

Sources for this section: DIBP, English card sample; DIBP, Passenger cards.

How to fill it in

1. Write in English with a blue or black pen. DIBP says cards must be completed in English.
2. Answer every question and mark your answers with an X.
3. If you are unsure whether to declare something, mark Yes.
4. Give your passport number and your nationality as shown on your passport.
5. Complete both sides, then sign and date the card. The declaration says failing to answer any questions may have serious consequences.

DIBP says a person in charge of another traveller can fill in the card for them. That includes parents and guardians of minors, and carers of travellers with special needs.

Samples of the card are online in English and 47 other languages. DIBP says they are a guide only and will not be accepted at the border.

SmartGate, the self-service passport check, does not replace the card. If you use SmartGate, you show your completed card and SmartGate ticket to a Border Force officer after you collect your luggage. Other air travellers show their passport and card to an officer before they collect their bags.

DIBP says Australian citizens who refuse to complete the card may be penalised. Non-citizens may be penalised and refused immigration clearance, and false information can affect their visa status.

Sources for this section: DIBP, Passenger cards; DIBP, Passenger cards samples; DIBP, English card sample; DIBP, Arriving into Australia; DIBP, SmartGate FAQ

Why the biosecurity answers matter

Biosecurity means reducing the risk of unwanted pests and diseases arriving in Australia. The agriculture department says plant material, animal products and some foods from overseas could bring in serious pests and diseases. It says they could damage farming, tourism and the environment. Its advice page says an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Australia would cost the economy an estimated $50 billion over 10 years.

An agriculture officer checks the items you declare during border clearance, and many are returned to you after inspection. A biosecurity risk item is held back. Depending on the risk, you can pay to have it treated, export it or have it destroyed. Treatment and export carry fees. Or you can drop items in the quarantine bins at the airport.

Whether you declare items or not, your bags may be checked by x-ray, a detector dog or an officer. You could be fined $360 on the spot if you neither declare nor dispose of a biosecurity risk item before inspection. The same goes for a false declaration. You could instead be prosecuted, fined more than $66,000 and risk 10 years in jail and a criminal record.

The agriculture department says you will not be penalised if all items are declared, even if they are not allowed into Australia.

Sources for this section: Agriculture, Declare it!; Agriculture, Advice to Travellers.

Mistakes to avoid

• Leaving a numbered question blank, or filling in only one side.
• Marking No for food because it is packaged or came from the plane. The agriculture department's list names packaged meals, snack foods, airline food, instant noodles, herbs and spices, and honey.
• Forgetting what is on your feet and in your bags. The list names used sporting and camping equipment, including footwear, hiking boots, tents, golf equipment and bicycles. Question 9 asks about soil.
• Forgetting the past 30 days. The agriculture department says to declare a visit to a rural area, or contact with or near farm animals, in that time.
• Not declaring souvenirs. Question 7 names wooden articles, and the agriculture department says to declare all of them, including carvings. Its list also names feathers, bones, wool, and shells and coral, including souvenirs.

The agriculture department says its list is not complete, so mark Yes when you are unsure. Pack anything you need to declare where you can reach it. The DIBP tips page says this helps speed up clearance. It also says to ask an officer if you are in doubt.

Sources for this section: DIBP, English card sample; Agriculture, Declare it!; Agriculture, Advice to Travellers; DIBP, Tips for travellers.