One of the most tedious aspects of overseas flying is filling out that annoying green card prior to departure. There are never enough pens to go around and you usually forget your flight and/or passport number. Ain’t nobody for time for that!
Well, it appears the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) agrees. From July 1, you will no longer be required to fill out these pesky cards while passing through immigration. Hurrah!
The DIBP has advised travel agents, airport and airline staff that it will no longer require OPCs from departing passengers. Instead, passenger names, flight numbers, destinations, passports and contact details will all be collated via each airline’s Advance Passenger Information System (APIS).
The ABS, which was notified of the change back in April, issued the following statement:
The Australian Government is focussed on low contact automated border clearance technologies to manage the 50 million travellers expected annually by 2020. Removing paper-based passenger cards is integral to achieving a seamless and automated traveller experience.
DIBP has worked closely with the ABS and Tourism Research Australia to identify and successfully test alternate data sources to the OPC. Changes to use these alternative sources are now well underway to remove reliance on the paper OPC.
As a result, the OPC is on track to be retired in July 2017.
This is all thanks to a recent Migration Legislation Amendment that removes Regulation 3.01, namely, the requirement for a person to complete a passenger card when departing Australia.
Unfortunately, the equally annoying incoming passenger card (IPC) still needs to be filled out manually by passengers. However, a similar review is currently underway with the aim of removing reliance on paper cards for good. Then you can finally stop feeling bad about forgetting to bring a pen on your trip.
Comments
10 responses to “It’s Official: Australia’s Outgoing Passenger Card Is Getting The Boot”
Well thank goodness for that, was annoying.
…oh god yes. I can’t believe how tedious it was filling it in every few years or so when I could afford an overseas holiday. Life will be so much better now. Meanwhile in other news, 500kg of ice was seized today in a shipment………yep, bigger problems.
Was always a PITA filling this out for all the kids, even babies… thank god its going
I don’t think it been required for a while, at some airports.
Last year when I went to Japan from Gold Coast airport I didn’t have to hand over the form I filled out. They used a facial recognition camera/booth/gates instead of face-to-face immigration where I would normally hand over the form.
Yep, they’ve been phasing them out for a while but the official end date is July.
Odd, I flew to New Zealand from the Gold Coast last month and still had to fill one in.
Either way, I’m glad I won’t have to ever again!
Good to know I can carry more than $10,000 in cash and not need to declare it.
Still, better to be safe and ask the Mayor of Ipswich to carry it for you
It’s still your responsibility to declare ALL cash and negotiable instruments before you depart.
See this website:
http://www.austrac.gov.au/travellers/travelling-or-out-australia/reporting-physical-currency-faqs
Physical currency only, eh?
So I can buy a 1kg gold bar from the Perth mint, worth over $50,000 – and take that overseas?