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Outgoing immigration passenger cards Australia

lazy day

By lazy day,
in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers

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lazy day

lazy day

Posted
Posted

I know this has been asked and answered before but can't find the thread.

 

a) Where it asks Country where you will get off ship/flight as we are on a cruise to New Zealand I suppose I would put New Zealand there.

 

b) Also Country where you will spend most of your time New Zealand there as well.

 

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

Thanks in advance.

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dizzy1948

dizzy1948

Posted
Posted
I know this has been asked and answered before but can't find the thread.

 

a) Where it asks Country where you will get off ship/flight as we are on a cruise to New Zealand I suppose I would put New Zealand there.

 

b) Also Country where you will spend most of your time New Zealand there as well.

 

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

We usually put "cruise" in the "spend most of your time" bit - others might do different

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dizzy1948

dizzy1948

Posted
Posted (edited)
We were advised to do that too, put down "cruise". I would think NZ would be fine also.

 

I suppose the "cruise bit" covers if you go to Aus and NZ on a cruise. We were told to put "cruise" when we were country hopping - but our start and end Country was Singapore. Never had an issue with it. Makes sense really, Or as Jacs says "at sea" covers everything really.

Edited by dizzy1948
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Beanb41

Beanb41

Posted
Posted

Its pretty academic as long as something is filled out in the appropriate column. These forms are used more for statistical purposes than immigration purposes. I don't think I have ever seen an immigration officer in any country actually read them other than to ensure it is filled out.

Once someone leaves a country who cares where they are going?

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gbenjo

gbenjo

Posted
Posted (edited)

Apart from should I tick A or B for the currency conversion, the most asked question at check in is about the Green card.

( even though they are collected by customs AFTER check in) everybody wants to fill them in at the check in desk:mad::mad:

 

 

Even though it probably does not make a big difference to anything the " official "customs answers are :

 

1 Q.Country where you will get off this flight or ship?

A. AUSTRALIA

If the cruise ends in New Zealand then obviously the answer is New Zealand in other words, the country where the cruise finishes

 

2 Q. Country where you will spend most time abroad?

A. AT SEA

Edited by gbenjo
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Phez

Phez

Posted
Posted

PAX cards are used for a few things, mainly stats, but also helps narrow you down if you go missing etc, or a tradgedy occurs overseas. It makes it easier for them to data match. I would specify a country, they will know you were at sea by the ship name. Putting 'at sea' or 'cruise' doesn't help with anything if you are ported in Dunedin, NZ when a tradgic event occurs. The first round of data matching wont pick you up as being in New Zealand when your family contact the emergency lines to find out if you are in the affected area.

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gbenjo

gbenjo

Posted
Posted
PAX cards are used for a few things, mainly stats, but also helps narrow you down if you go missing etc, or a tradgedy occurs overseas. It makes it easier for them to data match. I would specify a country, they will know you were at sea by the ship name. Putting 'at sea' or 'cruise' doesn't help with anything if you are ported in Dunedin, NZ when a tradgic event occurs. The first round of data matching wont pick you up as being in New Zealand when your family contact the emergency lines to find out if you are in the affected area.

 

I am quite sure the cruise ship you are on will know where you are if something were to happen while the ship was in port That is why you are scanned off and on the ship with your sea pass. You are normally only in a port for the day so even though "at sea" is not a country it is where you spend most of your time while on a cruise. Customs want to know where you get of the ship for the last time not what ports you visit. Don't forget the green card is designed primarily for flights where you typically get on a plane in one country and leave it in another.

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Phez

Phez

Posted
Posted

Thats true, but i am not talking about if something were to go wrong if you were in port and just got off the boat. I am talking about tradgic world events in which the department of foreign affairs and trade can quickly check who is in that country. If they were concerned about an incident at sea, they check via vessel names.

Coming from someone who has worked with PAX cards before in tradgic events, it is far easier to check via country if a natuaral disaster strikes. Its also a good idea to register with smarttraveller.gov.au (for australians) as this database is excellent for emergency contacts.

But... you will be surprised how many people only put their name and the ship name on their exit and entry cards.

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gbenjo

gbenjo

Posted
Posted
Thats true, but i am not talking about if something were to go wrong if you were in port and just got off the boat. I am talking about tradgic world events in which the department of foreign affairs and trade can quickly check who is in that country. If they were concerned about an incident at sea, they check via vessel names.

Coming from someone who has worked with PAX cards before in tradgic events, it is far easier to check via country if a natuaral disaster strikes. Its also a good idea to register with smarttraveller.gov.au (for australians) as this database is excellent for emergency contacts.

But... you will be surprised how many people only put their name and the ship name on their exit and entry cards.

 

Yes but customs have the manifest for the cruise and would know exactly who is on the ship and what port they were in and along with the ships security someone would be identified as "missing" within hours.

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The_Big_M

The_Big_M

Posted
Posted
Thats true, but i am not talking about if something were to go wrong if you were in port and just got off the boat. I am talking about tradgic world events in which the department of foreign affairs and trade can quickly check who is in that country. If they were concerned about an incident at sea, they check via vessel names.

Coming from someone who has worked with PAX cards before in tradgic events, it is far easier to check via country if a natuaral disaster strikes. Its also a good idea to register with smarttraveller.gov.au (for australians) as this database is excellent for emergency contacts.

But... you will be surprised how many people only put their name and the ship name on their exit and entry cards.

 

Makes sense.

 

Also, these feed into the stats for destiation countries. "At sea" isn't a country so it just wouldn't get counted (why totals don't add up), whereas your actual destination country would get recorded.

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gbenjo

gbenjo

Posted
Posted
Makes sense.

 

Also, these feed into the stats for destiation countries. "At sea" isn't a country so it just wouldn't get counted (why totals don't add up), whereas your actual destination country would get recorded.

 

So maybe it is about time they introduce an outgoing passenger card that reflects the fact that probably ninety percent of cruises that start in Australia also finish in Australia so who really cares, especially, if it is only for statistical reasons ( there are lies, damn lies and statistics) At Sea is what Customs say is the correct thing to put so that will do me.

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NSWP

NSWP

Posted
Posted (edited)

Slightly off topic, personally I don't book through TA's, I am my own, but I used to get my outgoing passenger cards by calling in to the local high street TA. Now the high street TA's tell me they can no longer acquire the cards, you have to get them at the airport/port etc. Anybody else experienced that?

 

I always like to fill in the cards and whack them in the passports as part of the travel documentation.

Edited by NSWP
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gbenjo

gbenjo

Posted
Posted
Sorry for starting this discussion. I didn't want it to turn into a big debate I just wanted to know what is the proper thing to put or what most people fill in.

 

Thanks for all your input.

 

As long as you got the information you wanted. Don't worry too much about the thread being hijacked, it seems to happen a lot but it is " mostly" just an airing of different attitudes and opinions but always interesting seeing other peoples point of view.

By the way, are you going to put AT SEA for the country where you spend the most time?:D:D:D

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PerfectlyPerth

PerfectlyPerth

Posted
Posted
PAX cards are used for a few things, mainly stats, but also helps narrow you down if you go missing etc, or a tradgedy occurs overseas. It makes it easier for them to data match. I would specify a country, they will know you were at sea by the ship name. Putting 'at sea' or 'cruise' doesn't help with anything if you are ported in Dunedin, NZ when a tradgic event occurs. The first round of data matching wont pick you up as being in New Zealand when your family contact the emergency lines to find out if you are in the affected area.

 

As someone who has worked a lot with DIMIA over the past 2 decades on annual secondments I can assure you that "At Sea" or "cruise" is the correct wording and the ship name in the section asking for flight number is also correct procedure.

 

And the "data matching" is extremely sophisticated and used for a lot more than just tragedies and disasters - it is shared daily with 9 other agencies for track and traces of social security dodgers, child support dodgers, tax debtors along with the current batch of newly interesting folks coming and going.

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