There could be one less bit of paperwork standing between you and your cruise or flight from next year, as the Federal Government looks to ditch those green departure forms for outbound travellers.
Also possibly for the chop: the similar orange ‘incoming passenger cards’ completed by travellers arriving into Australia.
Much of the information recorded on both cards is at present accessible electronically by government agencies, making the paper cards mostly redundant.
“The Department of Immigration and Border Protection is currently consulting with stakeholders on the removal of the paper-based Outgoing Passenger Card (OPC) and Incoming Passenger Card (IPC),” said a spokesperson for the Department.
“Decisions about the timeframe for removal of the cards will be made after stakeholder consultation is completed.”
It’s understood that outgoing passenger cards are scheduled to go first – likely between mid-2017 and early 2018 – followed by incoming passenger cards in 2018/19.
Removal of these cards is presently dependent upon having similar information captured in other ways.
For passenger names, passport details and contact information, that could be achieved through existing systems which allow government agencies to access traveller data, although declarations for prohibited and restricted items would remain an issue.
Should the cards be given the chop, it’s not yet known whether cruisers would simply state any declarations at the border verbally, or whether these would be made electronically.
At any rate, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection admits that “removing paper-based Passenger Cards is integral to achieving an automated traveller experience by 2020.”
Originally Published by http://www.ausbt.com.au/
