Melbourne Customs

[Flashback]

Wow, i never knew you could start the process on departure in NZ. thats cool.
Anyway its getting better all the time.
E

I still have another 5 years before I'll get a new passport

 

[Evan]

I still have another 5 years before I'll get a new passport

You can get one early, just have to pay, ask your work to pay
I got mine a couple of years early last time since i wanted an e-passport and i know i would travel a lot in the period before it expired.

 

[Flashback]

You can get one early, just have to pay, ask your work to pay
I got mine a couple of years early last time since i wanted an e-passport and i know i would travel a lot in the period before it expired.

If I had some international work travel requirements I could probably get away with it, but unfortunately I don't

 

[anat0l]

I still have my old passport and it doesn't expire until 2013. I'm the only one in the family who doesn't have a new one.

At the moment it is not a severe impediment to customs processing time so I'm not too phased to get a new one.

There was a healthy (unhealthy?) discussion about the time it takes to get through MEL in another thread (viz. "MEL a third world airport").

 

[Cocitus23]

Hey, Kiwi, just in case it causes you some confusion, Telstra Dome here in Melbourne recently changed its name to Etihad Stadium. Yes, I know it's crazy, but they seem to auction off the naming rights every other year. Intelligent Melbournians dig their heels in and refuse to call it anything other than the generic "Docklands Stadium". Although the name Etihad is plastered up everywhere, I have yet to hear a single person call it that. Join the resistance!

 

[superstarshah]

Why dont u wanna call it Ethiad stadium? i dnt get it

 

[Cocitus23]

Why dont u wanna call it Ethiad stadium? i dnt get it

We have got way off thread here, but let me answer your question. I have nothing against Etihad. But this is the fourth name that this Melbourne landmark has had in its 8 years of existence. If we all changed our name every couple of years nobody would know who was who. As it is, a visitor to Melbourne, like yourself, would wander around looking for Telstra Dome and be unable to find a sign pointing to it.
What's more, I resent in principle being used by a commercial entity by being forced to use their name to give them publicity. Hence, for me and others, including the ABC, it is and will remain "Docklands Stadium"

 

[straitman]

We have got way off thread here,

Was there actually a topic :?:

 

[zetski210]

Was there actually a topic :?:

Yes, how long you must wait in Melbourne customs.

I arrived from Hong Kong last week and somewhere in between getting my arrival card stamped and collecting my bags, I lost the arrival card. Upon entering AQIS, I informed them and got fast-tracked to declaration (which I was going to do anyway as I had dried mango and some wooden products to declare) and got out in 15 mins!! :shock:

I beat others on the same flight who did not declare by about 20 mins. Definitely going to try that move again

 

[Flashback]

Yes, how long you must wait in Melbourne customs.

I arrived from Hong Kong last week and somewhere in between getting my arrival card stamped and collecting my bags, I lost the arrival card. Upon entering AQIS, I informed them and got fast-tracked to declaration (which I was going to do anyway as I had dried mango and some wooden products to declare) and got out in 15 mins!! :shock:

I beat others on the same flight who did not declare by about 20 mins. Definitely going to try that move again

Not something I'd recommend doing.. you may not be so lucky next time:!: :shock:

 

[Cocitus23]

Last week I came in through MEL and I was ultra-honest in filling out the form. I said Yes, I had food (a very small packet of candies), and Yes, I had a wooden item (the handle on a corkscrew). To my surprise, the wandering inspector in the baggage claim hall stamped the form and OK'ed me without a single question about either the food or the wood, and directed me to the quick release door. No questions asked there either. It must be that I LOOK as honest as I am!!! But seriously, it made me wonder if it was a good strategy to declare something innocuous simply so that they say "Gee, this person is honest" and wave you through.

 

[anat0l]

Last week I came in through MEL and I was ultra-honest in filling out the form. I said Yes, I had food (a very small packet of candies), and Yes, I had a wooden item (the handle on a corkscrew). To my surprise, the wandering inspector in the baggage claim hall stamped the form and OK'ed me without a single question about either the food or the wood, and directed me to the quick release door. No questions asked there either. It must be that I LOOK as honest as I am!!! But seriously, it made me wonder if it was a good strategy to declare something innocuous simply so that they say "Gee, this person is honest" and wave you through.

I had a similar experience at SYD T1 - I was in the queue when the inspector was floating through the next few pax ("pre-screening" I guess) and came across me. I just said what I had (what food, etc.), lifted my shoes (I said I'd been on a farm or similar in the last x days), then she lifted the tape and told me I could go.

My last experience at MEL T2 customs was an x-raying and being asked what I had but nothing inspected. Just as well, because the officer I got was so emotionless I thought he might throw the book at me.

 

[pgriffin7]

I had a similar experience at SYD T1 - I was in the queue when the inspector was floating through the next few pax ("pre-screening" I guess) and came across me. I just said what I had (what food, etc.), lifted my shoes (I said I'd been on a farm or similar in the last x days), then she lifted the tape and told me I could go.

My last experience at MEL T2 customs was an x-raying and being asked what I had but nothing inspected. Just as well, because the officer I got was so emotionless I thought he might throw the book at me.

It is a few years since I last went through Melbourne but coming home from Singapore on the QF10 ALL I HAD to declare was a couple of CD's I bought at the HMV and Prescribed Medicines Got through there in Thirty Five Minutes connecting domestic onto Adelaide also with Qantas.No bag searches or frisking.
Mental Note to Self Do Not Fly Internationally into or out of Adelaide except as a last resort!!!!!