Outgoing Passenger Cards (OPC) to be phased out

[kevrosmith]

Outgoing Passenger Cards is already obsolete and will be phased out

The news story indicates that the date hasn't been announced, but we've heard it will be from 1 July 2017.

The Incoming Passenger Card will still be in place for a few years yet, until they can work out how to collect the information via alternate sources/methods.

ABS and Immigration have acknowledged, and have been trying to deal with, the drop in the collection of the cards since 2014/2015.
3401.0 - Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, Apr 2017

(If the link doesn't work, search for OAD in the ABS site, and view the section: Data Quality Issues (Appendix))

 

[kevrosmith]

Bumping my own post... I thought others would be highly interested in this topic, though it probably got lost in the stream of activity and new threads.

 

[serfty]

I'm interested but have been overseas this last week.

As usual on my departure I dropped the green card u to the perspex box.

 

[Austman]

I was told by MEL QF F check-in some days ago that it's about a month away. So 1st July sounds about right?

 

[Pushka]

Will let you know on 2nd July then.

 

[moa999]

Per a thread on Whirlpool it will be legal not to fill in the card.

The table provides the whole of the instrument commences on 1 July 2017

Migration Legislation Amendment (2017 Measures No. 2) Regulations 2017

Extract:

Schedule 2 – Outgoing passenger cards

Overview of the amendments

Regulation 3.01 previously required, among other things, certain persons departing Australia to complete a passenger card.

Regulation 3.01 also required a person departing Australia to provide the completed passenger card to an officer or an authorised system, or to deposit the completed passenger card at a place of a kind specified in a legislative instrument made by the Minister under subparagraph 3.01(3)(c)(ii) of the Regulations.

Schedule 2 amends regulation 3.01 to remove the requirement for a person to complete a passenger card when departing Australia.

 

[Isochronous]

About time!

 

[Happy Trails]

Good, now I'll only have to remind them of my occupation 12 times a year instead of 24.

 

[kpc]

Oh well...my trip on 23 June will be the last time I fill in the green departure cards...has not been a big deal as I have a whole stack of them at home and fill it in before i head for the airport. Now for the orange Arrival cards...that one i find really irritating!! When does that one go?!

 

[JohnK]

Good news. I had to fill out 3 departure cards 2 weeks ago. Next departure 03 July.

 

[kevrosmith]

Good, now I'll only have to remind them of my occupation 12 times a year instead of 24.

Don't worry, TKWYA already .

 

[YSSY]

Oh well...my trip on 23 June will be the last time I fill in the green departure cards...has not been a big deal as I have a whole stack of them at home and fill it in before i head for the airport. Now for the orange Arrival cards...that one i find really irritating!! When does that one go?!

Yep, I also do that. Started doing it for my MIL and realised it was convenient doing it for myself, also pre-fill the inbound cards. Surely the kiosks they use could be expanded and setup to capture all of the information, perhaps frequent flyers could register to be exempt on the proviso they use the kiosk if answers to customs questions change. All of the address information could be pre-registered and linked online.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Used the outgoing passenger card for the last time good, the incoming card will be around for a while unless they can add a bunch of questions to the terminals when coming into Australia.

 

[TheBOSman]

Used the outgoing passenger card for the last time good, the incoming card will be around for a while unless they can add a bunch of questions to the terminals when coming into Australia.

It can be done. Canada and USA both have automated kiosks that ask you a bunch of questions. Not sure if what ABF has can be upgraded to do so, but the technology exists and is in use.

 

[Austman]

Now on ABT:

https://www.ausbt.com.au/outgoing-passenger-departure-cards-will-be-axed-from-july-1st

With the carrot remark:

Completing the orange incoming passenger card on arrival into Australia will still be required, although it's understood that a revised version of the orange card will be issued from July 1 ahead of a likely phase-out in 2018.

!

 

[Pushka]

Love this timing for us then.

 

[Himeno]

It can be done. Canada and USA both have automated kiosks that ask you a bunch of questions. Not sure if what ABF has can be upgraded to do so, but the technology exists and is in use.

That's the problem though.
For the US customs card, they still give it to you on the plane and you still have to fill it out and give it to CBP, unless you use a kiosk. Not everyone can use them and they are not at all inbound ports.

The same goes for the AU inbound. The arrival kiosks can't be used for all passports.

 

[TheBOSman]

That's the problem though.
For the US customs card, they still give it to you on the plane and you still have to fill it out and give it to CBP, unless you use a kiosk. Not everyone can use them and they are not at all inbound ports.

The same goes for the AU inbound. The arrival kiosks can't be used for all passports.

Hey we like paperwork here on LOTFAP, what can I say .

But AFAIK the Canadians are rolling out the kiosks for all travelers. I have NEXUS so I haven't used their new kiosks, but I believe all nationalities can use them. They don't really save time (they're not SmartGate, NEXUS is basically SmartGate), as most people still have to speak to an agent, but you no longer have to complete the physical declaration cards when arriving at some Canadian airports (I believe only YOW and YVR for now, but CBSA is expanding it).

 

[tomlee1986]

good.. its time to end this!

 

[RB]

I must be naive because I have always been honest in my answers. In another forum, many posters indicated that they have regularly written false/joke occupations on the form-makes me question the usefulness of some of the data gathered.