How to Breeze Through Entry into Australia and Its Strict Biosecurity Checks

G’day~ Good afternoon, I'm Alice~ Days of nonstop rain have me feeling so emo! I've been posting a lot lately, so today I'm throwing together a quick one. You've probably heard some of the horror stories (?) about biosecurity checks at Australian customs. Anyone would break into a sweat facing a string of questions from customs (I sure hate it hahahaha), and even if you've done nothing wrong, you end up looking like you have. This post shows you how to get through entry smoothly, or at least feel less scared when they question you~

(Look how scary it is. This Border Force even got turned into a whole TV series)

Of course, to get in you first need to make sure your passport hasn't expired and that you have a valid visa to enter Australia. Whatever you do, don't be scatterbrained and buy a plane ticket without a visa... Before arrival, the flight attendants hand out incoming passenger cards on the plane, so I'd suggest keeping a pen on you. This time I finally learned my lesson and brought one hahaha. Whether or not you're an Australian citizen/PR, and whether your passport is from Taiwan, Hong Kong or Macau, you need an incoming passenger card (I've never seen anyone who didn't). If you accidentally miss when they hand out the cards, don't panic! Take a deep breath and let it out, it's no big deal. Before you clear the border, you'll come across a stand with the cards in all kinds of languages: English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, you name it. The ones handed out on the plane are usually in Chinese (or the airline's national language) and English; just fill in your details as instructed. If you're visiting family or have friends in Australia, ask them for their phone number and address before you leave for Australia to use as an emergency contact; if you're traveling, just write down the hotel you've booked. Once that's done, you're halfway to a smooth entry! The other half is facing a possible inspection~

A question everyone runs into is: “I brought this and that, but it feels like a gray area. Can I actually bring it into Australia, or do I need to declare it?” What I want to say is: if you're not sure, always declare it. After all, things you think are fine aren't necessarily fine to them, and things you think are nothing might be something to them. Whether it's Hua Diao chicken noodles, Uni-President pudding, pineapple cakes, phoenix cakes, Chinese herbal medicine, over-the-counter medicine or leftover fruit, if you're not sure, declare it! After passport control comes baggage claim, and around the carousels there'll be dogs working on the belts. I have to say the dogs are really impressive; they really can smell what you're carrying. While I was waiting for my luggage, a dog sniffed out the smell of money on the woman standing next to me, and customs asked her how much cash she was carrying and checked her incoming passenger card. Once you have your bags, someone will direct you. In the best case they'll just say “thank you, have a good day.” If you declared anything, they'll ask what you declared, and based on their judgment send you one of two ways: one is border custom, the other is biosecurity. I don't really get the difference, but compared with border custom, I find biosecurity a little gentler (?). Dealing with custom before really had me in a cold sweat QAQ. If nothing turns up after they check, you can leave~

If you're not very confident speaking English, you can write a list in English while packing. For someone like me who basically moves house every time I go back to Australia, it's really handy: less digging around when your bags get opened, and less nervousness at inspection.

If you're carrying a large amount of prescription medicine, including but not limited to antidepressants, medicine for chronic conditions and sleeping pills, remember to bring a doctor's certificate or prescription. Plain painkillers, allergy medicine or asthma preventers can all be bought at a pharmacy without a prescription~

Here are a few little stories.

Once when I flew in, I had so much stuff that I forgot I'd packed a jar of homemade orange jam, so I didn't declare it. Somehow they seemed to know about the jam in advance, and when they were directing people, they sent me straight to custom to open my suitcase. The suitcase went through a scanner first. The officer asked what was in it, and I said this and that. They asked, nothing to eat? I said probably not. They asked, isn't there a jar of something? Only then did it hit me that I had jam in there! In the end they counted it as a verbal declaration and let me go with a warning. Even though it was my fault after all, being questioned was really scary, like I'd committed some unforgivable crime (crying).

(From a news story online: a grandma forgot she had a chicken sandwich in her bag, and then...)

The other story happened to a friend of a friend. They brought goods they'd claimed a tax refund on back into Australia without declaring them, and custom again seemed to know in advance. Anyway, they ended up fined several thousand. I don't know exactly how many thousand, but I heard it wasn't a small number.

So those are my two stories, and I'll say it again: declare honestly!! A false declaration can bring fines and criminal charges, and in serious cases you can be deported~ For real, it's serious!