The Migration (Australia Travel Declaration—Passenger Card May Be Required) Instrument (LIN 24/075) 2024 introduces updated rules for passengers arriving in Australia. Starting from 17th October 2024, this new regulation outlines specific situations where passengers might still need to provide a paper Passenger Card, even if they’ve already submitted the Australia Travel Declaration (ATD) electronically.

The two key situations in which a clearance officer might ask for a paper Passenger Card are:

1. System Outage: If the clearance officer cannot access the ATD due to technical issues or system failures, they can request the passenger to complete a paper Passenger Card for immigration purposes.
2. Suspicion of Inaccuracy or Incompleteness: If the officer suspects that the information provided in the ATD is either incomplete or incorrect, for instance, if there are discrepancies in passport numbers, flight information, or other critical data, a paper Passenger Card can be requested to cross-check the details.

These changes aim to ensure a smoother immigration clearance process, allowing flexibility in using both digital and paper-based declarations, ensuring that no passenger is delayed or faces issues at the border due to system malfunctions or data inconsistencies​.

Source: https://migrationalliance.com.au/images/easyblog_images/5725/LIN24075.pdfhttps://migrationalliance.com.au/images/easyblog_images/5725/LIN24075-Explanatory-Statement.pdf