Bringing gifts back through NZ customs

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Geektastic

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#922004 26-Oct-2013 12:19

ilovemusic: how do you know if you have a black mark against your name ?

is there a publicly accessible database of such information ?

Yes. Wikileaks....!

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dclegg

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#922027 26-Oct-2013 12:54

Update: Returned from San Francisco today. No issues with Customs at all. :-)

k1wi

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#922036 26-Oct-2013 13:49

Lane 5? :)

dclegg

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#922060 26-Oct-2013 14:38

k1wi: Lane 5? :)

Yep. Even declared my food (chocolates & lollies) and a visit to a Redwood forest.

jpoc

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#922314 27-Oct-2013 08:00

ilovemusic: how do you know if you have a black mark against your name ?

is there a publicly accessible database of such information ?

Shine an ultra-violet light on your passport and look and the markings that are written on it.

A friend of mine had a code which meant: "Suspected drug smuggler, take him into the little room, get the heavy duty rubber gloves out and tell him to drop his pants and bed over."

He was traveling back and forth between London and Amsterdam every couple of weeks and he was fart harvested every time.

The Germans gave me a mark that read: "Has more than one passport - treat with suspicion."

sbiddle

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#922326 27-Oct-2013 08:22

jpoc:
ilovemusic: how do you know if you have a black mark against your name ?

is there a publicly accessible database of such information ?

Shine an ultra-violet light on your passport and look and the markings that are written on it.

A friend of mine had a code which meant: "Suspected drug smuggler, take him into the little room, get the heavy duty rubber gloves out and tell him to drop his pants and bed over."

He was traveling back and forth between London and Amsterdam every couple of weeks and he was fart harvested every time.

The Germans gave me a mark that read: "Has more than one passport - treat with suspicion."

No such information exists on a passport - because there is no need.

There mere fact you have a passport number means information is lodged in computer systems. It's not the 1950's any longer.

k1wi

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#922345 27-Oct-2013 09:35

It's all about profiling, you only need an episode of border patrol or border security to learn some of their red flags- tickets bought last minute, in cash or paid by someone else, that sort of thing (ill keep it to that publicly available level). Obviously flights from different places in the world (or people from different countries in the world) attract a greater interest than others. All that stuff is done before you even get on the plane and depending on security agreements is shared between countries either directly or indirectly. I believe that baggage on flights from the US are screened before take off by the TSA, reducing the need to x-ray again in NZ.

Then it is also people who have previously been stopped and found to be doing something stupid like bringing in undeclared salt water fish, or received a warning for something who will continue to be treated thoroughly, as they keep a track of your history with them (customs).

jpoc

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#922393 27-Oct-2013 11:24

sbiddle:
jpoc:
ilovemusic: how do you know if you have a black mark against your name ?

is there a publicly accessible database of such information ?

Shine an ultra-violet light on your passport and look and the markings that are written on it.

A friend of mine had a code which meant: "Suspected drug smuggler, take him into the little room, get the heavy duty rubber gloves out and tell him to drop his pants and bed over."

He was traveling back and forth between London and Amsterdam every couple of weeks and he was fart harvested every time.

The Germans gave me a mark that read: "Has more than one passport - treat with suspicion."

No such information exists on a passport - because there is no need.

There mere fact you have a passport number means information is lodged in computer systems. It's not the 1950's any longer.

Sorry but you are just wrong. This is information that does not get put onto databases and is shared informally by immigration/customs staff. (Probably it is often illegal to share it which is why a hidden system is so useful.)

I was actually sitting in front of the official in the office responsible for keeping tabs on foreigners in my town of residence in Germany. She was shocked to hear that I had a second passport and demanded to see it. She then fetched the magic pen from her drawer and scribbled notes to the effect that I had two passports on both of mine. That was just a handful of years ago. Twenty first century and all.

After several years of strip searches, a UK immigration officer took pity on my friend. He told him why he kept getting checked and suggested that he should simply lose his passport and apply for a fresh one which would come without the UV notes.

In most countries, passport checks are done at a specially designed booth. There is a glass screen between you and the officer. At the bottom of the screen there is a small gap and then a shelf onto which you place your passport.

The immigration officer takes your passport and then places it on the counter-top in front of him or her self. This is below the shelf and the design is such that you are not expected to be able to see what is written on the passport in UV ink. Today, the stuff for reading data off biometric passports is also down there but the good old UV tube is still used.

k1wi

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#922397 27-Oct-2013 11:44

I've never had an issue having two passports... Certaibly no one has bothered writing on it. Just don't enter a country on one and leave on the other- that is very bad.

Also, the UV light is to show up the UV reactive security features that are embedded in pretty much all passports.

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