PNG Tightens Border Process With Mandatory Digital Arrival Card

 PNG is tightening its border entry procedures, requiring every traveller bound for the country to complete a Digital Arrival Card before being cleared for travel.

The immigration requirement covers the full range of incoming passengers, including PNG citizens returning home, permanent residents and foreign nationals, the Immigration and Citizenship Service Authority (ICSA) said.

ICSA issued the directive on August 6, instructing international carriers, ground handlers and check-in personnel to make sure passengers have fulfilled the digital requirement before boarding passes are issued.

The PNG Digital Arrival Card is part of the Government's PNG e-Border Solution and has been introduced as a border management and security measure.

According to ICSA, information collected through the system will support immigration risk assessment while helping authorities improve the movement and processing of passengers entering the country.

The authority said the requirement is backed by its statutory responsibilities under the Immigration and Citizenship Service Act 2010 and the Migration Act 1978.

Those laws provide immigration authorities with powers relating to the regulation, administration and facilitation of lawful entry into Papua New Guinea.

With the new arrangement in place, passengers travelling to PNG must complete their arrival card before reaching the point where their boarding pass is issued.

Airlines and other personnel involved in international passenger processing have been advised to comply with the directive as the digital system becomes part of the country's border entry process.