Australian DPD required before boarding for home

[Kanga]

Australians (and others arriving in Australia) are required to download and complete the Border Force DPD (Digital Passenger Declaration) app before boarding a flight to Australia.

It is very clumsy and badly designed. After downloading the app from the App Store (Apple) or Google Play, you then have to create an account. Which has to be entered every time you open the app. The information required is detailed (ID, flight details, proposed destinations in Australia, addresses). If you make a mistake you have to start again. Worse, you have to scan in the code on your vaccination certificate, which is hard to do if you have it stored electronically on the smartphone onto which you have loaded the app. There seems no way of electronically linking the two - so be prepared with a paper copy or the ability to print one out.

I was grateful I was forewarned. I downloaded and completed the app before going to the airport. It took several goes before I got the magic email telling me it was complete. Before boarding my airline checked that I'd completed it.

 

[OzAnnie]

i completed mine while with friends in Ireland in the magic time zone 7days - 3days
Although it appeared I was okay -
I then received an email from Aust border force less than 24 hrs before departure (when alone at Madrid accommodation) telling me it was incomplete and that i shouldn’t arrive at check in unless it was completed correctly.
Will speak to you at some point @Kanga
- I received an email after I got home asking me if I wanted to be on list of people to give feedback on the ‘app’.
Definitely !! I replied yes.

It’s over the top, with the amount of data and info it wants. Doing the ‘sphlth’ entry to spain is a piece of cake in comparison.
Surely there must be an alternative ? Some people wouldn’t even have a smart phone!

 

[dougfitz]

It is very clumsy and badly designed.

Saying it is badly designed is quite generous. I think it is appalling, first as an app in its own right, and second because it is not clear that it is actually achieving any great benefit at the border.

I downloaded the app and completed it in an albergue dormitory. Perhaps the designers hadn't considered anyone doing this in anything but a well-lit office, and certainly not in a less than well-lit dormitory. If you can, be in a well lit area when you attempt to create your declaration.

In addition to the things that @Kanga noted, it completely failed to scan my paper vaccination certificate. I did all the things that I could think of - cleaning my camera lens, holding the paper flat on the floor, putting it in a place where the code wasn't being shaded, etc. Still no result. There is an alternative to scanning, which I then followed, but clearly this doesn't have the same provenance as using the QR code.

Once it is completed, it is not clear to me what it will achieve at the border. I was still required to complete the paper based arrival card. For those that know the questions, there are some that you might not be able to answer until you arrive, depending on what shopping you might do in the last couple of days and whether you undertake in the last couple of days that might need to be declared. But many of the questions are the ones that you have already answered in the DPD.

I have provided feedback on the application. It was clear that most people leaving feedback were really unhappy. Future versions might improve.

For those yet to do this, I suggest that you take a deep breath and take things gently as you work through it. I hope you have a better experience with this than I did.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

This might be a totally dumb question, but how did you know you needed to download this app in the first pace? The airline maybe? it’s news to me and I leave for Ireland in two weeks.

 

[dougfitz]

It's on the Australian Government international travel website (aus.gov.au/international-travel). You will need to click through a couple of menu layers to get to it, but the pathway is reasonably straightforward.

 

[hunsta]

I have complete confidence in any app that Australian bureaucrats come up with. To work as well as any other app they have created..................................................................................Sorry. I couldnt keep a straight face.

 

[OzAnnie]

how did you know you needed to download this app in the first pace? The airline maybe? it’s news to me and I leave for Ireland in two weeks.

If you haven’t researched requirements for entry to any country you are travelling to : Then your travel agent would have sent you links of requirements / restrictions currently in place .
One good thing for you travelling to Ireland (as I did at end of May)… they don’t require any of this!

Always carry a copy of your international vaccination certificate with you. You never know where or when someone may ask for it.

 

[Rick M]

I was wondering when the contractor that brought us Canadians the ArriveCan App would find another mark(et) for this wonderful innovation in international travel. If Aus does it like Canada, the app has to be completed before you board the plane, the airlines do the enforcement on behalf of the government. Now imagine that you have elderly people driving through a land border crossing at night. What could go wrong?

 

[Sandra Riordan]

Australians (and others arriving in Australia) are required to download and complete the Border Force DPD (Digital Passenger Declaration) app before boarding a flight to Australia.

It is very clumsy and badly designed. After downloading the app from the App Store (Apple) or Google Play, you then have to create an account. Which has to be entered every time you open the app. The information required is detailed (ID, flight details, proposed destinations in Australia, addresses). If you make a mistake you have to start again. Worse, you have to scan in the code on your vaccination certificate, which is hard to do if you have it stored electronically on the smartphone onto which you have loaded the app. There seems no way of electronically linking the two - so be prepared with a paper copy or the ability to print one out.

I was grateful I was forewarned. I downloaded and completed the app before going to the airport. It took several goes before I got the magic email telling me it was complete. Before boarding my airline checked that I'd completed it.

Thank you so much your information will help us a lot when we head home from Spain in July

 

[AlwynWellington]

From across The Ditch to my West Island neighbours: Do they actually want you back?

Kia kaha (take care, be strong)

 

[Walton]

I will report this to my local member, Justine Elliott, Federal ALP today.

Something needs to be done asap.

Graham

UPDATE: Email sent with exerpts of comments including Rhysmike's comment with id details removed for anonimity and privacy of all the posters. Perhaps the forum members above could contact their MP?

 

[Rhysmike]

This might be a totally dumb question, but how did you know you needed to download this app in the first pace? The airline maybe? it’s news to me and I leave for Ireland in two weeks.

We found out from the Emirates check in at Barcelona. They won't board you if you're travelling to Australia and can't show the number. Also, we were travelling to Sydney via Dubai and you have to reference the Dubai to Sydney leg, not the one you're boarding in Barcelona.

 

[Rita Flower]

Saying it is badly designed is quite generous. I think it is appalling, first as an app in its own right, and second because it is not clear that it is actually achieving any great benefit at the border.

I downloaded the app and completed it in an albergue dormitory. Perhaps the designers hadn't considered anyone doing this in anything but a well-lit office, and certainly not in a less than well-lit dormitory. If you can, be in a well lit area when you attempt to create your declaration.

In addition to the things that @Kanga noted, it completely failed to scan my paper vaccination certificate. I did all the things that I could think of - cleaning my camera lens, holding the paper flat on the floor, putting it in a place where the code wasn't being shaded, etc. Still no result. There is an alternative to scanning, which I then followed, but clearly this doesn't have the same provenance as using the QR code.

Once it is completed, it is not clear to me what it will achieve at the border. I was still required to complete the paper based arrival card. For those that know the questions, there are some that you might not be able to answer until you arrive, depending on what shopping you might do in the last couple of days and whether you undertake in the last couple of days that might need to be declared. But many of the questions are the ones that you have already answered in the DPD.

I have provided feedback on the application. It was clear that most people leaving feedback were really unhappy. Future versions might improve.

For those yet to do this, I suggest that you take a deep breath and take things gently as you work through it. I hope you have a better experience with this than I did.

Thank goodness my return date is 30 Nov - hopefully the procedure will be much improved.

 

[Rita Flower]

I have complete confidence in any app that Australian bureaucrats come up with. To work as well as any other app they have created..................................................................................Sorry. I couldnt keep a straight face.

Oh yes ....

 

[Sbandias]

We found out from the Emirates check in at Barcelona. They won't board you if you're travelling to Australia and can't show the number. Also, we were travelling to Sydney via Dubai and you have to reference the Dubai to Sydney leg, not the one you're boarding in Barcelona.

Many thanks for this clarification -this is a great help. I would have entered Barcelona as the place of departure

 

[Mack]

If you haven’t researched requirements for entry to any country you are travelling to : Then your travel agent would have sent you links of requirements / restrictions currently in place .
One good thing for you travelling to Ireland (as I did at end of May)… they don’t require any of this!

Always carry a copy of your international vaccination certificate with you. You never know where or when someone may ask for it.

This has been raised in the media and Border Force has declared there is nothing wrong with the app and it is really easy to use! I've used it and required my son in Aus to do it for me from his home (which he did successfully - but he is an IT software architect). My phone had been stolen so I was left with a laptop which cannot do it. Fortunately I had a hard copy of my vacc. certificate with me.

 

[Jo H]

Australians (and others arriving in Australia) are required to download and complete the Border Force DPD (Digital Passenger Declaration) app before boarding a flight to Australia.

It is very clumsy and badly designed. After downloading the app from the App Store (Apple) or Google Play, you then have to create an account. Which has to be entered every time you open the app. The information required is detailed (ID, flight details, proposed destinations in Australia, addresses). If you make a mistake you have to start again. Worse, you have to scan in the code on your vaccination certificate, which is hard to do if you have it stored electronically on the smartphone onto which you have loaded the app. There seems no way of electronically linking the two - so be prepared with a paper copy or the ability to print one out.

I was grateful I was forewarned. I downloaded and completed the app before going to the airport. It took several goes before I got the magic email telling me it was complete. Before boarding my airline checked that I'd completed it.

Thanks for this info.

 

[Margaret Butterworth]

I had been in Spain for 2 months, during which time the rules had changed and the new DPD was introduced. I only found out about it at the Emirates check in desk at BCN. It was a nightmare trying to fill in the electronic form with all its uploads because the wi/fi signal was so weak. However, Emirates staff had seen me trying to fill it in (and perhaps thought I had) and let me board. Arriving in Perth, there must have been lots of passengers without the DPD, because Border Force had 3 separate desks set aside with great sheets of papers listing “problem” arrivals. It was chaotic and stressful after a long flight.

 

[hunsta]

I had been in Spain for 2 months, during which time the rules had changed and the new DPD was introduced. I only found out about it at the Emirates check in desk at BCN. It was a nightmare trying to fill in the electronic form with all its uploads because the wi/fi signal was so weak. However, Emirates staff had seen me trying to fill it in (and perhaps thought I had) and let me board. Arriving in Perth, there must have been lots of passengers without the DPD, because Border Force had 3 separate desks set aside with great sheets of papers listing “problem” arrivals. It was chaotic and stressful after a long flight.

That would be stressful indeed.
Now apart from my somewhat tongue in cheek comment earlier. Why do our governments departments make these things so difficult?
I hope you time in Spain was good enough to forget the beaurocratic nuisance.

 

[Kanga]

Many thanks for this clarification -this is a great help. I would have entered Barcelona as the place of departure

We entered both legs, because that it how I interpreted the instructions.

Once it is completed, it is not clear to me what it will achieve at the border. I was still required to complete the paper based arrival card. For those that know the questions, there are some that you might not be able to answer until you arrive, depending on what shopping you might do in the last couple of days and whether you undertake in the last couple of days that might need to be declared. But many of the questions are the ones that you have already answered in the DPD.

I asked about this on arrival from the officer at quarantine control, which comes after you get through passport control and collect your luggage. The officer told me they still needed the paper form, because it asks additional quarantine questions (are you carrying any foodstuffs, untreated timber, vegetative and animal matter, shells, soil etc, that need to be inspected).

I asked about the DPD app, and whether Border Force actually had my information and used it. He said yes, and it was the reason I got straight through passport control using the fast e-check. Otherwise the system would not let me through and I would have been in the (long) passport control queue.

It is nuts. IF there is going to be an app, you would think it could be user friendly, comprehensive, and linked to vaccines already recorded in our medicare information (and on the international vaccination certificates).

As an aside, I always "declare" for quarantine purposes when I have been walking in rural areas, and because I also carry home a shell and smoked paprika from Spain. It is always very fast, probably faster than the other line - perhaps because they trust people who do "declare" on the form. The shell and the smoked paprika always get the nod, as do my (well cleaned) shoes. This time was no exception. We got out of the airport in super quick time.

 

[dougfitz]

My takeaway on this from earlier in the year when my wife and I were planning to go to the UK is that keeping up-to-date with the entry/re-entry requirements of all the places one is travelling to has to be part of one's behaviour patterns. Some of you will recall the difficulty in establishing whether Australians could enter Portugal earlier in the year. The rules and policies around that changed regularly, and are still changing. We would regularly check official government websites, sometimes triggered by press articles but also to ensure for ourselves we were up to date.

Whether or not the government is making it difficult is a moot point. What it has done for WhatsApp users is establish an Australian Government portal that pretty quickly and easily links to a broad range of COVID-19 related Commonwealth, State and Territory resources. I find it invaluable. Details can be found at aus.gov.au/whatsapp.

 

[trevorcc]

Saying it is badly designed is quite generous. I think it is appalling, first as an app in its own right, and second because it is not clear that it is actually achieving any great benefit at the border.

I downloaded the app and completed it in an albergue dormitory. Perhaps the designers hadn't considered anyone doing this in anything but a well-lit office, and certainly not in a less than well-lit dormitory. If you can, be in a well lit area when you attempt to create your declaration.

In addition to the things that @Kanga noted, it completely failed to scan my paper vaccination certificate. I did all the things that I could think of - cleaning my camera lens, holding the paper flat on the floor, putting it in a place where the code wasn't being shaded, etc. Still no result. There is an alternative to scanning, which I then followed, but clearly this doesn't have the same provenance as using the QR code.

Once it is completed, it is not clear to me what it will achieve at the border. I was still required to complete the paper based arrival card. For those that know the questions, there are some that you might not be able to answer until you arrive, depending on what shopping you might do in the last couple of days and whether you undertake in the last couple of days that might need to be declared. But many of the questions are the ones that you have already answered in the DPD.

I have provided feedback on the application. It was clear that most people leaving feedback were really unhappy. Future versions might improve.

For those yet to do this, I suggest that you take a deep breath and take things gently as you work through it. I hope you have a better experience with this than I did.

Does not surprise me as my business was IT software testing and validation, it seems in the last decade they now create apps throw them out and let the public sort out their poorly designed software. looks like its back to the 70's .

 

[Sandra Wolf]

My takeaway on this from earlier in the year when my wife and I were planning to go to the UK is that keeping up-to-date with the entry/re-entry requirements of all the places one is travelling to has to be part of one's behaviour patterns. Some of you will recall the difficulty in establishing whether Australians could enter Portugal earlier in the year. The rules and policies around that changed regularly, and are still changing. We would regularly check official government websites, sometimes triggered by press artic;les but also to endure for ourselves we were up to date.

Whether or not the government is making it difficult is a moot point. What it has done for WhatsApp users is establish an Australian Government portal that pretty quickly and easily links to a broad range of COVID-19 related Commonwealth, State and Territory resources. I find it invaluable. Details can be found at aus.gov.au/whatsapp.

Thanks I have just gone to the site. All the best Sandra

 

[M2404D]

Australians (and others arriving in Australia) are required to download and complete the Border Force DPD (Digital Passenger Declaration) app before boarding a flight to Australia.

It is very clumsy and badly designed. After downloading the app from the App Store (Apple) or Google Play, you then have to create an account. Which has to be entered every time you open the app. The information required is detailed (ID, flight details, proposed destinations in Australia, addresses). If you make a mistake you have to start again. Worse, you have to scan in the code on your vaccination certificate, which is hard to do if you have it stored electronically on the smartphone onto which you have loaded the app. There seems no way of electronically linking the two - so be prepared with a paper copy or the ability to print one out.

I was grateful I was forewarned. I downloaded and completed the app before going to the airport. It took several goes before I got the magic email telling me it was complete. Before boarding my airline checked that I'd completed it.

One can choose not to download the app, & just fill out the form on your device. Then copy it to your notes &/or print it out. You will then get an email saying that it is incomplete, with an explanation saying incomplete means, show your copy when you check in at the airport.

 

[Kanga]

One can choose not to download the app, & just fill out the form on your device. Then copy it to your notes &/or print it out. You will then get an email saying that it is incomplete, with an explanation saying incomplete means, show your copy when you check in at the airport.

Perhaps those people were the ones in the l o n g passport control queue when we arrived at Sydney? Not something I want to experience after a 14 hour flight.

 

[camino07]

We found out from the Emirates check in at Barcelona. They won't board you if you're travelling to Australia and can't show the number. Also, we were travelling to Sydney via Dubai and you have to reference the Dubai to Sydney leg, not the one you're boarding in Barcelona.

That was my mistake. My sister in law and I took ages to go through it all and finally we got all the ticks saying complete. We thought we had done both flights. My brother printed 2 copies out for me which I just put in my folder without reading.
I get to the gate in Dubai and find that the copies were only Glasgow to Dubai. I'm in a queue and couldn't find the rest of it on my phone. They gave me a declaration form to fill in there and then and let me through. It caused me so much stress which I thought was ridiculous considering what other countries do.

 

[Kanga]

That was my mistake. My sister in law and I took ages to go through it all and finally we got all the ticks saying complete. We thought we had done both flights. My brother printed 2 copies out for me which I just put in my folder without reading.
I get to the gate in Dubai and find that the copies were only Glasgow to Dubai. I'm in a queue and couldn't find the rest of it on my phone. They gave me a declaration form to fill in there and then and let me through. It caused me so much stress which I thought was ridiculous considering what other countries do.

Only the first leg shows up on the front screen, I found the second leg by clicking on something. I can't now tell you what, having consigned the stupid app to the "delete permanently" bin!

 

[M2404D]

Perhaps those people were the ones in the l o n g passport control queue when we arrived at Sydney? Not something I want to experience after a 14 hour flight.

No, you show to at checkin from the country that you are departing from.
I just finished Le Puy, & did this at GDG airport on my return to Sydney, & did not has to show anything to anyone on arrival, except for scanning my passport