I am an Indian national and will be traveling to New Zealand as a student. Because I will be staying in New Zealand for 15 months, I was thinking whether I am allowed to carry the following items with me:
canned tin packed food (vegetables and meat)
medicine for hair receding (1 year)
Cash USD 15,000 (tuition and personal expenses)
Is it OK to carry all these items? Am I allowed to travel with these things?
Answer is from official New Zealand Customs for person arriving in New Zealand and you are supposed to declare (Cash, Food and Medicine) in passenger arrival card upon arrival.
1 Agriculture Item And Food
The following classes of goods must be declared to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI):
- Food of any kind.
- Animals (alive or dead) or their products.
Further from official Ministry of Primary industries, vegetable and meat product would be considered a potential risk to New Zealand:
- Any food – cooked, uncooked, fresh, preserved, packaged or dried.
- Animals or animal products – including meat, dairy products, fish, honey, bee products, eggs, feathers, shells, raw wool, skins, bones
or insects.Travelers who fill out the Biosecurity/Quarantine section of the Passenger Arrival Card incorrectly risk an instant fine of $400.
More than that, you could be fined up to $100,000, or get a prison term of up to five years, for serious breaches of New Zealand's biosecurity laws.
2 Medicine
Personal imports (accompanying a traveller)
If you arrive in New Zealand carrying prescription medicine on your person or in your luggage you may only bring it in if you:
- Declare the medicine on your Passenger Arrival Card.
- Have a copy of the medicine’s prescription or a letter from your doctor stating that you are being treated with the medicine.
- Have the medicine in its original pharmacy container, with your name on the label, and strength and dosage details clearly stated.
- Have no more than three months supply (oral contraceptives, where a six month supply is permitted, are the exception).
You are allowed to carry your medicine for 3 months supply only provided they are prescribed with a confirmation letter from your doctor and in its original sealed packing. Therefore, carrying 1 year medicine will not be allowed.
3 Border Cash Report
You are allowed to carry USD 15,000 in New Zealand and you must declare that amount in Border Cash Report
Anyone carrying NZ$10,000 or more (or foreign equivalent) in cash on their person or in their baggage, into or out of New Zealand, must complete a Border Cash Report as part of their entry or clearance procedures.
Cash means physical currency, bearer-negotiable instruments, or both.
A bearer-negotiable instrument means:
a bill of exchange,a cheque, a promissory note, a bearer bond, a traveler's cheque. A money order, postal order, or similar order.
This legislation does not prohibit the import or export of cash sums of NZ$10,000 or more – it simply requires that these sums are reported.
Moreover you are supposed to declare in passenger arrival card section 6 that you are bringing medicine, Cash and food into New Zealand.
Personally I would't carry that much cash as there are many ways to transfer funds into New Zealand for a minimal bank fee. Also if you don't have a bank account in New Zealand yet, you can always make an overseas demand draft/pay order and deposit into your account once you arrive in New Zealand.
