Plain language law

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Customs and Excise Act 2018

Customs powers - Powers in relation to documents

259: Unlawful travel documents

You could also call this:

"What happens if you use a fake or altered passport to enter or leave New Zealand"

Illustration for Customs and Excise Act 2018

If you try to enter or leave New Zealand with a fake or altered travel document, a Customs officer can take it from you. They can also take any goods that are fake travel documents. A travel document is something like a passport that proves who you are.

If a Customs officer thinks your travel document is not real, they can keep it. They must follow the rules in section 242 to deal with the document. This means they will decide what to do with it.

A false travel document has wrong information about you. A forged travel document is not real or has been altered without permission. A misused travel document is used by someone it was not issued to.

A travel document can be a New Zealand passport, a foreign passport, or a special identity certificate. It can also be a refugee travel document from another country. An unlawful travel document is one that is false, forged, or misused. It also includes anything used to make a fake travel document or alter a real one without permission.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7039567.

Topics:
Immigration and citizenship > Border controlCrime and justice > Criminal law
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Part 4Customs powers
Powers in relation to documents

259Unlawful travel documents

  1. A Customs officer may retain or seize any document presented for inspection if the Customs officer has reasonable cause to suspect that the document is an unlawful travel document.

  2. A Customs officer may seize any goods found in the course of a search or examination under this Act if the Customs officer has reasonable cause to suspect that the goods are unlawful travel documents.

  3. An unlawful travel document is prohibited goods for the purposes of sections 26, 191, 205, 206, 210, 211, and 231.

  4. Any documents or goods seized or retained under this section must be dealt with in accordance with section 242.

  5. Section 242(2) to (5) applies with all necessary modifications to any documents or goods retained or seized under this section.

  6. In this section,—

    false, in relation to a travel document, means containing information that—

    1. purports to relate to the person to whom it was issued; and
      1. is false or relates in fact to some other person

        forged, in relation to a travel document, means—

        1. not issued by the Government by which it purports to have been issued; or
          1. altered without authority

            misused, in relation to a travel document, means used for the purposes of identification by a person who is not the person in respect of whom the document was issued

              travel document means any document that is or purports to be—

              1. a New Zealand travel document (as that term is defined in section 2 of the Passports Act 1992); or
                1. a passport (as that term is defined in section 2 of the Passports Act 1992) that has been issued by the Government of a country other than New Zealand; or
                  1. a certificate of identity (as that term is defined in section 2 of the Passports Act 1992) that has been issued by the Government of a country other than New Zealand; or
                    1. a refugee travel document that has been issued by the Government of a country other than New Zealand

                      unlawful travel document—

                      1. means a travel document that is false, forged, or misused; and
                        1. includes any item involved—
                          1. in the production of a travel document that is false, forged, or misused; or
                            1. in the unauthorised alteration of a travel document.

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