Keytakeaways
- Submit your digital arrival card at the right time — usually within 1–3 days before travel — to avoid rejection or delays at immigration.
- Accuracy matters — even small errors in passport, flight, or accommodation details can trigger extra checks.
- Use only official government or trusted partner websites to avoid scams, data theft, and invalid submissions.
- Always save and carry your confirmation (QR code or PDF) to ensure smooth clearance, even if technical issues arise.
Online arrival cards have become the new norm in many countries as paper forms to make the process through immigration less complicated and quicker. Although this digital system is supposed to save time, most travellers continue to commit simple errors that will cause delays.
Digital arrival cards are now needed by many countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. To have a stress-free trip, it is imperative to fill these out properly in advance before travelling.
Filing the Form Too Early or Too Late
The submission time is one of the most neglected regulations of digital arrival cards. Most places provide a time limit within which your card should be filled out. You may think of it as scrapped before this time or it can be thought of as invalid after this time.
The Arrival Cards must be submitted within 3 days before arrival. Failure to do so before this window would result in the system rejecting the form thereby postponing your immigration clearance at the airport.
To avoid this error:
- Remember to complete your online check-in card during the stipulated time.
- In case of a change of travel date, make sure that you resubmit before the period expires.
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2. Inaccurate Personal Details
This is probably the worst error and one that can severely slow down your processing time.
Mistakes in passport information e.g. spelling of names or wrong date of birth are common problems. This may result in additional checks or manual verification at immigration.
Tips to avoid mistakes:
- Copy your information by copying it to your passport rather than typing the information into your memory.
- Check spelling, numbers and dates twice and three times.
- Make sure that your legal name is what is written on your travel papers.
3. The Unofficial or Scam Sites
There is a danger of fake or fraudulent sites purporting to be official digital arrival card portals which may raise unwarranted charges or even steal personal data with increased digitalisation. Such scams usually appear in travel searches and the travellers may enter sensitive information in the unsecured site.
This error can cause significant delays at the border gate in situations where the authorities are unable to confirm your information or an event you have applied for via unofficial means.
How to stay safe:
- Only go through government portals or official visa partners like DU Global.
- Look for HTTPS secure connections as well as domains belonging to the government that have the ending of .gov, .gov.in.
4. Incorrect Flight or Travel Details
Your itinerary must be accurate in terms of flight number, arriving date, and even your departure. One of the common mistakes is typing in an incorrect flight number or date particularly after typing in the initial information when the travel plan is amended. This may result in additional inspections at immigration or an override of the manual in Malaysia and other systems.
Pro tips:
- Your boarding pass or airline application contains your flight details so make sure they are correct.
- On rescheduling of your flight, do not forget to correct and resubmit the form as soon as possible.
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5. Lacking or Missing Accommodation Address
Most of the digital arrival forms will make you fill in the address of where you will be staying in the country. Errors in this area, e.g. incomplete hotel names, incorrect street addresses, or generic entries, may confuse immigration officials and cause further questioning.
Avoid these issues by:
- Enter the entire official address where your booking confirmation was made.
- To be clear: adding zip codes and names of cities.
6. Failing to Submit or Save Confirmation
You have to fill out the form and not only that, you have to submit it correctly and usually save the confirmation. Several tourists think that it is enough to leave a draft or complete it without clicking on Submit. The other people do not save or even print the generated confirmation page or the QR code at the end of the process.
Best practices:
- Always seek the final confirmation screen or email.
- Copy screenshots, PDFs or print copies before leaving.
- Always have the digital and hard copy in place in case of internet unavailability at the airport.
7. Uploading Low-Quality or Wrong Documents
Although not all digital versions of arrival cards involve the upload of documents, it is possible that some of these systems may request passport photographs or other documents. Delays or duplicates may be caused by uploading blurry, cropped, or poor-quality versions.
How to avoid this:
- You will need a clear and high resolution image with every corner of the passport showing in the image.
- Shadows or glare in photographs are to be avoided.
8. Ignoring Browser or Technical Compatibility
A flawless form may be ruined by technical problems unknowingly. Unsupported browsers or shaky internet connections may cause frozen pages or an incomplete submission which may not show any errors.
Tech suggestions for a seamless journey:
- Use new browsers such as Chrome or Firefox.
- Public Wi-Fi should not be used for submitting sensitive work.
- In case the site malfunctions, either clear the cache or go incognito.
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9. Failed to Correct Mistakes Timely
One of the most common misconceptions held by a number of travellers is that once a digital arrival card is provided, one cannot edit it. In the majority of systems, however, it is often free to re-fill out a corrected version and the most recently filled out form is what immigration officers utilise.
What to do when you find a mistake:
- Do not panic and re enter new corrected information.
- Get rid of outdated versions and keep the newly created confirmation.
10. Presuming that Paper Forms Are Still Active
There is a possibility that the traveller may think that paper cards are still valid during a transitional time like when nations first computerise arrival forms. Although there are destinations that can provide you with a temporary fallback, this is not a permanent solution and you may be made to spend time depending on the checkpoints at airports.
Our advice:
- Always fill out the online form in cases of need.
- Retaining a paper fallback is only required when immigration continues to take it officially. You should be ready to go entirely paperless.
Conclusion
Digital arrival cards are here to stay and it makes sense. They assist immigration authorities in handling the travellers in a more effective way and provide you with a smooth entry. Nevertheless, these advantages can be easily compromised due to such errors as inaccurate data, time mistakes, use of counterfeit websites, or failure to store confirmations.
FAQs
Q1. What is a digital arrival card?
It is an online form with your passport and contact details that you must submit before visiting a country. It has replaced old paper disembarkation forms.
Q2. When should I submit the digital arrival card?
Fill your online arrival card within 1–3 days before travel (depending on the country) to make sure it’s ready for immigration when you land.
Q3. What happens if I enter incorrect passport details?
Make sure your passport details are exactly right before you submit. It is because even small mistakes can cause delays or extra questioning at the border.
Q4. Do I still need a visa if I fill out the arrival card?
A digital arrival card is not the same as a visa. So you must still have the right visa for your destination before you travel.
Q5. Can I use unofficial websites for submission?
Only use official government or partner websites to avoid scams. Official government sites are generally free and always end in a trusted government domain.
Q6. Do I need to print the confirmation?
You don’t have to print this form. But keeping a digital copy or QR code on your phone is a good idea in case officials ask for it.
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