This is really true news, and it is greatly annoyed most of the passengers who planned to visit this country. But some things should be clarified because everything is not as bad as it seems.

Customs officials can ask any passengers for device passwords or PIN, but to do that you need to be suspicious - this is not something what will apply to all passengers. Furthermore inspection of device is performed only in flight mode, so data on user cloud are not subject to this inspection, and if in some case user refuse to reveal his password he/she will pay fine in the amount of 5000$ NZD which is converted to US dollars about 3200$.

Solution for this is to not have cryptocurrency wallet on your phone when you visit NZ, try to remember your seed and recover your wallet after you pass custom control.

More info : NZ to fine travellers who refuse to hand over phone passwords at border

I'm surprise that they only want to know your phone's password and your laptops are not inspected at all. Based on the news your smartphones are the only ones requiring them for inspection but there is no mention of laptops being inspected. They might just be doing this mandatory inspection for convenience as unlocking a phone is a much more faster way compared to booting up your laptop. I am beginning to think that this is purely a BS regulation as this does not do anything on what they are trying to reach.

It might be under current laws. Obviously it's never been tested for cryptocurrency, but for example, gold coins are explicitly declarable. Here's one opinion:


Indeed, some US senators have been trying for the last couple legislative sessions to explicitly have digital currencies included (among other things):


In either the US or NZ, it seems most of us agree. The easiest course is to delete any cryptocurrency wallets and restore from seed later.

Thank you everyone for your comments to date, greatly appreciated. Makes me feel a little better and I'll do some of the things that you are all suggesting

If that is the rule, then there is no point fighting it rather find a way to comply or avoid being caught in those they would choose to make an example out of. Its common for immigration officials hiding under the rule of security check to start invading the privacy of other people and because they know you are in the position of weakness, overzealous officials tend to abuse the process far and beyond what is stated in the policy or rule book.

Way out, just uninstall whatever app you have on your phone prior to travelling but be sure to keep your private key with you. The moment you pass through security check, get access to the internet and download again without any issue. There is no point making a fuss out of it and policies can be changed depending on the amount of information they have at the time they were making such policy.

I see, good thing that you clarified that as I am only seeing a lot of news saying that their phones are being inspected which has lead me to think that other devices are not inspected. But upon searching other news article it says that other devices are inspected as well, the nytimes' article specifically mentioned digital devices and not only mobile phones, but still this is a lame law to see and it violates a lot of privacy issues for both their citizens and foreigers.

Does anyone honestly expect it to be phone only? If you arrived with your suicide vest they're not going to check your phone and let you skip away unchecked with your laptop and tablet bursting with your evil plans. It's going to apply to every single thing you have on you.

This is only a check that you have to comply with at customs.

It has nothing to do with new restrictions in terms of bringing bitcoins into the country or even holding bitcoins. That in itself does not cinstitute any crime, so even if they search your phone and find bitcoin wallets or addresses, they can't prosecute you unless the state laws say that.

But it probably has security concerns if you do hold bitcoins on your phone, you're letting people access your private keys potentially without you knowing whether it's stolen. And also it raises huge issues in terms of privacy principles. So for that reason, I'd still be extremely careful in wiping bitcoin data off your device before you enter.

Well this is applicable only to the cellphones and laptop to ensure the safety of the passengers during the flight or to ensure you are not involved in money laundering. If their is nothing to hide then you will just open your gadgets for them then enjoy the flight. Regarding crypto concern, they will not touch it as they could monitor all of the transactions in their local exchanges in which all are KYC compliant.