Can I carry a Turquoise gemstone on my Air Canada flight? Any documents needed?
I am an Indian by origin and currently a Canadian citizen. During my recent holiday visit to India, I purchased a Turquoise gemstone along with a certificate from a reputable seller. Now, as I prepare to return to Canada (Surrey, British Columbia), I have a layover at London Heathrow Airport before my final destination with Air Canada.
I would like to know if there are any specific regulations regarding carrying gemstones while traveling. Do I need to provide any supporting documents, such as an invoice, a bill, or an authenticity certificate from a particular lab, for immigration clearance? Also, since I have a layover in London, I am curious if there are any specific requirements or restrictions at Heathrow Airport regarding carrying gemstones.
Has anyone had a similar experience? Any guidance on the required documents at both London Heathrow and Canada for a smooth immigration process would be greatly appreciated.
Looking forward to helpful responses. Thank you!
I don't think there's any specific rules for turqoise gemstones in particular but it all depends on the value.
If you're transporting something that's worth a couple of thousand dollars/euros you'll need to explain where you got from etc. as they're interested in money laundering etc..
If it's set in some jewelry it's easy to act like you've had it for ages and you're just wearing it.
If you have a gemstone the size of a brick in your luggage it might be more difficult to explain.
As @vord mentioned as a generic white guy it's easy to 'ask for forgiveness, not permission'. If you're any other type of human you might have a harder time.
I did forget about my privilege there.
Customs is more about watching for prohibited, controlled, or dangerous items rather than consumer goods. If they are examining goods, it usually is for commercial purposes. One gemstone is not going to raise flags. Keep your jewelry with you at all times and you should be fine. I've never heard of a customs agent auditing a traveller's jewelry unless they are carrying a huge amount because then it is clearly for commercial purposes.
If you declare it, just be prepared to pay customs fees on it. But there's no restriction on bringing gemstones to Canada. A lot of Indian gold and gemstones has found its way to Canada without issue.
The biggest problem we've had is gold bars, and that was when they got heisted out of Pearson airport.
"Model visible minority" - viewpoint from some privilege .
They make you complete that card and one of the things it asks is value of stuff you bring back right? Fill it in accurately. Then keep your receipt together with the form and passport, and be ready to present to the agent. Usually they wave me through especially if I appear to have my papers in order and does not seem like trying to hide purchases. I make a list of even $2 box of candy I'm bringing in, and usually when they see I have a whole dang list and receipts they wave me. But I did have to pay duties on a ring before.
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/declare-eng.html#_s5 -- when you leave Canada next time don't forget to "mark" your valuables so you don't get ding on way back. My dad used to do a lot of appraisals/certification for already purchased luxury watches.
When my partner and I fly between the US and Australia, we intentionally bring something to declare because, in our experience, the customs line is quite a bit faster than the regular line.
On two different occasions, going through customs has saved us from missing a connecting flight.
Wow, unexpected life pro tip.
Does it have to be something slightly valuable? Do they give you weird looks?
It doesn't have to be valuable at all. It could be a food product, a wood product, etc. One thing that makes it easy for us is that we live on a farm, so we always declare that we've been on a farm for our outgoing flights.
No one has ever given us any funny looks. I think it helps that we've always been honest; we don't declare anything that we don't actually have because they will want to see it. If it's a wood product, for example, they will check it for insect damage to make sure you're not about to introduce an invasive species.
Oh man, I've always been scared about the farm one - would we get detained? Are there extra screening? Why do they need to know?
Very interesting perspective
It's just for biosecurity. They want to check for soil that could contain seeds or pathogens that could pose a risk to the agriculture industry or the environment.
If you don't go through customs, you may occasionally see someone walking around with a dog to sniff everyone's luggage. You might think they're looking for drugs, but it's much more likely that they're looking for items that should have been declared or thrown away: plant material, animal material, etc. It's common for people to, for example, buy an apple at the first airport, eat on the flight, and then forget to throw the core away before they leave the second airport, so these dogs are trained to catch mistakes like this.
When you send mail overseas, the process is the same. They will have a list of things that must be declared (including an assortment of plant and animal materials, soil, etc.), and they will also have dogs doing random checks.
I usually declare that I've been in outdoor areas, show them my clean boots and they send me through no worries.
What, sense of humour with border customs agents!?
If your boots are dirty, they will clean them for you. (This does slow you down, though.)
In Australia or New Zealand, they might clean them for you, but you'll get a $400 find for the privilege.
Oh, good to know!
Is this the $25 gem they sell on their site?
Just don't mention it. It may have value to you, but as far as customs is concerned, it is worthless. I would not spend any amount of time thinking about any item less than a thousand dollars.
Even if you are racially profiled by customs, it won't be over this gem.
As long as it isn’t some sort of antiquity, I don’t think you’ll have an issue. Have the certificate with you in case you are asked about it.
Unless the thing is enormous, I wouldn't worry about it. On two occasions, I've brought a couple pieces of heirloom jewelry worth about $20-25K in my carry-on and nobody gave it a second glance. (I'm an American of East Asian descent.) For the record, it was a domestic flight, so the rules might be different. I would say keep the receipt and I'm sure you'll be fine.
(US based, grain of salt)
I was always an 'ask forgiveness, not permission' type of guy when it came to customs, especially if it's small.
Pretend you had it on the way out. I'm not aware of any regulations regarding carrying small stones on airplanes.