Jamaica C5 Form: How to Fill In the Immigration and Customs Form

The C5 is Jamaica’s combined immigration and customs declaration, and every arriving passenger needs one, visitors and Jamaicans alike. It used to be a paper card handed out on the plane. Since September 1, 2023 it has been an online form, run by the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency, known as PICA, and the Jamaica Customs Agency, at enterjamaica.gov.jm. It’s free, it takes a few minutes, and here’s how to fill it in, question by question.

What the C5 form is

The C5 does two jobs at once. The immigration half tells PICA who you are, where you’re coming from, where you’ll stay and for how long. The customs half is your declaration to Jamaica Customs of what you’re bringing in: food, plants, medicines, cash over US$10,000, goods above your duty-free allowance, and so on. PICA lists a completed and signed C5 among the documents every traveler must present to immigration, alongside a valid passport and a visa if your nationality needs one.

Is there still a paper C5 form?

The online form replaced the paper card airlines used to hand out. The Jamaica Information Service reported the change when it launched in September 2023, and PICA’s chief executive said again in March 2026 that the paper declaration has been replaced by the digital C5 platform. Jamaica Customs now says all arriving passengers are mandated to complete and submit the electronic C5.

PICA’s travel documents page still says the form can be online or physical, and the Canadian government mentions a landing card you may be given on the plane or at the airport. In practice, treat the online form as the one you need, and think of paper as the backup if something goes wrong.

Before you start: what you need

• Your passport (the form asks for your name, date of birth, passport number and country of issue exactly as they appear on it)
• Your home address
• Your occupation
• The name or address of where you’re staying in Jamaica
• Your airline, flight number, departure city and arrival date
• How many days you’re staying and how many bags you’re bringing
• An email address you can open right away: the form sends you a verification code before you start

When the online form launched, PICA said you can submit it up to 30 days before you arrive.

How to fill in the C5 form, step by step

1. Go to the official site. Open enterjamaica.gov.jm (the older address enterjamaica.com redirects there). The page carries the PICA and Jamaica Customs Agency logos.
2. Confirm your email. Enter your email address and type in the code you’re sent.
3. Personal information. Last name, first name and middle name, date of birth and gender, as on your passport, and how many family members are traveling with you.
4. Home address and occupation. Street, city, state or province, zip or postal code and country.
5. Passport details. Passport number and the country of issue. The form has a helper image showing where to find the country of issue on your passport if you’re unsure.
6. Trip details. Your address in Jamaica (a hotel name is fine), the countries you’ve visited, your airline and flight number, the city you’re departing from and your travel date.
7. Purpose of visit. Vacation, visiting friends or relatives, business, honeymoon or wedding, work, in transit, resident, or other.
8. Length of stay and luggage. Your stay in days, the number of bags you’re carrying, counting checked bags and hand luggage, and any packages you’ve shipped separately by air or sea, like a barrel or box.
9. The customs questions. Answer yes or no to each of the eight items (see the next section). There’s a button to mark them all “no” if none apply.
10. Family members. Add your spouse and any children under 18 traveling with you: name, date of birth and relationship.
11. Items to declare. If you answered yes to any customs question, list each item with a description and its value, in the currency you paid.
12. Declaration. Confirm that the information is true and correct. The form warns that failing to declare is an offense that can mean fines, forfeiture of the goods and imprisonment.
13. Review and submit. The form shows a summary to check before you send it. Once it goes through, check your email for the confirmation and keep it on your phone.

Free Jamaica trip checklist

Want the printable version?

Get my free Jamaica trip checklist, then guides for the part of the island you're visiting.

Leave this empty

First name

Email address

When are you travelling? (optional)Choose…In the next 3 monthsIn 3–6 monthsIn 6–12 monthsNot sure yet

Get the checklist

Unsubscribe any time.

The customs questions explained

The online form asks whether you’re bringing any of these:

A few notes from the official guidance:

• Duty-free allowance: the form says every passenger 18 and over can bring in US$500 of goods duty free, as long as they aren’t for resale or in commercial quantity. On top of that you can bring 200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 230 g of tobacco, 1 liter of spirits, 1 liter of wine, 170 ml of perfume and 340 ml of toilet water. Values are what you paid in the country where you bought them.
• Cash over US$10,000: declare it on the C5. The UK government adds that customs will also give you a Financial Investigation Division cross-border form to complete. For what money to bring and how to pay once you’re here, see my guide to money in Jamaica.
• If in doubt, declare it. That’s the form’s own advice, and it’s mine too. Declaring something that turns out to be duty free costs you a minute at the customs desk. Not declaring something that isn’t can cost you a lot more.

Traveling as a family or group

The online form has a section for your spouse and children under 18, but its review screen also says that if there are accompanying passengers, each of them should complete the form. MBJ Airports’ customs page says passengers over 18 must complete their own declaration. The safe way to do it: one form for every adult, with your children under 18 added on a parent’s form.

Watch out for paid look-alike sites

Jamaica’s Minister of National Security warned travelers in 2023 to stay away from websites charging a fee to complete the C5 for you. The official form is free. Search results and ads for “Jamaica C5 form” can show paid agency sites first, so type the official address yourself: enterjamaica.gov.jm. If a site asks for a card payment, you’re in the wrong place.

Forgot to fill it in?

Don’t panic. When the online form launched, PICA said travelers who forget can complete it on arrival using airport Wi-Fi before they’re processed, and that officers would fall back on a paper form or help you complete it electronically if there’s no connection. At Sangster International in Montego Bay, MBJ says customer service agents are in the Immigration Hall to help arriving passengers. It’s slower, though, and you’ll be doing it while everyone else from your flight joins the line ahead of you, so do it at home.

At the airport

At immigration, hand over your passport. The officer will look up your C5, may ask where you’re staying and for how long, and will stamp the date you have to leave. After you collect your bags, go to the right customs line: MBJ has separate lines for nothing to declare, items to declare, and special passengers. If you’re going through Montego Bay and want someone to walk you through, the paid Club Mobay arrival service fast-tracks you through immigration and customs.

For which passport and visa you need, see do you need a passport to go to Jamaica. Once the paperwork is done, the fun part is choosing where to stay: start with the best all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica, or check which resorts are open now.