Singapore: No more physical passports required at Changi Airport; find all details here
As per the latest developments, passengers arriving at Singapore’s Changi Airport will be able to enjoy a seamless travel, thanks to the new ‘token-less clearance’ program. As per this program, those eligible will be able to enter the country without passports, and instead use the eye and facial biometric process.
Designed for Singapore residents, this system will allow travellers to clear immigration using advanced biometric processing—eye and facial recognition, which means there will be no need for them to carry physical passports.
During the trial period, those arriving in Terminal 3, the lanes of which have been designated for this innovative process, will be able to enter the country without physical passports. The program is set to expand to all terminals, including Seletar Airport and the Marina Bay Cruise Centre by December 2024.
Those eligible for the program will include citizens, permanent residents, and long-term pass holders. Interestingly, while foreigners can use biometric clearance when departing Singapore, they must enrol their iris, facial, and fingerprint biometrics at manual immigration counters first. Notably, children under six years old are excluded from using biometric clearance altogether.
A major turning point in Singapore’s “New Clearance Concept,” which was unveiled in May, is this move towards biometric processing. Officials predict that traditional human-led passport checks will cease when 95% of travellers use automated lanes for immigration procedures by early 2026. According to the ICA (Immigration & Checkpoints Authority ), the new technology might improve the overall travel experience by cutting immigration wait times by as much as 40%. In reality, 1.5 million travellers had already profited from this effective system within 15 days of its launch.
To ensure the safety of Singapore’s borders, ICA Commander Alan Koo stressed that the new program will free up personnel, and push them to concentrate on higher-value duties like security profiling. This in turn will help them to adjust to the problems presented by an ageing workforce and rising traveller volumes.
Travellers from abroad must still present their passports upon arrival, although they can enjoy passport-free clearance when departing. The ICA stresses the importance of carrying passports for immigration checks in destination countries, ensuring compliance with international travel regulations. As Singapore embraces this technological advancement, the travel experience at Changi Airport is set to become not only more efficient but also a model for airports around the world, transforming the way we think about border control and passenger processing.
Originally Published at TIMESOFINDIA
