Singapore travellers will enjoy passport-less immigration clearance at Changi Airport starting from August 2024. This is part of the plan by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to strengthen border security, and at the same time enhance the traveller experience, by digitalising border clearance.
Under the New Clearance Concept (NCC), all travellers will have automated clearance, and all Singapore residents and eligible foreign travellers will get immigration clearance without having to present their passport.
Passport-less immigration clearance types
There are two types of passport-less immigration clearance, to provide travellers with hassle-free and faster clearance.
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Token-less clearance at air and sea checkpoints: Singapore residents at both arrival and departure, and all foreign travellers at departure, clear immigration using facial and iris biometrics, without the need to present their passport.
QR code clearance at land checkpoints: Travellers use a QR code, instead of presenting their passport, during immigration clearance.
Token-less clearance is possible at the air and sea checkpoints, as the ICA would know beforehand about the travellers coming through the checkpoints, from the advance manifests submitted by airline and ship operators.
At the land checkpoints, such traveller information is not available beforehand, so the ICA has introduced the QR code as a token of identification in lieu of the passport, for faster and more convenient border clearance for both individuals and groups of travellers. Group QR codes can be stored and reused for future trips if the travel group remains the same.
Token-less clearance at air and sea checkpoints from August 5
Live trials will be conducted by the ICA for arriving Singapore residents to enjoy token-less clearance at selected automated lanes in Changi Airport Terminal 3 from 5 August 2024.
Token-less clearance will be progressively implemented at all terminals in Changi Airport by September 2024 and Marina Bay Cruise Centre by December 2024. Token-less clearance reduces the time taken for travellers to clear immigration by 40 per cent.
Timeline of passport-less immigration clearance in Singapore. Infographic courtesy: ICA |
Travellers must still bring along their passport
Even as the ICA implements passport-less immigration clearance at Singapore’s checkpoints, travellers will still need their passport for immigration clearance overseas.
The ICA may also occasionally require travellers to produce their passport for verification. Travellers must still bring along their passport.
ICA officers will continue to be around to help travellers who require assistance with automated and passport-less immigration clearance. A few points to note:
Children below the age of six years will not be able to use the automated lanes for immigration clearance.
Singapore residents include Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders.
First-time foreign visitors and those re-entering Singapore using a different passport from the previous trip will need to present their passport for immigration clearance. They will be able to clear immigration using QR code on their subsequent trips.
QR code clearance for motorcyclists at land checkpoints
The ICA has been progressively implementing the QR code clearance initiative for travellers at the land checkpoints, starting with car travellers on 19 March 2024. Then, on 15 April 2024, the initiative was extended to bus drivers.
At present, over 70 per cent of car travellers and bus drivers use the QR code for immigration clearance.
The ICA will be extending the initiative to motorcyclists and pillion riders, and cargo vehicle drivers and accompanying assistants, by August 2024, and to bus passengers by December 2024.
The initiative will save travellers at the land checkpoints about 30 per cent in time taken to clear immigration.
(The article is published under a mutual content partnership arrangement between The Free Press Journal and Connected To India)
