Changi Airport (Singapore Changi Airport)

History

2024: Transition to passport-free mode with biometrics

At the end of October 2024, Singapore Changi Airport completely switched to passport-free immigration control. Now its passage takes an average of 10 seconds, since Singapore only biometric data registered in the system is used to identify citizens. Foreign guests are still required to present a passport upon arrival, but only biometric data is enough when leaving. Previously, the average paperwork time for each passenger was 25 seconds, according to the airport.

As of October 15, almost 1.5 million travelers had undergone immigration control without presenting a passport. Singapore became the first state in the world to implement such a system on a large scale. However, since biometric scanning is still considered an innovation, sometimes there are problems when passing immigration control. For example, when some travelers stop too far from the camera or do not look directly at it, which prevents the iris data from being read. Therefore, airport staff on duty accompany travelers throughout the procedure, always ready to come to the rescue, and a notification is posted above the scanners urging them to look at the cameras, and not insert a passport into the scanner. In addition, automated lanes are still equipped with passport scanners, which can be used in case of problems with biometric equipment.

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straitstimes.com

All these initiatives, along with the replacement of passports with QR codes, are part of a new concept for passing control, developed in 2019, which is aimed at faster and safer immigration clearance of travelers. The new system has also freed up many working hands so that checkpoint staff can now interview and profile travelers and guard the borders.^[1]

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