Jakarta –
Singapore will implement new immigration checking technology next year. Neither residents nor foreigners need to show their passports.
Instead, Singapore is installing a machine that will generate a QR code to be scanned at checkpoints when people are traveling by car. Apart from that, they also implemented a contactless Automatic Border Control System (ABSC) in the passenger compartment.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said manual checks in passenger compartments will be gradually replaced with around 800 ABSC lanes starting in the first quarter of 2024. This was stated in the ICA work seminar at the Singapore Expo on Friday (5/5/2023).
The ABCS line will use biometrics for permits, and is part of ICA’s new clearance concept (NCC), announced in 2019.
The NCC transformation plan aims to provide faster and safer immigration and customs clearance. The system was trialled at Tuas Checkpoint and Changi Airport Terminal 4 in 2019.
Meanwhile, for those who drive, ICA has already trialled the Automatic Car Passenger Permit System (Apics) in 2022. As a result, around 94 percent of travelers can use the system without assistance from officials.
ICA will work closely with the Home Team Science and Technology Agency to further enhance Apices before rolling them out in phases at ground checkpoints.
The first phase, expected in early 2024, will introduce scanning of QR codes in lieu of scanning passports at ground checkpoints.
Those traveling by car can create a profile and generate a QR code via the MyICA mobile app. This allows them to scan the code at the manual immigration counter, where an ICA officer will perform a facial image check using the data recorded in the QR code.
The same QR code can be used for onward journeys if the traveler’s passport details do not need to be updated.
However, this advanced technology is not without risks. Singapore’s Minister of Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam said that terrorism is a challenge to the implementation of this system.
“The threat of terrorism remains very real, we never know when the next pandemic will strike, and there are limits to how many manpower we can call upon, given Singapore has an aging population,” he said. Straits Times.
Even so, he believes ICA is able to overcome this challenge.
“The development of the ICA over the years was only possible because the ICA has been, and remains, agile, clear-sighted, courageous, and at its heart, has officers who are constantly being developed with the highest commitment to serving our citizens wholeheartedly,” he said.
“I think we can all be confident that ICA will continue to carry out its mission as a world-class border and immigration agency, and I look forward to, we all look forward to, a continued transformation.”
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2023-05-07 12:16:42
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