Singapore made global headlines last year when the government announced that biometric processing will replace travel document checks at Changi Airport in the first half of 2024.
But the city-state is going “passport-free” in another area: its land border with Malaysia.
Starting Tuesday, people traveling by car between Singapore and Malaysia will be able to show self-generated QR codes instead of handing over their passports at two checkpoints.
the new rulewhich applies to those traveling through the country's Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints, will speed up immigration clearance “without compromising security”, according to Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.
Who is eligible
Singapore residents and foreign travelers can generate QR codes through the government My ICA mobile app. Group codes for up to 10 people can also be generated for passengers traveling in the same car.
As before, travelers are subject to face-to-face screening by immigration officials.
However, QR code authorization is not available for two groups of travellers: those entering Singapore for the first time and those using a different passport from previous visits.
The new procedure is expected to reduce immigration processing time by more than 30%, saving about 20 seconds for cars traveling with four passengers and up to a minute for cars with 10 people, according to officials.
One of the busiest border crossings in the world.
The checkpoint linking the Malaysian city of Johor Bahru with Woodlands in Singapore is one of the busiest international border crossings in the world.
From March 7 to 10, more than 1.8 million travelers crossed Singapore's two checkpoints linking the island to Malaysia, according to its Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.
Motorists from Malaysia wait to cross the immigration checkpoint to enter Singapore on March 31, 2023.
Roslan Rahman | afp | fake images
On March 8, the Friday before a week-long break for Singapore public schools, a record 495,000 people crossed the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints, surpassing the 485,000 travelers recorded in August 2019, it said.
Singapore plans to roll out QR code clearance for more travelers crossing checkpoints via other modes of transport at a later date.
Part of a larger effort
The QR clearance program is part of a larger effort to modernize border control and security procedures in the city-state to handle a higher volume of travelers amid the crisis of its aging workforce.
Changi Airport's “passport-free” immigration clearance, which relies on biometric verification, is undergoing testing, a Changi Airport Group representative told CNBC Travel.
A release date has not been released for this program.
