SINGAPORE - More foreign visitors to Singapore can now clear immigration through automated lanes since they were rolled out at Changi Airport and land checkpoints in May 2022.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Tuesday that eligibility for the Automated Clearance Initiative (ACI) has been extended to passport holders of 51 jurisdictions, up from 16 when the initiative was launched.

This includes Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the United States.

More than four million foreign visitors have made use of such lanes to date.

Holders of Apec Business Travel Card, which facilitates short-term business travel within the Asia-Pacific region, can now use the automated lanes under the ACI, the authority added.

The ACI enables eligible foreign travellers entering Singapore for the first time to use automated lanes for immigration clearance.

ICA said that it has expanded the ACI to 130 automated lanes at Changi Airport and 40 automated lanes at the land checkpoints. In 2022, a total of 125 automated lanes were installed at Singapore’s checkpoints.

Under the ACI, eligible foreign travellers arriving in Singapore are directed to automated lanes.

After scanning their passport, they have to provide their biometric details by scanning their irises and facial features, which ICA said is done automatically using cameras and biometric scanners.

Information on their enrolment is included in their electronic visit pass, which is e-mailed to them after clearing immigration.

Foreign travellers will then be able to use any automated lane when leaving Singapore, as well as on subsequent visits.

ICA said the initiative is a critical component of its new clearance concept, which aims to make automated immigration clearance the norm at checkpoints.

It expects 95 per cent of all arrivals at Changi Airport to be cleared through the automated lanes by the first quarter of 2024.

The authority said that as automated lanes take up less physical space and require less manpower than manual counters, it will be able to streamline its clearance process and meet the growing traveller volume, which is expected to reach 300 million travellers per year by 2025.

ICA officers are being upskilled to perform profiling, assessment and investigative work, beyond immigration counter duties.

Assistant Commissioner Phua Chiew Hua, deputy director of ICA’s operations division, said: “We have made the enrolment process as seamless as possible, so that travellers can perform self-enrolment at the automated lanes while clearing immigration.

“If required, our officers deployed at the automated lanes will assist them.”