Singapore is rolling out some impressive changes to its immigration experience, which passengers will no doubt appreciate.
Singapore automates immigration for all foreigners
Clearing immigration at Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) has just become significantly easier. Effective immediately, all foreigners in Singapore can use the automated immigration lanes upon arrival, regardless of their nationality, without needing to enroll.
Previously, this was restricted to Singaporeans and nationals of 60 other countries. There are even automated lanes for those with special needs, including those with restricted mobility, as well as for families.
To my knowledge, Singapore is the first country in the world that has automated immigration for all foreigners, with no restrictions on nationality, and no enrollment required. It will still be required to submit the SG Arrival Card with Electronic Heath Declaration online, or via the MyICA Mobile app, before arriving in Singapore.
A second part of this initiative is expected to be rolled out before the end of 2024. Singapore also has immigration checkpoints upon departure. With the next update, the departure process with immigration will be contactless, and you won’t even need to present your passport. Instead, your facial biometrics will be used. The plan is also that Singapore residents can soon arrive in the country with this same contactless technology.
The goal with these initiatives is to reduce immigration clearance times by around 40%. All of these changes are coming as Singapore has upgraded its automated kiosks to next generation technology, which enables this new process.
This is a great initiative, though I’m curious…
I have a couple of thoughts here, though let me acknowledge that I haven’t actually entered Singapore since before the pandemic, so it has been some time (which reminds me, it’s time to return ASAP!).
First of all, this is a cool development, though I have to say, my immigration experiences in Singapore have probably been the most pleasant of anywhere in the world. I don’t think I’ve ever waived, and it’s the only place where I’ve consistently had immigration officers welcome me. Furthermore, the only question I’ve been asked by an immigration officer is whether I’d like a piece of candy.
Now, here’s something I’m curious about. The reason that many countries don’t roll out automated immigration to all passengers is because there are certain passports that are considered higher risk, and where the country wants to be able to question people as they enter (to make sure they are visiting for legitimate reasons, have proof of return travel, etc.).
Presumably with these automated immigration lanes, people can still be pulled aside for extra questioning. However, is that the intent here, or how will Singapore manage that? Like I said, I believe that Singapore is the first country to fully automate immigration in this way, though I’m also guessing there’s a reason that other countries haven’t gone this far.
Bottom line
Singapore has rolled out automated immigration for all passengers. Regardless of which passport you hold, you can now use the automated kiosks upon arrival in Singapore. Furthermore, by the end of the year, the plan is for the departure process to be contactless, as you’ll be able to go through the automated immigration kiosks just with your biometrics.
What do you make of Singapore’s automated immigration initiative?
Singaporean here. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) collects advance passenger information from airlines and ships before they start their journey.
If the passenger is flagged for whatever reasons, likely they’ll be denied boarding to Singapore. Saves the trouble for the airlines to send them to Singapore, getting denied and having to send them back to where they come from.
The automated immigration works well most of the time but occasionally such as heavy...
Singaporean here. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) collects advance passenger information from airlines and ships before they start their journey.
If the passenger is flagged for whatever reasons, likely they’ll be denied boarding to Singapore. Saves the trouble for the airlines to send them to Singapore, getting denied and having to send them back to where they come from.
The automated immigration works well most of the time but occasionally such as heavy loads, may have some difficulties, so be patient and there are officers around to assist. I trust it’ll get better over time.
Been to Singapore several times in the last two years. Easy to enter, no complications. And quick. Well done.
Not only at Changi, it applies to Seletar, too.
Interesting you did not mention the two important related issues.
First is cost savings and employment.
Second is if there will be no passport required then many have a data concern issue.
Love getting into and out of Singapore!
I wonder if the US would ever do that…
Similar to others, I usually faced a 30-60 minutes wait in Singapore. Last time, I was already eligible to use the e-Gates. However, the wait was a the higher end of the range, because the machine rejected about 80% of the travellers. Most of them were forced to give several tries, which made the wait even longer. When it was my turn, I passed without any issue, but I was clearly the exception.
No passport stamps anymore???? Doesnt sound great
I disagree about Singapore never having a wait for immigration, Ben - although the staff are friendly and helpful I've had waits of 30-40 min on a couple of occasions, all just depending on timing of flights I guess. This automated setup sounds like it should remove that (assuming it's better than the abysmal eGates we have in the UK!). The only downside I find to the move to automatic gates is no longer having a nice collection of passport stamps
It I only ever traveled to Singapore for the free candy
I was living (as a foreigner on an EU passport) in Singapore until about a year ago, so have always been able to use the local resident gates. By the time I gave up my residency, they had started implementing gates for multiple other countries, including my own, so whenever I’ve visited since I’ve tried to use them, but each time to no avail :( I always get sent to a manned desk, presume it’s something to do with my passport being linked to an expired resident pass
Now, lets see this implemented at the Woodlands Checkpoint from Johor Bahru.
More than 160 automated lanes were installed in 2023, with another 230 lanes to be set up in 2024. ICA intends to install about 800 such lanes across all of Singapore’s checkpoints by 2026.
Arriving Singapore residents and all departing travellers will be able to enjoy contactless immigration clearance at Changi and Seletar airports, as well as Marina Bay Cruise Centre, by the end of 2024.
The system will be able to clear travellers by...
More than 160 automated lanes were installed in 2023, with another 230 lanes to be set up in 2024. ICA intends to install about 800 such lanes across all of Singapore’s checkpoints by 2026.
Arriving Singapore residents and all departing travellers will be able to enjoy contactless immigration clearance at Changi and Seletar airports, as well as Marina Bay Cruise Centre, by the end of 2024.
The system will be able to clear travellers by scanning their faces and irises. This means that they will not need to present their passports.
Good. More countries should do this. First, frequent travelers should be low risk, this should save them a lot of time. High risk traveler’s will be bio’ed and then sent to secondary.
Second, no more stamping (I presume), this saves much needed space for those who travel very frequently.
I fly in/out of Singapore frequently as a resident. Entry is always quite smooth and quick, but the automated departure machines only work for me about 50% of the time, and usually only after the third try. Can't imagine facial recognition will be significantly better based on that.
They do have automated entry for families, but it's more confusing that an officer effectively walks you through the process anyways. Kind of like those people...
I fly in/out of Singapore frequently as a resident. Entry is always quite smooth and quick, but the automated departure machines only work for me about 50% of the time, and usually only after the third try. Can't imagine facial recognition will be significantly better based on that.
They do have automated entry for families, but it's more confusing that an officer effectively walks you through the process anyways. Kind of like those people that push the button on a parking machine and hand you the ticket as you enter a parking garage.
Similar experience for me. The barrier gates are clunky and take several attempts to scan your passport and then properly photograph you.
My bigger gripe is needing to complete the arrival details online first, when most of the details could be provided by the airline already (e.g. arrival and departure dates) so feels like we are duplicating information already held. Fortunately the web-based form is fairly quick.
It is not about providing the manifest of passengers on a flight. It is about the declaration of travel history and health situation.
I entered Singapore a month ago and the new immigration solution did not work so I had to be assisted by a customs officer. Must say that Singapore immigration has always been a very easy process even in the days when you had to fill out the immigration cards. Good example to follow for other airports !
So it sounds like singapore will no longer give travelers candy or stamp passports. This is simply awful.
I entered Singapore twice last week and had issues with the automated gates both times. Some of the machines don't have the cameras aligned properly, so they see only a portion of the passport page. I ended up in the manual line with numerous other travelers who had the same problem. And this being Singapore, I was made to feel that it was my fault.
Nailed it.
My experience as well.
As you've pre-filled in the landing card they can flag up some types of people they want to speak to e.g too frequent visits. There is also an immigration officer standing directly in front of you controlling the gates via a tablet who I'm sure is profiling you and will send you to manual counter or ask you questions as you come through
I have been through SIN several times since covid and it is very easy with the machines.
When I entered you have to fill out the web or app entry document first and there are large and repeated signs indicating that, if you don't, the automated machines won't work for you, but the process is very easy.
I still cringe at how long it takes foreigners that try to legally enter the US to do so. We could learn a thing or two...
Question: Why doesn't Delta, the world's best airline, fly nonstop to Singapore?
This. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/delta-dropping-singapore-flights-pursues-210900589.html
I'd presume these will act similar to self-checkout kiosks at shops. There'll be one or two immigration officers hovering in case assistance is needed. Plus, you can imagine this area itself is going to be highly recorded by the "eye in the sky" - or a couple of folks in a back room somewhere with additional facial recognition tech watching every action of every visitor being processes. There's a whole slew of AI tech that...
I'd presume these will act similar to self-checkout kiosks at shops. There'll be one or two immigration officers hovering in case assistance is needed. Plus, you can imagine this area itself is going to be highly recorded by the "eye in the sky" - or a couple of folks in a back room somewhere with additional facial recognition tech watching every action of every visitor being processes. There's a whole slew of AI tech that will correlate faces, biometric data, passport info, etc. for each person entering via kiosk. I think the biggest issue with this after the general logistics are sorted out will be the volumes of data they have stored on individuals. That kind of thing can be scary for a lot of people that want to be as anonymous as possible but it also means that Singapore has made itself a larger target for cybercrimes as malicious actors attempt to access the mass of data in its immigration DBs. That's being very 10,000-foot level about it but it could be a gold mine for a neighboring-ish country that's known for being very overt about their cyber espionage.
The last few years in T3 the line for the auto kiosks was long, with no lines for an officer. I would ignore the people telling me as an American I can use the kiosk and go to an officer as it was always much faster. Hopefully with this they greatly expand the number of kiosks also
More than 160 automated lanes were installed in 2023, with another 230 lanes to be set up in 2024. ICA intends to install about 800 such lanes across all of Singapore’s checkpoints by 2026.
Come to Changi, there are endless kiosks at each immigration point. Even Jakarta T3 has a long row of these.
great news.
Unlike Ben, my experience getting into Singapore is usually terrible. It is rare for me to wait less than 30 mins. I think arriving from Sydney, the flight arrives in perfect unison with a couple of other A380, all in the same terminal and in the same Immigration lounge. I learned that it is usually easier to go grab a coffee for 20-30 mins and then arrive when the queues are almost gone, or, if traveling without checked bags, to change terminals.
That's a great idea, Mike. And I've been doing that for years. Hop off the plane, walk around to stretch the legs, grab a drink, and sit down and people watch, or gaze at the plethora of interesting and varied planes/airlines. Then after an hour of relaxing it's an easy pass thru immigration. In 12 years of using Changi the longest I've waited is 10 mins in queue.
While in Singapore, you have to pay a visit to the Qatar Lounge... it's outstanding
Immigration check upon departure... There's a word for that, which is emigration :-)
I think there will be a lot of hiccups. I entered Singapore twice in 2023 (via automated lanes) and on the second time, there was a slight error in my online arrival card.
I ended up having to get out of line and fill out a new one, and get back in line, significantly protracting my wait time. The officer at the "manual" lane actually refused to just process me manually, even though that would've been faster for all parties involved.
Sounds like there were no hiccups and the system worked exactly as it should...?
I entered Singapore a couple of weeks ago: the system worked perfectly and was incredibly fast. The longest part of the process was filling out the app before boarding my flight there.
Singapore has some unique traits - it is an islands nation with very strict regulation on immigration. That means the immigration check is OUT as well as in. This may be obvious to some, but for e.g. UK does not check your status outgoing.
It means, you are just as at risk when trying to leave the island.
Couple that with needing Singapore ID for just about anything liveable, and the total system means automated...
Singapore has some unique traits - it is an islands nation with very strict regulation on immigration. That means the immigration check is OUT as well as in. This may be obvious to some, but for e.g. UK does not check your status outgoing.
It means, you are just as at risk when trying to leave the island.
Couple that with needing Singapore ID for just about anything liveable, and the total system means automated immigration should be possible.
this is less about automated point of entry - this about that being the final piece they can implement as a result of the rest of the system.
Said as a foreigner living in Singapore.
Exactly you need ID for almost anything though thanks to the PDPA they have reduced the number of places that need ID or the amount of information given. I recall back then I used to attend a big church and I needed to scan my EP even to enter/volunteer in the church. So they knew basically everything I was doing
UK depends on airlines to send the data. In the case of outbound travel on Eurostar, your passport is scanned before you reach the Schengen passport control.
The importance of physical checks on outbound is they can keep you in the country. Singapore has very strict laws on various things, so the incentive to not get stopped outbound is pretty high. UK the best they do is send some police to try to spot you boarding the flight, and that's in absolute minority of cases.
I have used the immigration kiosk when entering Dubai, though I was a visitor and not a resident. From what I remember, all visitors were instructed to use the automated kiosks for immigration, while residents and citizens were directed to an officer (which seemed counter-intuitive, but I might be mistaken). It was so seamless and used facial recognition to compare the picture with my visa picture, no need for even a passport. It was the...
I have used the immigration kiosk when entering Dubai, though I was a visitor and not a resident. From what I remember, all visitors were instructed to use the automated kiosks for immigration, while residents and citizens were directed to an officer (which seemed counter-intuitive, but I might be mistaken). It was so seamless and used facial recognition to compare the picture with my visa picture, no need for even a passport. It was the first time I experienced something similar and was impressed.
We used the automated immigration at Changi a couple weeks ago. It was a little wonky as my terminal kept refusing to scan my passport. An assistant simply directed me to use another and it worked well. We did not see anybody being pulled aside for additional screening. We spent all of about two minutes clearing immigration. Of course it helps to be the first off of the A380 - we flew suites from FRA. Sadly you do not get a passport stamp.
It's such a crime that they don't stamp your passport that they should be sanctioned or invaded. Same with the US.