Biometric Iris Scanners On 6-Month Trial At Tuas Checkpoint
The future of immigration is here, fellow Singaporeans.
No more greasy thumbprint scanners or fumbling through your bag for your passport at the gantries.
Behold, the mighty iris scanners on trial for the next 6 months at Tuas Checkpoint.
Clear gantries with a single glance
We could very live in the age where paiseh glances to the people in line behind you are a thing of the past.
All commuters have to do is stare into the scanner sans any eyewear, and voila you’re through! If your biometric identity checks out with valid passport details of course.
Be sure not to don any caps or sunglasses that may obscure the readings when you’re trying out the system.
How to register
If you’ve collected a brand new NRIC recently, your iris images have probably already been collected by the Immigrations & Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
You may recall staring into a camera at the request of your ICA staff member, to capture your iris images for identification purposes.
Those who’ve yet to register their irises should take note that strictly no glasses and/or coloured contact lenses will be allowed during the process.
Who’s eligible
Here’s the list of criteria for who is eligible for the trial running till Oct 2019.
- Singaporean Citizens above the age of 6
- Passports begin with letter K
- Passports issued after 1 Jan 2018
No action is required if you fulfil these conditions. You simply have to hop on over to the correct line when you return to Tuas Checkpoint from Malaysia.
ICA hopes to extend the trial to all Singaporeans in the near future, once this round of tests are completed and the system has been fine-tuned.
If looks could kill queues
We can’t wait to try out the system at Tuas Checkpoint, especially since iris scanners are reportedly more secure & hygienic than fingerprint scanners.
Let us know what you think of this new system in the comments below.
For those travelling to Johor during the Good Friday weekend, however, do be warned that massive jams are expected. You may check ICA’s page for further updates.
Featured image from The Straits Times.
