Singapore is the sixth country – after the US, South Korea, Australia, Italy and Germany – whose citizens will be allowed to use the e-gates at immigration. - LIANHE ZAOBAO
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): Singapore passport holders visiting Taiwan will from Thursday (July 27) be allowed to use the e-gates at the island’s airports for speedier immigration clearance, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.
Travellers will first have to register at the immigration counters with their passports and have photos of their faces taken and fingerprints recorded.
According to Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency, Singapore is the sixth country – after the United States, South Korea, Australia, Italy and Germany – whose citizens will be allowed to use the e-gates at immigration.
Previously, the e-gates could be used only by Taiwan passport holders and foreigners who hold residency status on the island.
A ceremony to mark the start of this new privilege for Singaporean travellers is expected to be held on Thursday evening in Taipei, the Central News Agency reported. Officials from both Taiwan and Singapore will attend the event.
Media outlets in Taiwan said this latest move reciprocates Singapore’s decision to extend usage of its automated immigration lanes to Taiwan passport holders in April 2023 – it is now one of 51 jurisdictions whose passport holders are granted this access.
Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said in April that it aims to make automated immigration clearance the norm at the country’s airport and land checkpoints.
It expects 95 per cent of all arrivals at Singapore Changi Airport to be cleared through the automated lanes by the first quarter of 2024.
Taiwan is a popular tourist destination for travellers from Singapore, with 460,000 registered visitors to the island in 2019, before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau in Singapore, almost 160,000 Singaporeans visited Taiwan from January to May 2023, more than 90 per cent of the pre-pandemic figures in 2019.
Among travellers from South-east Asia, Singaporeans number fourth after Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
