Hong Kong residents can use specific QR codes issued by immigration authorities with fingerprint and facial recognition screenings to enter Macau starting on Friday.
Director of Immigration Benson Kwok Joon-fung said on Thursday the city’s “contactless e-channel” mobile app could be used at Macau’s immigration checkpoints under a joint QR code clearance service.
“The new QR code clearance service between Hong Kong and Macau will further improve the quality of immigration clearance services on both sides to integrate into the important national strategy of the Greater Bay Area,” Kwok said during the launch event in Macau.
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![The QR codes will be issued by immigration authorities. Photo: Dickson Lee The QR codes will be issued by immigration authorities. Photo: Dickson Lee](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/18/e7544144-470c-42b6-8bc0-b08fca2530d1_67926f0a.jpg)
From midnight on Friday, Hong Kong residents who have registered for the “contactless e-channel” service on the mobile app, as well as automated immigration clearance at Macau checkpoints, can pass through at both special administrative regions with their QR code.
After scanning the code, travellers will then look at a camera for facial verification and scan their fingerprints to complete the process.
The “contactless e-channels” immigration clearance was introduced in 2021 under the Covid-19 pandemic.
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