Singapore made global headlines last year when the government announced that biometric processing will replace travel document checks at Changi Airport in the first half of 2024.
But the city-state will be “passportless” in another area: the land border with Malaysia.
From Tuesday, people traveling by car between Singapore and Malaysia will be able to show self-generated QR codes instead of handing over their passports at two checkpoints.
The new rule, which applies to those traveling through Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints, will speed up immigration clearance “without compromising security”, according to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority of Singapore.
Who is eligible
Singapore residents and foreign travelers can generate QR codes via the government’s MyICA mobile app. It is possible to generate group codes of up to 10 people even for passengers traveling in the same vehicle.
As before, travelers are then subject to personal screening by immigration officers.
However, QR code authorization is not available for two groups of travellers: those entering Singapore for the first time and those using a different passport from previous visits.
The new procedure is expected to reduce immigration processing times by more than 30%, saving about 20 seconds for cars traveling with four passengers and up to a minute for cars with 10 people, according to authorities.
One of the busiest border crossings in the world
The checkpoint connecting the Malaysian city of Johor Bahru to Woodlands in Singapore is one of the busiest international border crossings in the world.
From March 7 to 10, more than 1.8 million travelers passed through Singapore’s two checkpoints connecting the island with Malaysia, according to its Immigration & Checkpoints Authority.
Motorists from Malaysia wait to cross the immigration checkpoint to enter Singapore on March 31, 2023.
Roslan Rahman | Afp | Getty Images
On March 8 – the Friday before a week-long break for Singapore’s public schools – a record 495,000 people passed through the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints, surpassing the 485,000 travelers recorded in August 2019.
Singapore plans to later roll out QR code authorization to more travelers passing through checkpoints via other modes of transport.
Part of a larger push
The QR clearance program is part of a broader push to modernize border control and security procedures in the city-state to handle a higher volume of travelers amid its aging workforce crisis.
Changi Airport’s “passport-free” immigration clearance, which relies on biometric verification, is being tested, a representative from Changi Airport Group told CNBC Travel.
A launch date has not been released for this program.