Tests on self-service immigration clearance system for drivers underway

SINGAPORE — Getting your passport stamped by an immigration officer when crossing land checkpoints by car may soon be a thing of the past.

A full self-service system for immigration clearance is being tested which would allow travellers to drive into a car bay, complete biometric and passport scans using a machine that extends an arm into the vehicle, and leave the country.

Called the Automated Passenger In-Car Clearance System, a prototype was completed at the end of December last year and is undergoing technical trials that will last until the end of this year.

The prototype was unveiled at the opening of the Home Team Science & Technology exhibition and conference on Monday (July 10), held at the Home Team Academy in Choa Chu Kang. 

About 600 members of the Home Team were in attendance along with invited guests and partners.

Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam told reporters at the event that new technology is necessary to cope with the Republic’s “shrinking manpower base”, coupled with the increasing number of travellers entering the country.

Motorcyclists entering Singapore have been going through automated immigration security clearance since the end of last year. 

During last year’s Committee of Supply debate, Mr Shanmugam noted that Terminal 4 at Changi Airport will also have more self-service immigration facilities “to reduce reliance on manpower”.

“We have one of the busiest land checkpoints in the world — hundreds and thousands of travellers every day,” he said on Monday. 

“You’ve got to keep Singapore safe and at the same time make it a pleasant experience for the travellers. I think technology is critical in that.”

Monday’s exhibition and conference also marked a decade of co-operation with the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has shared its expertise and collaborated in trials with Singapore.

One such collaboration could see a truck-like vehicle with the capability to detect radioactive threats roaming Singapore’s streets in real time. 

A prototype of this Radiological Multisensor Analysis Platform system was developed with the DHS last year.

Equipped with advanced radiological sensors and 3D-mapping technology, the system has been tested at sea and land checkpoints here. It was able to screen passenger vehicles and cargo containers, and conduct searches for threats in urban areas.

“It has, in our view, the potential to become an extremely valuable tool to counter nuclear smuggling and terrorism,” Mr Shanmugam said.

The Home Team can also use science and technology to deal with threats more effectively, he added. 

For example, the Automated Biometric and Behavioural Screening Suite — a customised video analytics system — was implemented at Woodlands Checkpoint in 2012. The system performs facial recognition in real time and cross-references that against a large database.

Mr Shanmugam added: “It has allowed us to identify many blacklisted travellers and really boosted the efficiency and effectiveness of our border security operations.”