Macau fast-track lanes to open to more countries

[Photo: Yukie Lei]

The Public Security Police Force (PSP) announced yesterday that it will further expand the use of Macau’s self-service lanes to visitors from more countries, while also noting that the total number of border crossings in Macau so far this year has exceeded 100 million.

In two separate statements, the police announced plans to further extend Macau’s self-service immigration lanes to visitors from additional countries, with details to be announced separately. Currently, travelers from Australia, South Korea, Portugal, Singapore, Brazil, Germany, France, Malaysia and Spain are eligible to use the city’s automated checkpoint lanes.

The police further announced that the arrival hall of the Border Gate checkpoint will add 10 self-service lanes in the fourth quarter, bringing the total to 88 and increasing entry clearance capacity by nearly 10%.

Meanwhile, the Hengqin Port’s passenger inspection lanes are expected to increase from 69 to 113 in the third quarter under a “smart clearance” initiative featuring facial recognition in place of document scanning – a measure that will also be extended to the Qingmao checkpoint and the joint-inspection self-service lanes at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge checkpoint.

The statement also announced that the police are aiming to expand iris-recognition clearance to non-resident workers and non-local students enrolled in Macau’s higher education institutions in the coming months, with system testing currently underway in an orderly manner.

Also yesterday, the police stated that Macau’s border-crossing traffic continues to maintain strong growth this year, with the Border Gate recording more than 50 million crossings to date, while the Qingmao checkpoint, Hengqin Port and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge checkpoint have each surpassed the 10 million mark. The cumulative number of border crossings reached 100 million 14 days earlier than last year, “continuing the strong upward momentum from the previous year,” the police added.

According to the police, Buddha’s Birthday on Sunday saw 140,000 inbound visitor arrivals, with the majority of travelers entering Macau through the Border Gate, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge checkpoint and Hengqin Port.