MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Automated ePassport gates for eleven countries visitors to the UK

Anounced in December 2018, the move was then hailed by UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid as a “transformational experience for the passengers involved”.

Starting this Monday visitors to Britain from eleven countries are eligible to use automated ePassport gates (e-gates) at 15 airports across the country.

The border entry service, previously only available to British and European Union nationals, has now been extended to visitors from Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States of America.

This service, which also includes arrivals via the Eurostar arrival terminal, will allow faster and secure processing of passengers entering Britain's borders. The move announced in December 2018 but only takes effect this Monday, was then hailed by UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid as a “transformational experience for the passengers involved”.

Heathrow Airport, one of the world's busiest airports, had last year called for the UK government to allow “low-risk” passengers to use e-gates, citing lengthy delays at UK border control.

This will give an additional 6.5 million passengers an automated route into Britain every year. ePassport gates use facial recognition technology to compare passengers' passport photographs with their appearance.

Anyone rejected by the gates will be sent to an alternative manned channel for a check by Border Force officers monitoring the systems. In addition, all passengers are automatically checked against Border Force systems and watch-lists.

At present, there are 259 eGates in operation at 14 ports around Britain and juxtaposed control locations. People aged 18 and over travelling with a biometric or “chipped” passport can use them. Children aged 12 to 17 can also use them if accompanied by an adult.

The by-invitation program, with an annual fee of £50, allows frequent travelers to use the automated passport gates. Separately, all landing cards for international passengers arriving in the UK will also be scrapped from Monday, the BBC reported on Thursday.

Around 16 million landing cards are issued every year and are used to record what is said to border staff on arrival, as well as the reasons for travel and conditions of entry, the UK broadcaster said.

UK Border Force director general Paul Lincoln, in a letter to staff, said it would “help meet the challenge of growing passenger numbers”. The decision to scrap landing cards comes after the British government announced the extension of the use of e-gates at UK borders.