(Photo courtesy of BI)
MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is set to upgrade the electronic gates (e-gates) deployed at the country’s international airports.
In a statement, Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the agency has initiated the procurement of more e-gates to replace 25 percent of its manual operations at major international airports as part of its contribution to the Bagong Pilipinas efforts this year.
“Our e-gates are also being reconfigured to be label free. Instead of printing a sticker to be attached on the passport, passengers will receive an email acknowledging their arrival. This is the best practice that we are emulating from other countries,” he added.
With the upcoming upgrade, travelers can expect the removal of the scanning of boarding passes when using the e-gates.
Tansingco said the process can further lessen the processing time for arriving passengers.
He said the agency is now integrating the data of airlines to connect with the e-gates, further reducing the steps required for passengers.
He said this is being done after receiving reports that some passengers are unable to use the e-gates when their flight record is not yet integrated in the system, and have to transfer to regular counters to be processed manually.
“We thank the public for their cooperation and understanding as we navigate through the birth pains of this evolving technology to ease immigration processing,” Tansingco said. (PNA)
