Singaporeans can access Taiwan airports' e-gates for faster immigration clearance
Singapore becomes sixth country to receive privilege, as Taiwan seeks to enhance post-pandemic travel
SINGAPORE — Singapore passport holders visiting Taiwan will now be able to use e-gates at the territory's airports for faster immigration clearance.
This privilege was officially granted on Thursday (27 July), as reported by Taiwan's Central News Agency.
To utilise the e-gates, travellers must first register at the immigration counters, where their passport information, facial photos, and fingerprints will be recorded.
A ceremony is scheduled in Taipei on Thursday evening to celebrate this development, attended by officials from both Taiwan and Singapore.
Singapore joins select countries with access to Taiwan's e-gates
The e-gates were originally available only to Taiwan passport holders and foreign residents in Taiwan.
With this change, Singapore is set to become the sixth country to be given access to the e-gates, following the United States, South Korea, Australia, Italy and Germany.
This reciprocal move comes after Singapore extended automated immigration lanes to Taiwan passport holders earlier this year.
Currently, 51 jurisdictions have been granted access to Singapore's automated immigration lanes, according to Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
ICA announced its intention to make automated immigration clearance the standard procedure at the country's airports and land checkpoints. It aims to have 95 per cent of all arrivals at Singapore Changi Airport cleared through the automated lanes by the first quarter of 2024.
Popular tourist destination
The move is expected to enhance travel between Singapore and Taiwan, a popular tourist destination for Singaporean travellers.
The Straits Times reported that before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 460,000 registered visitors from Singapore to Taiwan in 2019.
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, from January to May 2023, almost 160,000 Singaporeans visited Taiwan, accounting for over 90 per cent of the pre-pandemic figures in 2019.
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