Sanjiv Kapoor, the CEO designate of Jet Airways, on Tuesday, shared his unique travel experience at the London Heathrow airport on Twitter. He revealed that he was able to clear his arrival immigration at the airport in just 10 seconds through the E-enabled passport Kiosk.
“Cleared London Heathrow arrivals immigration in 10 seconds thru the e-passport kiosks. Global Entry-enrolled? Clear US arrival immigration in 10 seconds using facial recognition. No departure immigration for the UK and US. This is the way to go, Digital!” Kapoor wrote on Twitter.
Kapoor further mentioned that the US Global Entry is open to Indian passport holders too and one has to enrol and pay a fee to get the service.
An e-Passport is a chip-enabled passport that allows biometric identification with data saved in a card and it strengthens the transparency and security of travel documents.
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These passports are embedded with a chip for security and fully comply with the norms of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
Last year, Secretary (Consular and Diaspora), Ministry of External Affairs, Ausaf Sayeed said that e-passports in India are expected to be fully functional in 2023, The Hindu reported. However, Indian citizens can apply for and get e-passports currently.
Common e-passports have 41 security features and they are valid for 5 or 10 years based on the age of the applicant.
Some of the features of the E-passports include embossed holographic images, demographic information of the bearer, and biometric information of the bearer like fingerprints, iris scans and digital signature of the bearer.
An e-passport works through the microchip’s ability to electronically store and transfer data. The chip can store up to 60-kilobyte of data and at the back of this passport, there is a small antenna which transfers the requested data at check gates.
With e-passports, travellers don’t have to stand in long lines to get their verification done on arrival or for immigration. Being a biometric identifier, an e-passport can also prevent fraudulent activities like duplication of passports, piracy, etc.
Sanjiv Kapoor also mentioned in his Twitter thread that with technology and services like e-passport kiosks there is no human interaction required for arrivals immigration and Global Entry.
“Purely automated and digital. Long lines are when you don’t have this and need to be manually processed by an immigration officer,” Kapoor wrote.
With further advancement in Facial Recognition technology and other support systems, Global entry through e-passports is expected to become quicker and smoother.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
First Published: Mar 29, 2023 2:20 PM IST
