Foreign residents get easier access to automated immigration checks

Employees test automated immigration checks at Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 before its opening in this January photo. / Yonhap

By Lee Suh-yoon

Starting this month, foreign residents can speed through airport immigration using automated passport-screening gates at any airport in the country, immigration authorities said Sunday.

The changes will affect about 1.6 million foreigners registered as long-term residents or overseas Koreans with a permanent address in Korea.

Previously, foreign residents had to pre-register at a separate service center inside the airports before they could use the automated fast track. Due to this hassle, only 3.2 percent of eligible foreign residents have so far taken advantage of the automated service.

However, the changes will not apply to foreign residents whose visas expire within a month or whose registered information does not match the information on their passports.

Korean nationals who are over 18 have been able to use the service without prior registration since January last year. More than half of all Korean travelers now use the automated checks.

The automated system requires more work than just handing a passport to an immigration officer because travelers have to work with the machine to scan their passports, thumbprints and faces. But it helps passengers avoid long queues, especially during peak travel seasons.

Automated immigration checks were introduced in June 2008. About 170 of these devices operate at eight airports _ 124 at Incheon International Airport.

Expanding the automated border control scheme is also in line with airport authorities' plan to eventually set up a biometric identification system.

The Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) revealed on Sunday that it has been testing a biometric "speed gate" for airport workers who are willing to have their irises scanned and allow the information to be stored in the airport's identification database.

"We are planning construction projects aimed at installing biometric screening systems next year," an IIAC official said. "We are discussing with the relevant authorities plans to expand the biometric ID system to all employee entrances by 2020, and then eventually applying it to travelers."

Incheon is not the only airport preparing for the day when passengers can board planes with a quick body scan instead of taking out a passport: 77 percent of airports around the world are developing biometric screening systems, according to aviation system company SITA.