ABU DHABI: Passengers travelling to the United States can now pre-clear US Customs and Immigration at Abu Dhabi International Airport using new automated passport control (APC) kiosks.
Introduced in December 2014, the self-service kiosks use advanced biometric technology to streamline border control procedures and process passengers securely in less than 60 seconds.
The new SITA supplied kiosks in Abu Dhabi enable passengers to provide their travel documents, biometric data and customs declaration prior to speaking to a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer, off-loading work from the immigration counters to the kiosks.
Richard Hill, Etihad Airways’ chief pperations officer, said: “Since its opening in January last year, US pre-clearance has been extremely popular with passengers flying from Abu Dhabi to the United States where they arrive as domestic passengers.
“The process has been greatly enhanced by the introduction of automated passport control kiosks which allow passengers to pass through border controls quickly and seamlessly, significantly improving their travel experience.”
Passengers from the United States, Canada and the 38 countries that are part of the US Visa Waiver Program can use the kiosks in Abu Dhabi for self-service immigration by simply scanning their passports to identify themselves, providing their fingerprints and a camera on the kiosk captures their face biometric.
The passport and biometric information captured is then cross-referenced to verify the passenger is who they claim to be and then checked against government watch lists. There are several immigration questions the passenger needs to answer on the kiosk touch screen, and once cleared, the kiosk prints out a receipt to show as they exit the customs hall
