Enhanced enrolment arrangements of Pilot Seamless e-Channel service for Hong Kong residents announced
The Immigration Department (ImmD) announced today (September 24), that with immediate effect, the eligibility criteria for enrolment in the Pilot Seamless e-Channel service will be relaxed. Under the new arrangements, Hong Kong permanent residents aged 11 or above holding a valid smart identity card and have arrived in or departed from Hong Kong via the Passenger Clearance Building of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Hong Kong Port six times or more in the past 90 days are eligible to enrol for the service.
Moreover, eligible Hong Kong residents aged 18 or above, in addition to enrolling via the ImmD's Contactless e-Channel mobile application, with immediate effect can also enrol via the designated e-Channels installed at the HZMB Hong Kong Port. For passengers using the designated e-Channels for immigration clearance, the system will automatically identify eligible passengers for enrolment into the Seamless e-Channel service and display a prompt message for enrolment. The passenger could select to enrol in the Seamless e-Channel service on the e-Channel screen and simply conduct immigration clearance and complete the enrolment for the Seamless e-Channel service at the same time. Upon completion of enrolment, passengers can use the Seamless e-Channel service for their next departure.
The Seamless e-Channel pilot scheme was launched on June 25 at the HZMB Hong Kong Port. The Seamless e-Channel adopts an open-gate design and utilises AI and facial recognition technology to verify users' identities. Passengers need not stop at any point, nor do they need to present a Hong Kong Identity Card or an e-Channel QR code when passing through the Seamless e-Channnel. The entire departure clearance takes just five seconds. Since the service was launched in June of this year, approximately 14,000 eligible Hong Kong permanent residents have enrolled in the service and over 100,000 passengers have passed through Seamless e-Channels.
The ImmD will collect more data and review the effectiveness of the service and system operations, and will explore the feasibility of extending the service to other immigration control points and relaxing the eligibility criteria for enrolment into the Seamless e-Channel service for other passengers.
For details of the Seamless e-Channel service, please visit the ImmD's website at www.immd.gov.hk/sec. For enquiries, please call the enquiry hotline at 2824 6111, fax to 2877 7711 or send an email at enquiry@immd.gov.hk.
The Immigration Department announced today (September 24), that with immediate effect, the eligibility criteria for enrolment in the Pilot Seamless e-Channel service will be relaxed. Photo shows the designated e-Channels installed at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
