ePassport gates

ePassport gates in Heathrow Airport (Terminal 4)
ePassport gates in Heathrow Airport (Terminal 5)

ePassport gates are automated self-service barriers operated by the UK Border Force and located at immigration checkpoints in arrival halls in some airports across the United Kingdom, offering an alternative to using desks staffed by immigration officers. The gates use facial recognition technology to verify the user's identity against the data stored in the chip in their biometric passport.

Eligibility

At present, British citizens, European Economic Area citizens and citizens of Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States who are enrolled in the Registered Traveller Service,[1] can use ePassport gates, provided that they are aged either 18 and over or 12 and over travelling with an adult and holding valid biometric passports.

At present, European Economic Area and Swiss citizens cannot use national identity cards (regardless of whether they are biometric) at ePassport gates and have to use the staffed desks instead.

Availability

At present, ePassport gates are available at the following airports:

Heathrow Airport Terminal 1 became obsolete on 29 June 2015, while Terminal 3's gates are currently being upgraded.

See also

External links

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.