Registered Portuguese passports can now use automated passenger clearance channels to enter and exit Macao, joining eligible Singaporean, South Korean and Australian passport holders, non-resident workers and students, and both Hong Kong and Taiwan residents.
The change in protocol came into effect on 19 April, according to a statement from the Public Security Police Force.
Eligible individuals wanting to use Macao’s e-channels must first register their passports in person at one of eight locations. These include border checkpoints, the airport arrivals hall, and the Immigration Building of the Public Security Police Force at Pac On.
[See more: Foreign border controls could soon get easier for Macao passport holders]
Registrants must be aged 11 years or older to register, and their passports must have at least 90 days of validity remaining.
The announcement noted that “a number of [recent] software and hardware upgrades” to the system – including the use of QR codes for clearance and iris scanning for identity verification – had shortened waiting times at the SAR’s immigration facilities.
While Macao’s new clearance procedure is an added convenience, many Portuguese passport holders are still waiting for their country to be added to the list of European nations whose citizens are permitted to travel to the Chinese mainland without visas.
