Curacao and St Maarten look to deploy automated border crossing technology at ports of entry

The Caribbean islands of Curacao and St Maarten are looking to deploy automated border crossing (ABC) technology at their ports of entry and recently toured Jamaica’s international airports for the purpose of learn from their use of automated immigration kiosks, according to a report by Caribbean News Now!

The Curacaoan delegation, which included Curacao’s international airport chief operations officer Tobias Market, and immigration director Esther Cheri, toured the arrival immigration hall at the Sangster International Airport (SIA).

Additionally, Member of Parliament Leona Marlin, who represented St Maarten, observed the kiosks at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA).

Both airport facilities tours were conducted with local immigration personnel from the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency on hand.

The Curacao delegation was joined by Dennis Martis, territory manager at SITA, which is supplying and training PICA’s immigration staff in the use of the technology.

SITA installed 10 ABC kiosks at the SIA in December 2014 and five at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in November 2014, making them the first ABC kiosks to be used by non-nationals in the Americas.

The self-serve kiosks process travellers through immigration, significantly lowering the processing time to an average of 60 seconds.

The installation of biometric kiosks at Jamaica’s major international airports is part of PICA’s overall initiative to revamp its immigration processes to create a more convenient and seamless experience for travellers.

Article Topics

airport biometrics  |  border management  |  epassport  |  immigration control  |  kiosk  |  SITA