5-sec clearance at HZMB for registered citizens, starting Jun 25

Starting from June 25th, registered residents entering and leaving the city through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge can cross the border in just 5 seconds.

This as the Immigration Department is poised to upgrade its seamless e-channels.

The upgraded clearance system has been installed in the two seamless e-channels at the Hong Kong Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, And it will start operation from June 25th.

Travellers can cross the border without presenting their ID cards or fingerprints.

Each channel has five cameras installed at varying heights and angles for facial recognition.

Registered users can pass through the e-channels without stopping.

The Immigration Department says the entire clearance process takes about 5 seconds, -- that's 3 seconds faster than existing e-channels.

During system testing, the system boasts an accuracy rate of over 99%.

As for the next step, as I said, this is just the beginning, it's a pilot project. We need to collect more data, more operational data to see how we can improve this seamless e-channels.

The Immigration Department says the first batch of individuals eligible for registration must be Hong Kong permanent residents aged 11 or above, and have entered and exited the Hong Kong Port 10 times over the past 90 days via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

To ensure a robust security system, if an unregistered traveller enters the channel, the gate will be automatically closed.

About 50,000 travellers are expected to use the channels -- or some 20% of the total number of border crossings.

Once the system is operational, the Immigration Department will study the feasibility of extending the system to other control points.

Eligible citizens can register to use the seamless e-channel service in the contactless e-channel mobile app. the system will then take a selfie of the resident, which will be used for identity verification.