Vision-Box, a provider of electronic identity and security systems, has expanded the number of countries eligible to use its RAPID4ALL self-service border clearance solution, which is currently in operation at Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport in Portugal.
RAPID4ALL was first installed at the airport in 2007 in partnership with Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF), the Portuguese immigration and borders service, and currently serves nearly two million passengers crossing the Schengen border at the airport annually.
Historically the service has only been available to EU, EEA (European Economic Area) and Swiss citizens in possession of an e-passport or electronic travel document, but it is now open to international citizens of Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, the USA and Venezuela.
RAPID4ALL uses facial recognition technology to compare the image of the traveler against the image stored on the e-passport, enabling passengers to clear customs and border control processes quickly and without having to deal with security personnel.
Luis Quelhas, borders director, Lisbon, said, “This does not mean less security. On the contrary, it means an augmented level of security. SEF controls the entry and exit of passengers in our airports in the same manner, with the same rigor, and with the same high level of security. We modernized, we simplified, while maintaining the same level of security.”
