Hatta clearance goes the e-way

Dubai: People travelling from Dubai to Oman will soon experience a dramatic improvement in the time they spend at the border controls section once the Hatta crossing complex becomes operational.

A new portal concept, A'aber, will facilitate smoother transit of travellers between land borders of the UAE and Oman.

Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Nasser Al Razzuqi, assistant director-general of electronic services at the General Directorate for Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), said the project will provide thousands of travellers easier access to passport control services.

Simultaneous data checks

"A'aber, or transit, is an electronic system to offer an easy transit of passengers through the land border, which will work on capturing passengers' information by a radio frequency identification by scanning special e-cards used by the passengers while they are sitting in their vehicles," Al Razzuqi said.

He said the process of ascertaining all information pertaining to individual travellers will be done at once. "It is a unique combination of, "gateway and land borders," he said. The system would be based on the registration and issuance of cards that would record the entry and exit of travellers across the land border, he added.

The A'aber service aims to speed up entry and exit procedures via land borders linking the UAE and Oman by cutting back on waiting lists to ensure a comfortable travel experience for people and thus attract more tourists, he said.

"At the moment, passengers using this route need to get off their cars for the passport procedures. The design will ensure passengers do not need to leave their cars," he added.

He said the new design will speed up the passport control procedures at the border post.

Fast-track checks

"It should not take more than 40 seconds to facilitate an individual's passport control process," said Lt. Colonel Al Razzouqi.

Over 155,000 people use the Hatta crossing on a monthly basis to travel between the UAE and Oman.

The official said that the new facility would be especially useful considering the increase in the number of commercial and tourist-related projects in Oman and the UAE.

The Hatta border crossing will boast three lanes exclusively to channel incoming vehicles from Oman, besides one for trucks, another for uninsured vehicles with the third branching out into five gates for various GDRFA and customs procedures.