Dubai: Starting August 12, UAE residents can register to access the Smart Gates at Dubai airports free-of-charge at The Dubai Mall, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) has announced.
Once registered, travellers can bypass the long lines at passport control, clearing the immigration process at Dubai airports within seconds.
There are no prerequisites for the registration. Residents can register by submitting their passport information and biometrics (fingerprints and eye scan). The mobile registration booth will operate at the Gold Souq Atrium in The Dubai Mall for only a few weeks before it relocates.
According to a GDRFA official, registered travellers need only spend eight to 12 seconds to clear the immigration process and can use either a passport, Emirates ID, Smart Gate card or even a QR barcode via the GDRFA DUBAI smartphone app.
The GDRFA Smart Gate mobile registration booth has previously been set up in other locations, including Deira City Centre, Mirdif City Centre, and the World Trade Centre.
“It takes no more than 15 seconds to verify a user’s information at the Smart Gate,” Major Khalid Yousuf Al Yousuf, Head of the Smart Gate administration at the GDRFA, told Gulf News earlier. “The registration centre used to be in other locations, and it always was a huge success.
“Only a passport and the passport holder are required to register for the service,” Al Yousuf said. “Once they are registered, users can clear the immigration process using any of four identification methods. We already have had hundreds of thousands of residents and citizens sign up for the service.”
