Singapore's Changi Airport to start passport-free immigration clearance for travelers

The passport-free immigration clearance will be officially rolled out to all the airport's terminals by September and to Marina Bay Cruise Center by December, The Straits Times reported citing a source from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

With the new move, travelers can easily clear immigration using facial and iris scanners without having to present their passports in what authorities expected to reduces the waiting time to clear immigration by 40%, Channel News Asia reported.

According to ICA, Singaporean residents are able to clear immigration at the country's air and sea checkpoints without their passports at both arrival and departure while foreign travelers would only use the service at departure.

This year Doha's Hamad International Airport dethroned Changi to claim the title of world's best airport at the annual Skytrax awards.

But Changi was still named the world's best airport for immigration services.