In a first step that will lead to Seychelles’ airport arrival process going completely digital, the island nation’s Ministry of Transport said Wednesday it has started a trial that will begin the phase-out of paper arrival forms.
The current forms, which are reviewed on arrival by Immigration Officers at the airport, will be gradually replaced by an e-form powered by the existing Seychelles Islands Travel Authorisation platform.
The trial will run from August until new hardware is delivered later this year and then the government plans to completely retire the paper immigration and customs forms for all international arrivals to Seychelles’ international airport.
“We’re delighted to roll out paperless entry for international arrivals in Seychelles. Not only is this an improvement for travellers to our country but the introduction of a digital system means increased efficiency for front-line immigration officers. By eliminating the painstaking and time consuming manual entry of passenger data by immigration officers, they can dedicate more time to focus on their core responsibility of determining admissibility and securing our borders,” said Alain Volcere, principal secretary for immigration and civil status.
This latest step towards a digital airport comes after the online Seychelles Islands Travel Authorisation was introduced to support the safe reopening of borders late last year.
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