Automated immigration filters are finally up and running at the Cancun International Airport. Governor Mara Lezama says Cancun is the first airport in the country to have the modern technology operational for its passengers.

The 14 machines became operational in Terminal 3 on December 28th with assistance from the National Institute of Migration (INM) which will put an end to the long INM immigration lines inside the airport.

Tourists with an electronic passport can now walk through the digital automated machine to enter the country. Lezama says the machines will also eliminate acts of corruption, something that has been an issue in the past.

Accompanied by Roberto González López, head of the INM Representation Office in the state, Mara Lezam explained that Cancun is the second airport to have the machines installed, but the first to have them operational.

“It is the second airport in the entire country to have these filters, but the first to function as such. Fourteen filters were installed in Terminal 3 and are used by passengers arriving in Cancun from the United States and Canada as well as Mexicans who have passports with a chip,” she explained.

She said that it takes around 30 seconds to pass through the automated system. To do so successfully, travellers are required to be of legal age and have an electronic passpart that is valid for at least six months.

Lezama added that at the moment, there are 14 automated INM gates operating in Terminal 3 of the Cancun airport, however, in coming days, four will begin to operate in Terminal 4. After that, they will expand the automated system to Terminal 2.

In May, a reform in the Migration Law allowed passengers in Cancun, Los Cabos and Mexico City to be the first in the country to use the INM machines.