The National Migration Institute (INM) is including Cancun International in another program that could see travelers enter the country with more ease with the introduction of e-Gates.

On Wednesday, Roberto González López, head of the INM Office in Quintana Roo, announced the new electronic gate program during an interview with Radio Formula, adding they are being introduced in only two of Mexico’s airports. He says that although the National Institute of Migration processes have improved, they are looking to implement new technology to further reduce immigration times at the airport.

Both Mexico City International and Cancun International have been chosen to be part of the e-Gate program, a program the INM is hoping to have in place before the start of the winter travel season.

He says they have already begun the e-Gate process, which are walk through machines equipped with optical passport readers to register traveler data in a few seconds. Within half a minute on average, a traveler would be allowed entry into the country.

“Cancun International is one of the most important in the world to use such technology to facilitate the immigration control of millions of passengers,” he said.

The commissioning of this technology, he said, will make it possible to serve large volumes of passengers much more efficiently, especially during high travel seasons. A walk through the gate captures document verification and passenger biometrics.

It takes around 6 seconds for the scanner to read the passport and finger print (placed on a glass scanner) and several more for it to identify the passenger as they walk through the system.

If there is an issue, a silent alert is signaled through a computer to an immigration officer. If not, the traveler is free to pass. The total passenger processing time is around 30 seconds.