Dubai’s new ‘Click and Travel’ service uses biometrics and mobile devices to speed up passenger entry and departure procedures during busy periods.
Dubai has officially launched “Click and Travel”, a mobile immigration service that allows passport officers to complete passenger entry and departure procedures in approximately 12 to 15 seconds.
The General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) Dubai announced the service on September 7 during a press briefing at Dubai International Airport attended by Lieutenant General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General of GDRFA Dubai, and Major General Talal Ahmed Al Shanqiti, Assistant Director General for Airport Affairs.
The new system is designed to reduce waiting times and give immigration teams greater flexibility during peak travel periods, congestion, and emergencies. Instead of requiring every passenger to approach a fixed passport counter, officers can move through airport halls and complete immigration procedures using secure mobile devices.
How Dubai’s Click and Travel System Works
Click and Travel combines several technologies to complete passenger verification.
According to GDRFA Dubai, the system uses biometric identification, facial recognition, electronic passport reading and automated pre-screening, with secure access to passenger information through a dedicated communications network.
The mobile device allows immigration officers to verify a traveller’s information and complete the required procedure without necessarily directing the passenger to a conventional immigration counter.
GDRFA says the full transaction can be completed in around 12 to 15 seconds, helping officers respond more quickly when passenger volumes suddenly increase.
More Than 31,000 Passengers Used the Service
The system has already undergone extensive testing before its official launch.
During its trial period, 31,373 passengers were processed using Click and Travel between May and the end of August 2026. Authorities used the pilot to assess the technology and prepare it for wider deployment across Dubai’s airport terminals.
The results gave GDRFA a chance to test the system under real airport conditions while examining how mobile immigration processing could be used to manage passenger flows.
The ability to move officers and processing equipment to areas with long queues is particularly useful during holiday periods and other high-volume travel windows.
Click and Travel Was Developed in Phases
The current launch follows a rollout that began nearly a year earlier.
The first pilot phase started in October 2025 at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport, initially testing the system with selected passengers.
A second phase began in May 2026, expanding the trial across Dubai’s airport terminals and passenger categories.
Following the pilot and expansion stages, GDRFA officially launched Click and Travel on September 7, 2026.
The phased approach allowed the authority to test the system before moving it into broader operational use.
The Service Does Not Replace Smart Gates
Click and Travel is being introduced as an additional immigration option rather than a replacement for Dubai’s existing automated systems.
The National reported that the mobile service can act as a backup to smart gates and the Red Carpet corridor, giving immigration teams another tool when passenger queues build up or operational conditions change.
This distinction is important because Dubai International Airport already uses extensive biometric technology to automate immigration for eligible passengers.
The new service instead brings part of the traditional passport-control process directly to the passenger.
Greater Flexibility During Peak Travel
One of the main advantages of Click and Travel is its mobility.
Traditional passport counters are fixed, meaning passengers have to be directed towards a specific processing point. The new system allows immigration officers to move around the airport and process travellers where additional capacity is needed.
GDRFA officials said the service can be deployed when queues become long, with priority potentially given to families, children and people of determination during periods of congestion.
The approach could allow airport teams to react more dynamically to changes in passenger volumes instead of relying exclusively on fixed immigration counters.
Who Can Use Click and Travel?
GDRFA Dubai has said the service is intended to support UAE citizens, residents, GCC nationals and visitors.
However, the National reported that there are differences between departure and arrival use during the initial rollout. The service is available to all passengers for departures, while arrival use initially covers Emiratis and UAE residents, with plans to expand access to other visitor categories.
That means the availability of the mobile process can depend on the traveller’s category and the operational deployment at the airport.
Dubai Continues to Expand Biometric Travel
Click and Travel is the latest addition to Dubai’s broader push towards automated and biometric airport processing.
GDRFA’s existing systems include smart gates and other automated immigration services designed to reduce reliance on manual passport checks.
Official figures reported by The National show that around 26 million passengers travelled through Dubai’s airports between January and the end of August 2026, while more than 9.4 million passengers used smart gates during the same period. Around 750,000 passengers also used the Red Carpet service.
The growing use of automated systems reflects Dubai’s effort to handle large passenger volumes while reducing pressure on traditional immigration infrastructure.
What Click and Travel Means for Passengers
For travellers, the biggest change is that passport-control services can now come to them.
A passenger who might otherwise have to wait at a fixed counter can potentially be processed by a mobile immigration officer using biometric and electronic-document checks.
That could prove particularly useful when airport halls become crowded or when authorities need to redirect passenger flows quickly.
The system also gives immigration teams another tool for managing unexpected surges without requiring permanent expansion of fixed counters.
Dubai’s Push for Faster Airport Processing
The launch of Click and Travel reflects a wider shift in how Dubai is approaching airport immigration.
Rather than relying only on faster queues at traditional counters, authorities are increasingly combining biometrics, automated checks and mobile processing to make the immigration system more flexible.
With more than 31,000 passengers already processed during testing and each transaction taking around 12 to 15 seconds, GDRFA is now moving the system from pilot stage into official use.
The broader objective is straightforward: reduce unnecessary waiting, give immigration officers more flexibility, and make passenger processing easier during the busiest moments of the travel day.
For Dubai, Click, and Travel is another step towards an airport where immigration increasingly moves with the passenger, rather than requiring the passenger to move through a series of fixed checkpoints.
GDRFA Dubai says officers can complete passenger entry and departure procedures in just 12 to 15 seconds.
Photo: Virendra Saklani/Gulf News
