Earlier this year, Dubai started installing a new Smart Gate system at their terminals which I only found out about this past weekend. The new system allows you to go through passport control in around 10 seconds and it’s available to use by GCC nationals and biometric passport holders from 37 countries.
Signing up is super easy. On arrival, I went through the regular passport control and while getting my passport stamped I asked to be signed up to Smart Gate. And that was it really, passport control didn’t take longer than usual and I got a cute DXB Smart Gate sticker on the back of my passport letting me know I’ve been signed up to Smart Gate. There are no fees and you don’t need a special card like their previous e-gate system required you to use.
On departure, I skipped the long passport control line and headed straight through using the Smart Gate and it worked! Super simple, super quick and I really can’t wait till we get something similar here in Kuwait. It would make our old airport wayyyy more bearable!
Smart gates can be used by UAE citizens and residents, GCC nationals and passport holders from the following countries: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US. For more information on the DXB smart gates, click [Here]
12 replies on “Using the Dubai Airport Smart Gate”
Do Smart Gates also work with GCC Civil ID’s?
Hmmm I’m not sure, my friend used their Kuwaiti passport so don’t really know if the civil id would work.
Mark,
I have been using Dubai’s smart gates for at least 4 years now. Why is this so new?
The Smart Gates are new, what you were using was the previous system called E-Gate.
I don’t see Lebanon in list, but their ” tutorial ” video the guy used a Lebanaese biometric passport
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7W_gj0HHhs
1) This video is for their previous old E-Gate system
2) Smart Gate and E-Gate both work for UAE residents, so the guy in the video was a Lebanese resident of the UAE
I find it odd that Slovakia is not included for Smart Gates, they have bio-metric passports too.
UAE 100 steps ahead of many countries yet again! Props to them
Not really. Kuwait still has more freedom of speech, more humanity, less show off culture, more family oriented feeling.
LOL, where? There isn’t even a decent place to buy DVDs and Blu-rays anymore, let alone the latest releases of magazines and comics.
What do DVDs and comics have to do with freedom of speech/humanity/less show off culture??? Who watches DVDs anymore???
More humanity? please elaborate.