Seychelles moves to fully digitalise airport embarkation

The digital embarkation platform is available via the www.seychelles.govtas.com  (Seychelles Electronic Border System)

Passengers entering and leaving Seychelles must submit their embarkation and disembarkation forms digitally since November 2 to facilitate the process, said a top government official on Friday.

Through the Seychelles Electronic Border System (SEBS), passengers must fill out all their personal information as well as information related to their travels that was previously done on a yellow paper.  

"We want to digitalise the embarkation and disembarkation processes as much as possible so that things can move faster, while we also eliminate long queues," the Principal Secretary for Immigration and Civil Status, Alain Volcere, told reporters.

The physical embarkation paper has been in use in Seychelles for over three decades, the new system is part of the Seychelles move to digital platforms, such as the recently introduced electronic ID.

The digital embarkation platform will be available via the www.seychelles.govtas.com or by downloading the Seychelles E-Border app on Google Play Store or the Apple app store.

"For people leaving Seychelles, they will have to complete the form within seven days before their departure, while for those entering the country, the form will have to be filled within 72 hours of arrival, as is already the case when filling the current form on the website," said Francis Vadivello, the officer in charge for the Airport Immigration Service.

For Seychellois citizens, there will be no cost charged while for non-Seychellois entering the country, there will be a fee of €10.

Volcere said that the new ditigalisation of the embarkation and disembarkation forms is being done on Seychelles Electronic Border System managed by Swiss company Travizory.

"Travisory is only the contractor that is maintaining the SEBS and not a different system. So, only one form will need to be filled, with all the necessary information," explained PS Volcere.

Meanwhile, the digital shift will not affect immigration workers, who will now be able to do their work easier, as less time will be needed to manually input all this information into their systems.