Prior to the implementation of electronic border procedures, the HCMC Port Border Guards faced a cumbersome and time-consuming process for handling ship and passenger clearance. Applicants for the clearance procedure had to submit nine types of dossiers for checking. Manual verification of identity documents and cross-referencing with various lists often resulted in lengthy waiting times of 60-90 minutes, causing inconvenience and increased costs for businesses and individuals.
Thanks to embracing information technology and adopting electronic border procedures, the operations have significantly been streamlined.
Since 2018, the HCMC Port Border Guards have launched twelve border e-procedures for ships entering and exiting HCMC ports. These are accessible around the clock, even during holidays, allowing users to submit declarations and receive clearance results anytime, anywhere with an internet connection and a smart device.
The transition to digital procedures has also eliminated the need for physical documentation, further streamlining the process. The number of required documents for ship entry, exit, and port transfer has been reduced from nine to five, two of which are mandatory and the rest optional.
The time to complete a procedure lasts from 10-15 minutes per ship.
Nguyen Minh Thang from Gemadept HCMC JSC. shared that before the availability of border e-procedures, a business or agency applying for ship clearance had to directly wait in line at the office of Maritime Port Authority Ho Chi Minh City. Now with an e-procedure, he can declare necessary information anywhere within 15-30 minutes and receive a notice of procedure completion before entering the ship.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Dinh, Commander of the HCMC Port Border Guards, commented that the application of IT in electronic border procedures has completely eliminated waiting time for ships and boats to complete procedures.
Proactive coordination between the Customs and the Maritime Port Authority Ho Chi Minh City in deploying the national single-window information portal has created favorable conditions for ship and cargo owners, ensuring transparency in administrative procedures and avoiding inconvenience caused by overlapping management at the port.
Similarly, when ships carrying international tourists approach the port, all necessary border e-procedures have already been completed. Specifically, the immigration procedures for passengers are carried out right at Buoy Zero (the first point of the guiding system into a port, as stipulated by the Maritime Law) by declaring information on the national single-window information portal, conducting passport checks, document verification, visa issuance, and immigration verification for passengers on board.
Since 2019, the HCMC Port Border Guards have also implemented 2D barcode technology for verifying the identity of Vietnamese and foreign passengers disembarking or boarding ships. This technology ensures accurate and complete data capture for record-keeping and data retrieval.
Formerly, it took 1-2 minutes per passenger for this identity verification, which meant a huge time amount for a ship with 2,000 international tourists. Thanks to IT implementation, it now takes around 10-12 seconds per passenger, allowing passengers to disembark immediately upon ship arrival.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Dinh further shared that to keep up with their counterparts in other ports in the ASEAN region and the world, his unit is actively seeking opportunities to collaborate with IT training institutes and language centers to enhance the skills and knowledge of their personnel. This is expected to attract more international businesses and shipping companies to transport goods to Vietnam.
At present, the HCMC Port Border Guards are assigned with managing and protecting the 23km-long coastal border area and controlling entry and exit at the port area.
The procedure team under this unit has developed various software applications for managing incoming and outgoing vessels, controlling passenger arrivals and departures, issuing permits, and managing visas and shore passes for sailors and crew members. Notably, the visa and shore pass management software has been applied across the entire national seaport system.
