Earlier this week I went through immigration and customs at Toronto Pearson International Airport. When I got to the immigration line up, I remembered that Pearson had implemented a semi-automated process for immigration. I had used it for the first time in September 2013.
Normally the process goes something like this:
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Fill Customs Form
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Show documents to immigration officer (passport, visa, proof of residency, customs form, etc.)
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Receive proof of immigration (passport stamp)
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Get baggage
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Show form to customs officer
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Leave form with customs officer
This time I waited in line to scan my documents into a machine rather than showing them directly to an immigration officer. First, I scanned my permanent residency card into the machine. Once approved, I fed my customs form into a slot on the machine. A few seconds later, the machine printed a scanned version of my customs form with a number printed on it. I showed this to the immigration officer and was sent through to get my baggage. After collecting my suitcase, I handed the printed form to the customs officer on the way out.
When I first went through the process in September I thought it was pretty cool that everything seemed to be automated and moving towards paperless. I remember thinking it was so efficient. But the second time through, I was left wondering what was different. I went through the same steps in the process listed above, except this time a machine coded my customs form instead of a person (immigration officer) and I didn’t receive a stamp in my passport. Other than that, the process was almost identical to the original one from my perspective. Perhaps the wait time has been reduced because the machines are more abundant than a human resource and process everything at the same rate.
I suppose with the new system that many of the benefits are realized behind the scenes. For example, the effort of making a digital version of a customs form, if this is something the government does, has been shifted to the citizen or resident. But now I wonder, will they keep this information longer because it’s turned digital right away? What happened to the printed copy I gave the customs officer? Why does that have to be printed? Is it a convenience copy? I have always been curious what the customs department does with all those customs forms. I’m even more mystified with the new scan and print process.
In my mind, if I were to revamp a process with a goal to expedite service and go paperless, which is what I imagine the objective is at Pearson Airport, I would reimagine the steps to facilitate this goal. I can’t help but think that there’s a way to eliminate the paper form entirely, maybe by having people fill out forms on their mobile devices and tracking everything through a passport number or other unique identifier.
I think sometimes we make the shift from paper to electronic more complicated than it needs to be because we don’t spend enough time imagining what it looks like to start digital.