Vietnam has approved a plan to connect its VNeID digital identity app with Singapore’s Singpass and Laos’s LAeID systems for cross-border identity checks. The proposed links are intended to support entry and exit procedures, beginning with pilot operations at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat international airports.
The government’s Decision 1830 sets out the work needed before travelers can use the connected systems. Vietnamese agencies are to coordinate procedures and technical arrangements with Singapore and Laos by October 30. The plan calls for test connections and integration checks by November 15, followed by pilot operation and evaluation during 2026 and subsequent years. Those test connections would prepare immigration systems to process the planned airport trials.
Under the plan, officials would develop procedures for a traveler presenting Singpass or LAeID at a Vietnamese checkpoint and for Vietnamese citizens using VNeID in Singapore or Laos. The participating governments must also establish the legal and operational basis for recognizing, verifying and exchanging identity information. Technical work includes interfaces between the apps and Vietnam’s immigration systems, along with security and data-protection checks.
The initial airport pilots are designed to test whether digital identity information can reduce repeated declarations and document presentation during border processing. Agencies will track the time required for checks, successful verifications, errors and cases that still need manual handling. Those results would inform any later expansion to other crossings or ASEAN countries.
Vietnam has already been pursuing cross-border identity infrastructure through NDAChain’s first cross-border ID transaction. The new government plan sets out how national identity apps would feed into immigration procedures at airports. Singapore’s Singpass service has also expanded passkey support for users on Android devices, while retaining its role as a national digital identity platform.
The first phase names only Singapore and Laos as counterpart systems. Vietnam’s government says it will use the airport pilots to establish standards, measure performance and decide how to extend the model across the region. After reviewing the pilot results, the participating government agencies will report to the prime minister and propose a path to formal operation at suitable border crossings in Vietnam and neighboring countries.
Sources: Vietnam Government
–
By the ID Tech Editorial Team
