Combating cross-border crime, terrorism, and illegal crossings requires tremendous efforts to identify and prevent threats challenging land, maritime, and points of entry.
To maximize these efforts and ensure the safety of citizens, police, and immigration enforcement can now rely on an integrated border management system for full operational control.
Thales Border Management provides a full range of applications to implement best-practice immigration processes and state-of-the-art technologies at border management headquarters (HQ) and border control points (BCPs).
The solution enables border control agencies to process both arriving and departing travelers in wide-ranging situations at air, land, and sea points of entry- at both staffed immigration desks equipped with advanced ID readers and Automatic Border Control (ABC) gates.
As a key player in Border Management and associated self-service solution Thales developed a complete EU EES Border Management System, designed specifically to meet the European Union, National Border Authorities, and International Airports functional and operational requirements.
Key benefits of Gemalto Border Management System
Supports all border control points
Thales solutions support all border control types (border gates, eGates, suitcases, handhelds, etc.) for air, land, and sea borders, and mobile checkpoints.
Convenience for travelers and authorities alike with faster, more secure border operations
- Automated travel document identification and verification against a centrally administered document repository
- Biometric data capture with quality assurance
- Biometric traveler verification (1:1) and identification (1:N)
- Integration with the national Visa Information System (N-VIS) for Visa status check and verification of Visa Document and biometric Identity confirmation(1:1)
- Automated comparison of identity against text-based and biometric control/alert lists
- Entry-Exit System (EES) with visa overstayer and advanced transit alarm logic
Flexibility and scalability
Gemalto Border Management system provides a high degree of flexibility for the customization of workflows and access control to meet changing needs.
Customer stories
Ghana
Ghana’s migration profile continues to evolve as its rapidly expanding oil industry fuels employment and growth. To keep up with its thriving economy, the Ghanaian government recently outlined its first-ever national migration policy. Ghana decided to put Thales in charge of its national electronic visa and border management solution. This advanced e-Immigration system is fundamental to the whole eGhana project, an ambitious plan to create a modern IT infrastructure that can support sustainable development in the years ahead. It will put the country’s border control processes on a par with best practices worldwide.
Croatia
Thales was chosen to upgrade Croatia’s border control system with Gemalto Document Verification and a full mobile version of the Gemalto Border Management system to run in biometric handheld devices.
South Africa
The Refugee and National Deportation system for the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa handles countrywide refugees and illegal immigrants, including their deportation procedure. It consists of a customized enterprise solution with more than 500 workstations distributed worldwide and a central refugee register that handles all related workflows and processes, including an interface to the national fingerprint system (AFIS) and National Population Register. The system has more than 28 different applications covering all possible steps of the Refugee and Deportation procedures based on local regulations.
Republic of Tajikistan
The Ministry of Foreign affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan selected Thales to deliver a biometric Border Management System and an online Visa Management system to facilitate the Visa application process and boost tourism. The solution scope encompasses border and integrated visa management with Head Quarter. The Border Management system is deployed at 20 border points (including 2 international airport and land border points), with 85 primary inspection stations and 20 secondary inspection stations. The system is connected to ePassport PKI and Interpol STLD.
In 2019, the number of passengers at the border increased by 15% compared to 2018 thanks to the new border management system, and the online VISA shown a high increase too. This success is based on the security of the systems deployed by Thales.
Lebanon
The Directorate of General Security of the Government of Lebanon selected Thales to provide a solution for the Lebanon Smart Border project in order to achieve convenient crossing at border control points while enhancing the security of the controls, facilitating the day-to-day operations for all the stakeholders, i.e., Immigration Agents, Airport services and Travelers. The complete Border Management Solution, so-called Smart Border Management System (SBMS), for comprehensive and consistent border management at the different Border Control Points (sea, air, and land) in Lebanon. As of today, 11 Border Control Points are fully equipped with 300 primary inspections and 20 secondary inspections.
The solution includes connections with national and international systems, including Schengen Information System (SIS).
Gabon
Gabon's Department of Homeland Security selected Thales to supply and implement a fully integrated Border and Visa Management System.
The visa management system simplifies and speeds the issuance of visas, e-Visas, and resident's permits. This suite of applications was used to create Gabon's e-Visportal service, enabling visitors to use the Internet to apply for a visa to enter the country. Once the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) is delivered, the visa is issued at Libreville International Airport upon arrival.
The solution is built around the centralized, back-office Thales Visa and Border Management System. This supports automation of queries to databases - such as Interpol's - that alert authorities to potential threats and risks. Besides, the Automated Border Control kiosks now offer travelers rapid, 'self-service' passport checks at the country's main airport, which handles around one million passengers annually.
Integrated border management for Namibia in 2018
Discover the first stage of this ambitious border management project unveiled at Hosea Kutako International Airport.
Documents

Thales Gemalto Border Management System
Offering convenience for secure border crossing Improving border intelligence for detection and prevention Supporting your immigration organization
Gemalto Border Management [PDF - 1mb]
Biometric Border Management
Transforming the passenger experience with trusted identities
Biometric Border Management [PDF - 335kb]