From Monday (June 13th), only passport applicants with reservations can enter the Immigration Bureau (ICA) building in Lavender.
The ICA said on Saturday (June 11th) that those who need to travel urgently but do not have a reservation must file an appeal online. Those who cannot do so can access the ICA Building and get assistance in submitting an online appeal.
The new measures apply only to passport services and do not affect other ICA services.
The move to limit the number of people entering the building takes place in a long line of buildings after the wide reopening of Singapore’s border in April.
The ICA said many applicants visited to confirm applications and request expeditions, so additional officers were assigned for crowd management and other services.
“Thus ICA has reviewed our process to facilitate the issuance of passports,” it said.
“Current resources working on managing long queues and onsite requests will be relocated to speed up passport processing and issuance.”
From Monday, ICA said it will only accept passport applicants who have been notified by ICA to collect passports, submit supplementary documents and / or resubmit photos.
These applicants are required to present at least one supplementary document in order to be admitted to the country. For example, the person collecting the passport must present an electronic reservation for passport collection, and the person submitting the documents must present an email notification.
The ICA advised applicants to collect passports to collect them alone to reduce congestion. Children, the elderly, and those with special needs may be accompanied by another person.
Qualified applicants also encouraged arrangements to collect passports at one of the 27 post offices across the island. There is no additional charge for this collection method.
Passport applicants without a reservation can contact the ICA online.
Applicants who want to check the passport application status can log on to the MyICA website.
If you have any other questions about your passport, please visit the ICA website or contact us via live chat.
“People who cannot do the above on their own and do not have an agent to support them can visit the ICA Building to assist in filing passport-related appeals online,” the agency said. Said.
The ICA also said it is creating and issuing passports at an “unprecedented rate” in response to the surge in passport applications since March 2022.
Currently, we issue more than 5,000 passports per day. That’s almost three times the number in 2019 before Covid-19. To achieve this, more officers have been reassigned to process and create passports 24 hours a day.
“ICA officers are working hard to process passport applications,” said ICA.
“We are seeking Singaporeans’ understanding of the revised process to allow only certain passport issues to be brought in during this period.”
