For those who aren’t caught up with the new rules that Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has implemented over the weekend after having to deal with weeks of long queues and possible irate harassment, only passport applicants who have been notified to collect their passport can walk into the ICA building, with the supporting documents and/or resubmitted photographs.
For any passport renewal applications, the process can be completed online.
If you wish for your passport renewal to be expedited, you can submit an appeal online at https://go.gov.sg/passportrequest, though whether it will be approved remains to be seen on a case-by-case basis.
Previously, Singaporeans who needed to travel urgently were allowed to bring the supporting documents in person to the ICA building for assessment, but that, alongside inquiries, passport collections, and in-person renewals, have led to immensely long queues.
It could take hours before a person manages to step into the ICA building, and it has similarly forced the ICA to deploy more officers to cope with the higher influx of people.
In an effort to curb the snaking queues, most of the processes have been transferred online.
If you wish to check your application status, like how one would track their delivery packages, you can log onto MyICA to do so.
The Pros and Cons of the New Measures
For the staff in the ICA buildings, the new rules have thankfully shortened the queues outside the ICA building.
However, there are some visitors that missed the memo, even though the new rules were announced by many media outlets on June 12.
For 56-year-old Kevin Ong, he happened to miss the news report and specifically took a day off to go over to Lavender to check on passport application status.
He was greeted at the door by an ICA officer, who showed him a QR code and taught him how to submit an appeal to speed up the process of his passport renewal application before he left.
With regards to ‘I missed the memo’ aspect, some have suggested that the ICA could have e-mailed waiting passport applicants—since it wasn’t like they didn’t have access to the information—or perhaps posted a huge digital banner on their website to announce the changes, with convenient links attached.
Recommendations, which, the ICA could honestly implement to avoid further unwanted visitors, as noted by The Straits Times reporters, who personally witnessed at least 20 out of 150 visitors being turned away at the door when they visited the building last Monday morning (13 June).
Besides that, older Singaporeans have their own complaints as well because they’re not as technologically-savvy.
In order to make an e-appointment to collect your passport, it is necessary to key in your NRIC number, then your application reference number, which is attached to the confirmation e-mails that were sent by the ICA’s automated system weeks ago.
However, some from the older generation have voiced their troubles finding the reference number and lamented that the process could be made easier for them.
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Nonetheless, if you have know-how, the appeal for expediency and passport progress checking is just beneath your fingertips, which saves many the trouble of having to go down to Lavender.
This is easily proven by the significantly shortened queue seen outside the ICA building, where most visitors can immediately enter as long as they have the supporting documents.
Moreover, any enquiries can be easily answered by seeking the ICA’s Frequently Asked Questions page for passport-related questions, or contacting the authority through the website’s live chat function.
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The Long Wait
Even though the passport applicants have the notifications to pick up their passports, and may or may not have made an e-appointment to pick them up, the queue to receive their passports can still take hours.
After all, the ICA is churning out nearly 5,000 passports a day, which means that it’s a long wait for everyone.
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From the interviews done by Channel News Asia and Straits Times reporters, the wait in the lounge can take anywhere from half an hour, if you’re lucky, to more than four hours.
The queue numbers are well into the three digits.
For a 42-year-old applicant, who wishes to be known as Ms Angeline, she conveyed that she has been waiting for two hours thus far and the queue has only moved up by 100 or more. Even then, she foresees a long wait of around three to four hours ahead of her, since she still has another 200 people in front of her.
Ms Angeline has previously tried to book a specific appointment, but there were no slots left.
If you’re lucky enough to clutch an e-appointment, you can skip majority of the queue. But at this point, trying to book an e-appointment seems almost as difficult as winning the lottery.
Despite the long wait in the building, most passport applicants waiting to collect their passport appear resigned, knowing that this is just part and parcel of the process, and they have been warned that it will take a long time.
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Compared to the past few weeks, at least they are in the building, instead of having to queue up with the others who might just have inquiries or are appealing to speed up their passport renewal.
So, that’s improvement at least.
ICA officers have also recommended that collections can also be done at the post offices nearest to the applicants for their convenience, but even the post offices are stressed out by the load of packages, letters, and incoming passports.
Still, there’s nothing that can be done about it.
It’s obvious that the ICA is struggling to cope with the sudden outpour of requests for passport renewals ever since the borders have reopened, and it’s not even the administration’s fault.
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If anything, it’s ours, because we didn’t see the point of renewing our passports immediately after we were reminded that they were expiring soon because we all thought we would be stuck in Singapore anyway.
On the brighter side of things, at least we won’t have to renew our passports for the next ten years.
The ICA officers are going to hate 2032 though.
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